Rebel Man Race Recap (finally)

I know this is late, but I've had a crazy time catching up at work. So here goes:

My friend Seth was competing with me Saturday, so we started off the day at an early 4:30am. It's about an hour and a half to Ole Miss, so this was unfortunately going to be an early day. Pack everything up, take Junior out, and on the road. When we got outside, I thought "there's no way in hell, it's like 45 degrees!!" But I knew what I had to do. It was a long drive to the race, but once I got there, I was ready to go. We got there a little later than I would have liked, but that's what you get for standing in line at check in. We got our transitions set up, and only had time for about a 100 yard warmup! I was pretty mad about that.

Overall time: 1:20:32

Swim: 6:54 (400 yards)

I was not very happy to find out minutes before swimming that we were NOT allowed to do flip turns. In the words of Courtney "but that's what makes us better than everyone else! They can't take that away from us!" Oh, but they did. Last year, I remember going all out and getting really tired at the end, not to mention having a ton of trouble climbing out of the pool. So this year, I decided to take it at a steady, but fast pace. This worked out nicely, except I think I could have pushed a bit harder. I looked at my watch when I touched the wall, and it was right at 6:30. About 15 seconds slower than last year. I decided this was probably due to the lack of flip turns. Also, we were not allowed to run out of the pool to the outside...did they realize this is a RACE?!?!?! Apparently not. That's where the extra 24 seconds comes in! WALKING. There's no walking in triathlons!!

T 1: 2:43

This SUCKED because I had to put on as many clothes as possible because it was only 52 degrees at race time! Arm warmers were a bit tricky, so that really slowed me down.

Bike: 46:36 (13.5 miles)

I thought I blew this out of the water compared to last year, but last year I went 17.3 mph last year, and this year I went 17.4mph. Coach told me to take it out at a decent pace, but save more for the way back. I thought I did that, but in hindsight, I went out way too hard. Every time I looked at my computer on the way out, I was going around 20mph. So that means on the way back, I was going.....slow. The headwind on the way back was much more than on the way out, and it was a bit hillier on the way back in. I wish I would have paced it a bit better, but overall, I at least FELT like I was in better shape this year. I felt better on the hills, which I was happy about. See the elevation here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=203431

T 2: 1:05

EXACTLY the same as last year. I pride myself on my transitions, and this one ROCKED.

Run: 23:17 (2.5 miles)

This was originally supposed to be a 5k, but they shortened it the MORNING OF and did NOT tell anyone. They just expected us to figure it out when the little freshman looking girl said "go straight" instead of doing a short out and back like we did last year. The first 3 guys actually ended up doing this part of the race, because they knew it was part of the course. I was still looking for that out and back, when all the sudden I saw the finish line. Had I known I was going to have a half mile LESS to run, I would have pushed harder and not saved myself up. But alas, hindsight is great isn't it? I went a 9:19 pace, which was around the same as last year, so I suppose its ok.

Overall, I thought I would do better. I compared it to trying to drop time in the 50 free, though. Its hard to drop significant time in a short race. I think I'll see much more of a difference during Memphis in May. But, at least I FELT better and more confident during this race. I only dropped 17 seconds from last year, but its hard to compare due to the course changes (additional 1.5 mile bike, and .6 mile less run). I also realize I enjoy olympic distances better because you are not going all out, HR not less than 170, for over an hour. That just HURTS.

Also, something I would have done differently....NOT sign up for the collegiate division. Those chicks are good, and I finished 15/20. I wish I would have signed up for age group, because if I did, I would have been 3rd!! Man!

Seth and I demolished about 3-4 pieces of pizza at the race, then more pizza for dinner, followed by ice cream. That's the best part about race day :)

In other news, training resumes this week and I'm looking forward to getting back in significant training time. Now if spring would just hurry up and get here, and more importantly, STAY HERE!