Race Report

I celebrated four years of racing (minus last year) by doing the same race as my first, Show Me State Games. This is a fun little non-USAT race. A 900 yard swim in a murky "used to be lagoon", a 21 mile bike on a somewhat challenging, hilly course that takes you by Missouri's largest and most beautiful oak tree (hence the name "Big Tree Loop"), and an easy 5k run on the MKT trail.

Unlike four years ago, I actually slept fine this week. I remember well my first race; I tossed and turned every night for more than a week before the race! I slept fine until last night, and then I turned on some Jim Croce (an all time favorite, only second to Jimmy Buffett), and stayed up till 2 a.m. or so getting ready. I live by the rule that the night before the race doesn't really matter... it's the week prior that sleep really counts.

I also ate well, but followed the mantra that for a sprint race you really don't need to do anything special or different nutritionally. Just hydrate and eat well (i.e., healthy), and all will be good. On the other hand, this was a special event for me, so I used it as an excuse to load up on Linguine with Clam Sauce from Bambino's downtown Columbia the night before. Good stuff!

This morning I was up at 5:30, had my usual cup of coffee and a bowl of Lucky Charms (more good stuff!), and a banana, and was off to the race. As usual I was nervous, but I was definitely in "just do it" mode. Just do it... one foot in front of the other, keep doing what needs to be done. As I used the bathroom one last time, I had the thought I always have before a race, "Why the hell do I put myself through this?"

As I took off on the swim, I felt relief. No more worrying about when I'd race again. I'm now on auto-pilot; I'm doing it. The swim was mostly uneventful, except the 200 lb. dude that wouldn't let me pass him (surely unintentional), but then when I got around him at the buoy, he swam on top of me three times. OMG, *that* takes it out of you! Then my other deal was zig-zagging... evidence that I've only been training in a pool.

Out of lake and to the bike, my transition had to be about a minute, pretty fast. First thing out of the park there's an unavoidable bump, then a nice hill. Up the hill I notice my aerodrink velcro is gone (broken loose from the bump), and my bottle is about to drop to the road. Before the race I made the brain surgeon move of saving weight, and took my back-up bottle off, so my aerodrink was my only hydration. If there's one thing I've learned in my few years of racing, hydration on the bike is key to a successful run. So I make it up the hill, then slow as I try to figure out how to save my drink. At that point the first person passes me, a girl. Geesh, I can take a younger-than-me guy in an aerohelmet passing me (the only other person to pass me), but not a chic. Ok, so I'm a little competitive.

Anyway, I have a true McGyver moment... I use the black rubber band that's meant to hold my filter on the top of the bottle, wrap it around my straw and manage to wrap it around my aerobars like a pony tail, and wellah, it's secure! Now for the chic that passed me, my second McGyver moment. I can't let the enemy win. I take her full throttle, about a minute away. It's amazing what goes through your head when you're racing! In that moment, I truly was McGyver! :)

I had an amazing bike; I almost felt like I was cheating. I know every nuance of that course; I bike it at minimum once a week, and most often twice (although from my house it's 25 miles). I know every hill, up and down, and what's on the other side, and that's really an advantage. My average speed was 19.5 mph, which is good for that course and for me.

My run sucked, to put it bluntly. My transition was good (no one to stop me from riding right into the transition area, which is really unusual). I opted against putting on socks for a 5k, and that paid off. But my legs and cardio were shot. The course was shy of 5k (so I was told), and I logged 23 minutes and some seconds, which made me believe what I told. I finished thinking I could not have run any longer or any faster; I was spent.

In the end I got second place in my AG, off of first by one minute and some (the results haven't been posted). My natural inclination is think about what I could have done differently, and where I could have gained that minute. But truth be told, I really did my best and that was it. I'm unsure about doing a long course in two weeks, but I haven't ruled it out. Kind of like having a baby, tomorrow I'll have forgotten all the pain, and I'll be thinking "just do it".