Holiday Lake

Every race is a learning experience, and the lesson for this race: double check what day your race is on.  Two days before this race I was surfing the web, just checking out different races for the summer, and noticed something about this one.  I had wrote it down when I registered...months ago...that this race was on a Sunday.  But as it turns out, I was lucky to be online randomly checking things out.  If I hadn't, I would've been the only person at the lake on Sunday morning.

Because I thought this race was on Sunday I hadn't taken Saturday off from work.  I was suppose to start at 9 A.M. (the same time that the start gun was to go off) and had to do some (very) last minute scheduling changes.  Thankfully, I was able to wiggle my way out of work for a few hours thanks to David covering for me.  Even at the last minute, he came through in the clutch!

(early SATURDAY morning) Packet pick up, gear set up, and warmups ... check ... check ... and check.  All went according to plan and all went without any hiccups.  My family got to the race about 5 minutes before the gun so I was able to have a little alone time pre-race.  Walking to the waters edge, as the race neared, I placed myself in between two of the fastest swimmers in hopes of catching a nice draft for the short and sweet swim.

I held strong in the opening meters of the swim and my plan was going exactly according to plan (insert evil laugh here).  I was in the lead pack and lovin it!  All the men started in the same wave, so it was easy to see exactly where you were in the race.  Due to this race being on a lake there wasn't any current in the water, but thanks to my pre-race placement strategy, I was able to post my fast swim split...by a long shot!  After a swift T1, I was out onto the hilly bike course within sight of the lead motorcycle.  

Getting onto the bike I was in third place and not far off the pace of the leaders.  I was determined to catch the two in front of me.  It took me a littler longer than I would've liked but eventually I was in the lead!  After the first mile I was in second, and another 2 miles after that I had taken over the top spot.  Good deal!  I had found out before the race that there were two pros and the person who won this race last year competing...and I was ahead of all them!

Sadly, I wasn't able to keep the lead for very long before the train of the two pros came around me.  For the remainder of the bike leg it was a dog fight for third place.  Two other guys and myself had our own little mini battle royale with each other.  Putting in attacks on the hills and taking corners hard made for a fun three-way sufferfest.

Coming into T2. The other two just outside the picture. (Photo cred: Allie)

The two other guys put in a nice attack on the final hill, dropping me off the pace by a few seconds.  Coming into T2 and out onto the run I was only down by (maybe) 10 seconds to third place.  I was in 5th place and looking forward to a very challenging run course.  I tracked down 4th place by the first half mile and never looked back.  I could even see both second and third place for the entire run.  If either person were to falter I was right there to capitalize on the opportunity.  But unfortunately, that opportunity never came and I just couldn't close the gap to them.

Crossing the line in 4th place I had an awkward mix of emotions.  A weird combination of excitement and sadness.  It was discouraging to be finishing only one place out of some prize money, but I was happy to have put in a good fight to come away with 4th place.  I had got beaten by two professionals and the person who won this race last year.  Not bad company I guess.

4th place finish (Photo cred: Allie)

Coming away from this race I can sleep well knowing that:

• I was in the lead of this race at one point...even if it wasn't very long
• I was in a position to capitalize on any mistake from my competition to put myself into third and/or second place
• I had improved on my finishing place from last year
• And I knocked 5 minutes off my time from last year

Now after two races on back-to-back weekends I will finally have some time to get in some quality training.  Until next time and the next race, thanks for reading! 

Pigman Sprint

Race Prep:

Growing up only 30 minutes from this race I had heard about it my whole life.  I've watched it in the past and heard about classmates doing it.  This year it was my turn to have a crack at it.  Although I had zero expectations going into it, I was still excited to get out and enjoy the racing environment.

I didn't have an A-grade lead up coming into this race by any means.  Two days prior I was dressed in my suit and tie and dancing the night away in downtown Chicago.  I had some pretty big reservation about going to a sorority formal only 48 hours before a race.  But hey, ya gotta live a little right?  Drinking, dancing, and discussing sorority sister drama isn't really my cup of tea.  Thankfully, it turned out to be a great night and a good way to get my head off the race.

After driving back to Iowa, doing an easy bike ride with my dad, and getting my race packet it was time for an early bedtime.  Sadly, this "early" bedtime turned into me staying up well after midnight.  I had to get up at 4 A.M. and tossing and turning for several hours only put more unneeded stress in my head.  But my alarm actually woke me up at 4 so I did in fact fall asleep at some point...although it didn't seem like it.

Race Day:

I was doing this race with Kennon and Kallie (Kennon's mom), so we packed the cars, stopped for a cup of gas station coffee, and caravanned our way to the race site.  Standing in line outside transition waiting for it to open, we of course, as usual, joked about the most ridiculous things.  I'm almost certain that everyone around us was annoyed, but whatever, it was early and joking around made it a little bit more bearable.  While spitting out joke after joke, we started to feel the combination of cold temps and strong wind...these would later wreak havoc on the race.

Post transition area setup, warmup run, and last bit of food, it was time to go down to the water.  After only 20 yards of walking through the sand to get to the water my feet were totally numb.  The sand was THAT cold.  I was absolutely dreading getting into the water.  I figured that it would undoubtedly be freezing.  However, the 65 degree water temp was actually warmer than the air temp.  A pleasant surprise for sure!  I mean 65 degree water isn't warm by any means, but compared to the 50 degree air temp with 20-30 mph winds, it felt a lot warmer.

Exiting the swim by myself (Photo cred: Jacob M.)

Instead of doing the massive wave swim start, the Pigman race series does a time-trial start.  One person starting every 3 seconds.  This avoids the MMA-esk fighting match of trying to find open water, yes, but did it solve the problem of swimming around/over people, no.  I didn't get a swim warmup in because I didn't want to stand around freezing in the wind, but I was happily surprised that I found my swimming rhythm right away.  I caught the person who started in front of me within a couple of seconds...then another...then another...then another.  I kept that pattern up for the whole swim...actually, I kept that pattern up for the whole race.  I didn't get passed a single time during the swim, or the remainder of the race.  I was able to zig and zag my way through the crowded water with minimal trouble.

I exited the water, feeling fantastic, and had smashed my pervious sprint-distance swim time.  Good deal!  A quick and smooth T1 and it was time to fight the wind.  And I mean FIGHT the wind.  It easily made my "Top 5 Windiest Days On A Bicycle" list.  Heading South was smooth sailing, but going North.  Ouch.  I was averaging in the mid 30's heading with the wind.  But after taking the turnaround, that all changed.  Not truly knowing how strong the wind is until you turn to face it sucks.  I was smashing the peddles, just trying to get a nice turnover going.  But even with this effort I was struggling to even touch 20 mph.

An empty T2...sweetness! 

As I got off the bike I hit the road with numb feet and jelly legs.  Getting my shoes on and exiting T2 was a bit difficult without being able to feel my feet.  Slowly but surely I got the feeling to come back into me legs and toes.  Sadly, when I was able to really start running I got really bad abdominal cramps.  I had to slow to a jog in hopes that they would go away.  It wasn't until about the halfway point until I could actually start running problem-free.  Thankfully I was able to finish strong and post some pretty sweet results!

Anthem for this race: All By Myself by Celine Dion (Photo Cred: Jacob M.)
Never got passed. Alone the whole time.
*note the sweet sideburns I was rocking for the race 

Without being passed a single time the whole race I had absolutely no idea were I was in the race.  After watching Kennon, Kallie, and my Uncle Todd and Aunt Shari finish we picked up our finishers ticket and compared times.  These tickets had splits for every discipline and your overall finishing position.  As I looked at mine I noticed that I finished in the overall top 10!  What?!  At first I thought it was a mistake.  There was no way that I was in the top 10 overall in a field of over 600 people.  But the result was correct, and I actually was in the top 10!

I had seen this race in the past and looked at pervious results and I had always thought that those people weren't human.  "Those" people didn't seem to be actual people to me.  But now I get it.  The light bulb went off after this race.  You put in the work, you get the result.  Period.  I never knew if there was some magic pill or food or something that "those" people ate.  But no, it's all about doing the work.  After a quick look over the results I noticed that at least 6 of the top 10 were pros.  To be right behind them was an awesome feeling!  I never would have guessed that I would finish in the top 10 and/or with people who race for a living.  It is a huge confidence boost for training/other races the rest of the season!

Now it's time for some recovery and prep for my race next weekend.  Holiday Lake is up next.  Until then, thanks for the read!

Winner winner chicken dinner.
1st in my AG and Kennon got 2nd in hers.
We got little pink piggy banks for a prize.
(Photo cred: Kallie M.)