Austin 70.3 Race Report

Austin 70.3 overall was a fun event for me on a number of fronts. The highlights began on Friday when I was able to reconnect with a family friend who I hadn't seen in 15 years.

I first learned that Ian Mikelson was a triathlete when he made a cameo on Hillary Biscay's blog. Ian's older brother and I swam together (same team as Hillary) in middle school and high school, played water polo together and spent a lot of time together as kids in our formative years. Ian was my brothers age, and while he didn't swim, we saw him all of the time at meets and pretty much every kid I knew did Jr. Lifeguards in the summers, including Ian. Ian was always a short stocky middle linebacker looking guy, so to see him completing what I think he'd describe as a successful first season as a pro is real fun for me and generally amazing. He's got one more big race in IMAZ next month, so we're pulling for him.

I hope some day he gets interviewed by Bob Babbit and Paul Huddle on Competitor Radio so Huddle can ask him his standard "how much you bench" question. He usually gets these endurance beans who aren't sure, but think they could put up 100. They'd be impressed with Ian's numbers!!!

So we caught up with Ian and his mom Gaye, who as swim team moms go, doubled as many of our moms over the years keeping us out of trouble when left to our own devices for hours on end at swim meets. We had a great meal, caught up on the past, talked tri shop for a while. It was a really good time!
I also took the bike out for a short 45 min spin on Fri. I'd had the bike in for a tune up the weekend before and was able to get on it once mid week out on the road, so this ride was to keep the legs loose but to also make sure the bike was dialed in.

Everything seemed fine but I was getting a new sound like popcorn coming from the rear derailleur. I made some subtle adjustments after the ride, took it up and down the street to test it out but while I fixed the rear derailleur, something strange happened to the front and I was no longer able to shift to the big chain ring from the little. Some more tinkering with the front derailleur, another test ride, and I was pleased as it appeared dialed in. More later...

Sat was pretty low key. My dad and I went out to the venue to rack my bike and drop off my T2 bag, got home quick to watch the UT game, and kicked me feet up a bit, packed up my gear, etc. My buddy Tim from Houston was coming up to the house to stay with us for the night and join me in the morning out at the race site to spectate. We had a nice dinner on Sat and hit the sack pretty early.

Sunday morning was the normal pre race routine. Get up early, eat, stretch, hit the road. Tim was able to drop me off at T1 (this race had split transitions about 1.5 miles apart) so I didn't have to mess with the shuttle bus from the parking lot/T2 to T1. I had plenty of time to get my bike situated, chill, stretch, use the pots, etc. It was nice have a friendly face with me all morning, and it was so easy not to have to mess with a morning dry clothes bag, etc.

My wave started 50 minutes after the pros went off, so I was able to catch Ian and the other guys make there way in to T2.

Swim (27:49, 8th out of ~334 in AG)
The swim was alright. I was looking for feet and as we set out, was surprised by the number of guys who seemed to be pushing a solid pace. I settled in with a descent size group. We were about 2-3 wide and there must have been about 12 of us, so I was pretty content. I settled in and was glad to be in the draft. At about the 300 yd mark, I could tell the two guys in front of me were losing the guys at the pointy edge of the group, but their pace was still fine, so I stayed put. At about the 500 yd mark, both of the guys in front of me slowed considerably. I had no choice but to come around, and that was the end of my draft for the rest of the swim. We began catching waves about 7-8 minutes in. I definitely saw 6-7 different colors of swim caps out there, so with 5 min staggers between waves, I had a lot of traffic to deal with. I realized about 2/3 through the swim that I was likely leading a pack as I was getting slight taps on the feet every now and then and it wasn't from people I'd passed. Turns out there were at least 2-3 guys back there who got a great ride. I think I probably would have been better served swimming a little more conservatively as I didn't feel fresh by the end of the swim. But all in all, a good swim. 4 mins off my PR from '08, but that swim was easily 4-5 mins short so this could have been my best swim.

T1
I took a bur in the foot as I made my way to the racks. stopped to pull it out, but other than that, it was pretty much biz as usual in there.

Bike (2:41.14, 20.8 mph, 102 out of ~334 in AG):
I set off on the bike and tried to settle in. The course is a little more hilly at the beginning and the end, but all in all, it is a course with little distinguishing it. I got off really well, was averaging about 21.5 mph through the first 15 miles when I came up to the top of one of the bigger hills that forced me down to the small chain ring. As I crested, I went back to the big ring and threw my chain right over the top of the big chain ring and on to my foot. It was 1-2 revolutions before I realized what had happened, and in those 1-2 cranks I twisted the chain up around the crank. I was able to reach down and pull the chain back on the chain ring without slowing (I was impressed I could pull off - I've seen guys in TT stages of the TdF do this before when they came out of the start house) but the first revolution I made with it back on revealed to me that I'd damaged the chain. This happened earlier in the summer so I knew immediately what happened. One of the links actually gets slightly twisted and as that link passes through the rear derailleur, you get a reaction. For me, it ranged from a small dead spot in the pedal stroke where you weren't putting pressure on the rear cassette, to full on half shifts out of the gear on the rear cassette. Every revolution for 41 miles, I had this irritation. I could move in and out of gear and felt like I could control the severity of the shifting, but the longer I stayed in any one gear, the worse the problem got. I was afraid of any further problems so I stayed in the big ring for the rest of the ride. My pace slowed after the problem developed and it was mentally taxing. Not having the small ring also was annoying as I could have used it 3-4 times.

The only other highlight of the ride was seeing Gordo Byrn three times on the ride. Once when he flew by at mile 30 (I had a 20 min start on his AG), again at mile 32 when he was in the ditch changing a flat front, and again at mile 40 when he blew by again. He was rocking it old school in the Australia speedo. God bless him!

T2
Vaguely remember dropping my bike off, but we found it after the race so I must have put it in the right place

Run (2:21.32 10:49 pace, 172nd out of ~334 AG)
I had high hopes of laying down a good run. My conservative goal was to run a 2:15, but my runs in training had been going so well I had dreams of running under 2:10. As I made my way out on the run course, I felt okay, was running some good low 9 min miles and felt fine. I wasn't hot, HR felt low, all was good. Then the rollers came. I had forgot how this run course is a beat down. Either always up or always down. You need to be strong to run well here and I am not. Put me on a flat, point me in a direction and I can go. Force me up and down and my muscles turn to jelly. As I topped each roller, I could feel some mojo leaving my legs. by the time we hit the off road section, I was starting to slow a bit. I walk/ran up Quadzilla and felt like crap after the hill as I made the round about exit out of the trails. I came good back on the roads and thought I might be okay, but by the end of the first loop, I could tell running up the hills was not going to last much longer. by the second loop, I was walking the hills, running the flats and down, and was shuffling a bit and had slowed considerably. It only got worse, and the walking increased. So the run continues to be my achilles heal.


I was hopeful that the increased run volume in this build up would manifest in a better time and this was a 2 min run PR for me, so I guess you could say it did, but come on man! Get it together. I need to take a blank slate approach to running. So something a little more aggressive. It might result in injury, but I need to challenge myself more in my run training.

So my time was 5:37.17. Though I didn't PR, if you adjust the short swim from my PR in '08, I think this is probably my best race. I am content with how it went. I felt very prepared going in to the race, and I owe that to my coach David. He put together a great plan that got me to the start line healthy, as fit as I've ever been since my college swimming days, and motivated. To think about where I was back in June when we first started putting the program together to where I am now is truly amazing. Thanks bud!


So I'm still jazzed about training. In fact, I had visions of doing a Sprint Tri a week later (tomorrow) but thought better of it this morning when the weather rolled in today, plus I still have a slight hot spot in my hamstring that I didn't fully notice until I went out for a run this morning.

I'm doing the White Rock half marry in 6 weeks, so we'll see if I can pop a half PR there. Beyond that, I'm trying to rope Patrick into doing a June 70.3 with me. We're looking at Kansas and Boise. Onward and upward!