Race Recap: Big Rock Olympic (04/14/12)

Before I get into the actual race recap, I need to share the "race before the race."  This involves the 24 hours before the race, when I made the decision to assemble and ride a brand new Kestrel 4000. If this were an "A" race, I would have opted to wait, but since it's just three weeks until Wildflower, I figured I could use the extra time getting used to the Kestrel.

Anyway, in an attempt to not make this too long, I was able to get the bike partially assembled and I let the pros at Rock 'N Road Cyclery take care of the important stuff, brakes and shifter cables.  Everything was going as planned, except the pedals.  No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to get one of the pedals off my bike to transfer to the Kestrel.  No, I don't have a pedal wrench, and yes, I was relying on just an allen wrench. And, before you ask, I was turning (loosening) in the correct direction.  So, I sprayed the pedal down with WD-40 and let is soak overnight.  No luck, the pedal just did not want to come off.  Plan B....I took my SPD pedals off my mountain bike.  So, at 5 a.m. on race morning, I quickly switched pedals, packed my mountain bike shoes, and I was off to the race with my carpool buddy Arran, a fellow OC Tri Club Board member.

For those of you keeping score at home, yes, I broke rule number 1 of triathletes, "never try anything new on race day."

James and Jake, Rockin' the W

So, this was my fourth time doing this race.  It's held twice a year (Spring and Fall), so it's a great way for me to test how my training is going at the beginning and end of the season. Today, there was a great group of OC Tri Club members racing, plus a fellow Wattie Ink Elite Team Member, James Adams, was there.  It was great to finally meet him in person.

Like last year, this race is a primer for Wildflower, a good chance to iron out any potential issues with equipment, nutrition or whatever.  My morning breakfast was a Clif Mojo bar, banana and water.  For the race, I packed two gel packs and a large water bottle with a Nuun tablet.

I get checked in and my transition area set up quickly so I could go for a warm-up ride on the bike.  This was the first time I was able to ride this bike, and I probably only went for a mile.  Brakes worked, shifters worked, what could go wrong? It was on the 'warm-up' ride that I realized how cold it was going to be on the bike, so when I got back to transition, I pulled out my arm warmers and gloves.

The Swim (24:59 for 1,500 Meters)

The walk down to the water was rough.  The ground was wet and cold from the previous day's rain.  By time I got to the lake, my feet were stinging from the cold.  The lake water was actually a relief.  So, I got in the water, and did some swimming to get used to the temperature.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the last time I did an open water swim was this same race in October. 

I felt pretty good on the swim.  This is my fastest swim split at this race, by 46 seconds.  My sighting was good, my BlueSeventy goggles never leaked or fogged up.  I'd still like to improve this time by a few minutes, but not bad for someone that could barely swim one length of a pool three years ago.  I think if I can get myself into some masters swimming or maybe some occasional coaching, I'll start to see some real improvements.

T1 (5:30)

Ouch, I'm totally embarrassed to publish this time.  The T1 times at this course are typically high because of the long run up the beach, but a lot of little things went wrong to make this happen.  Ideally, I would like this time to be under 4 minutes.  Things I learned on this day: a) cotton arm warmers aren't meant to go on wet arms, b) my Garmin 305 doesn't need to go on my wrist for the bike portion of the race.  Again, since I didn't have time to completely set up my bike, I didn't add the handlebar mount for my Garmin.  I learned that it's hard to put on a velcro watch strap with cold, numb fingers, and c) need some more practice taking of my wetsuit.  This is why I do this race, so I can learn and improve for other big races ahead.

The Bike (1:13.29 , 40 kilometers)

Even with everything that went on with rushing to get my bike ready, I'm still disappointed with this time.  I've actually done this same course in 1:06.  Now that I've had a chance to ride the bike, I'm noticing a few little things that are normally taken care of before racing.  First, my seat was way too high. Next, my left armrest slowly rotated down until it was resting on the base bar. There are also a few little shifting adjustments that will need to be made, but nothing too major.  The one thing that's not letting me beat myself up too much about this bike split is the fact that when I packed up my bike at the end of the race, the rear wheel wouldn't even spin one rotation as I spun it with my hand.  The brake pad was pressing against the wheel.  It probably stuck in that position at some point during the race when I needed to use the brakes.  Again, not excuses, just lessons for next time and hopefully someone else can learn from this too. On the bike, I had one gel, and drank maybe 12 ounces.

T2 (1:07)

I still haven't broken one minute for T2 here, but I'm close.  I had a hard time with the clasp on my helmet, and changing shoes with number feet is tough. Not much else to say here, but wow, were my feet numb.  I felt like I was running on cold slabs of meat.

The Run (46:02 for 10 kilometers)

This is another PR for me on this course, so I'm super excited to see that my lack of running volume this past year hasn't set me back.  The strange part was running with numb feet.  I couldn't tell if my form was off, so I just tried to maintain a good cadence until I got some feeling back in my toes.  This is another one of those moments when I reflect on what my brother goes through every day being paralyzed.  If he can battle through that, there's no way I'm complaining about running for 15 minutes with numb toes. 

Overall, the run felt good.  I had my second gel pack after mile 3.  I wanted a little caffeine boost for the last part of the race.  I did notice my legs getting heavier over the last 1.5 miles, probably due to my reduced running volume.  It's almost too late to do too much about it before Wildflower, so we'll see how I do over 13.1 hilly miles next month.

Final (2:31:10)

Another PR for me on this course.  I improved by 5 minutes over my best time here.  This put me 5th out of 17 in 40-44AG.  I was still about 12 minutes away from the podium, it's promising to think that I'm getting closer, especially since I know I can do at least 5 minutes faster on the bike.  So, I'll likely sign up for the October race again, which will be a little more than a month before Ironman Arizona.