{"id":6254,"date":"2016-09-26T15:01:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/?p=6254"},"modified":"2016-09-26T15:01:15","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:01:15","slug":"kerrville-olympic-ish-triathlon-dollars-and-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/26\/kerrville-olympic-ish-triathlon-dollars-and-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Kerrville Olympic-ish Triathlon – Dollars and Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a whole lot of thoughts on and around this one, but I’ll stick to the race details here.\u00a0 Kerrville Quarter Distance Triathlon<\/a> race report GO!<\/p>\n

\"sep26-1\"<\/p>\n

Sunday morning:<\/p>\n

After a few issues including LEAVING MY GOGGLES AND EARPLUGS at the gym in Austin and not noticing until after the expo closed (more of this later), we awoke to rain overnight, and lightning arcing through the sky.\u00a0 I fully expected the race to get cancelled and was already debating the contingency plans (really long trainer ride? just go home and drink mimosas?), but the lightning part went away so the race went on.<\/p>\n

I felt like I had been eating non stop since earlier in the week (more on this later also), which meant I was fueled pretty well.\u00a0 I also hadn’t, erm, emptied for a bit, so at one point in the porta potty line I told Zliten I was about to poop my pants or puke, I felt so full.\u00a0 Not the greatest way to come to race morning, but after a few visits to my friend (Porta) John, it was all sorted.\u00a0 Morning nutrition: cliff peanut butter filled bar, parts of a gatorade and nuun that didn’t fit in other bottles, a caff gel, and two electrolyte pills about 30 mins before the start.<\/p>\n

\"sept26-3\"<\/p>\n

Random foods, schwag, the pool, the swedish goggles and CVS earplugs, and the Texas pool.<\/em><\/p>\n

Swim:<\/p>\n

Kerrville is a time trial start, which means you’re in a line like cattle, and then all of a sudden you hear your own personal GO.\u00a0 Which, in this case, means you’re diving into the water and hoping to all that’s good and fishy that your new Swedish style goggles<\/a> hold tight.\u00a0 You’re trying not to think about the fact that Zliten just built them last night after an online tutorial, you only tested with about 50m of laps in the hotel pool, and you’re really hoping they do not fall apart or leak or fully burrow into you’re eye sockets or fill your head holes with lake.\u00a0 This is not the case with every swim, probably never again, but this is the start of your Kerrville swim.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, after the initial 100m, I didn’t think about them much.\u00a0 Though, I can still feel the bones around my eyes a little sore in some places today.\u00a0 This lovely, glamorous sport we do, right?<\/p>\n

I started out with the pass pass pass pass and then we joined with the half ironman swimmers, which was annoying, but I found some space and mostly avoided trading blows with people.\u00a0 The very dark goggles + a super grey day + the murky lake = couldn’t see my Garmin for anything.\u00a0 So it was swim by feel.<\/p>\n

My goal was to pace this like the Splash and Dash, but I think I got caught up in the fact that I usually do a half ironman here, and paced it more accordingly.\u00a0 I also have to remember it was not wetsuit legal, in fact, it was 82 degrees, so that also slows the swim times down.\u00a0 The quarter (what they called it, half of the half distance race) let the ladies go first, which was nice, until I got beat up by the first two dudes from the guys wave after me about 100m from the shore.\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0 Swim around me.\u00a0 There’s plenty of space.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 Dudes.<\/p>\n

That may have harshed my mellow a little, but I got out, saw that I swam ~22 minutes and filed that away under “that could have been a lot worse”.\u00a0 Whatever the race clock says, my garmin clocked me at 2:00\/100m moving time, so I’ll take it.<\/p>\n

Swim: 22:40 (2:16\/100m), 8\/18 AG.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Transition 1:<\/p>\n

T1 has this really steep hill.\u00a0 Some years, I’ve walked it.\u00a0 This year, I actually came out of the water feeling great, so I jogged up it and actually passed some people.\u00a0 Yeah!\u00a0 I did all the normal things, plus decided on bike gloves for comfort, shoved my shit in the T1 bag and ran off.\u00a0 I know this is my fastest time, I think by a LOT, though no wetsuit to deal with helped, I was also racked in the back of T1, so I had to deal with my bike for a lot longer.\u00a0 Hooray for avoiding transition gravity!<\/p>\n

T1: 3 minutes flat, tied for 7\/18 AG<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"sept26-4\"<\/p>\n

Dropping off death star for a an overnight sleepaway camp for bikes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bike:<\/p>\n

Warning: gross triathlete stuff ahead.\u00a0 I had to pee the entire swim, but couldn’t.\u00a0 I figured, no time like the present.\u00a0 No one was around, and I went ahead and let it go.\u00a0 Baby’s first pee off the bike.\u00a0 Major (long distance) triathlete milestone!\u00a0 I had a brief thought about the shoe stench and then all of a sudden the sky opened up and started pouring, and I was like, “that takes care of that”.<\/p>\n

However triumphant I was with peeing, and however thankful I was for the bath, it really wrecked my bike mojo.\u00a0 I’d never ridden the death star in the rain, so I had no idea how it handled.\u00a0 I still probably don’t, because I took all the turns at 5 mph and rode so incredibly cautiously I was probably making little old grannies look reckless.\u00a0 I felt very uncomfortable in aero, so I’d say I spent MAYBE 25% of the race there (and that may be generous).<\/p>\n

The course is a generally a gradual downhill on one half, followed by a generally gradual uphill.\u00a0 The bad is that I took the downhill super conservatively, and I probably rode it slower than I ever have, and lost a LOT of free speed.\u00a0 The good is that the uphill parts felt a lot less uphill than ever.\u00a0 Since I’d never taken them before on the Death Star, I got prepared, plopped down into little ring and prepared for the worst… and then all of a sudden I was up them, no muss, no fuss.\u00a0 My 5 mile splits ranged from 16.5 at the worst and 19.2 at the best, so if nothing else, I was totally consistent.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t raining the entire time, but wet roads are slippery, and some parts of the course were not blocked off, and you had to ride a small shoulder.\u00a0 Fucked if I’m going to be swerving out into traffic in the wetness in aero to pass people.\u00a0 I did it a few times (not in aero), but I definitely got stuck behind people more often than I should have.\u00a0 Also, I realized that my aero helmet wasn’t tightened down around mile 20, which made it slip all over so I couldn’t see well.\u00a0 I thought it was just a tragic hair choice with a higher than normal ponytail I could never figure out how to fix.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 I will be reviewing that move in transition practice at least 10 times before the next race.<\/p>\n

I was happy on the out and back section I didn’t see Zliten.\u00a0 I know that sounds mean, but he is just unbeatable this year and I always win Kerrville.\u00a0 Looking at the times, later we were actually surprised and then did a Strava flyby… I was maybe 100 feet up the road when he got there.\u00a0 Heh.<\/p>\n

I suppose, subconsciously, I was a little fearful of that hill I wrecked on last year, even though I didn’t want to admit it.\u00a0 But, again, I was prepared for the worst, and then up it like I climb that kind of shit every week (oh wait, I do…).\u00a0 I rode the last 6 miles so thankful I has stayed rubber side down and had a functioning bike, unlike last year.\u00a0 I probably spent more time in aero at the end than any other section and then all of a sudden there was the sharp turn into the park and lots of coasting and there I was at T2.<\/p>\n

Am I a little disappointed in my bike split?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 However, I would have been more disappointed with myself if I crashed and spent the night in a hospital or wrecked my new bike or even had a minor injury plaguing me this week due to a low speed crash.\u00a0 Safety first, kiddos!<\/p>\n

Bike: 1:39:25 for 29 miles (17.5 mph).\u00a0 7\/18 AG.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transition 2:<\/p>\n

I ran my bike in and racked and dumped my bag.\u00a0 I made the conscious decision to use my hokas with regular laces and take a few extra seconds to actually tie them, and with how WET my feet were, I was actually super happy I did.\u00a0 No blisters!\u00a0 Since it was cooler, I left my handheld bottle, but I grabbed the gels in it and headed out.<\/p>\n

T2: 2:25.\u00a0 7\/18 AG<\/strong><\/p>\n

Run:<\/p>\n

This is usually the bane of my triathlon existence, but today I felt weirdly set up for success.\u00a0 It was cooler, I was not coming off the bike overheated like normal.\u00a0 I was feeling… rather great, actually.\u00a0 I got out on the course and let my legs dig in to the pace, and all of a sudden the first mile ticked in at 9:46… and I was like, ok, let’s keep this up!<\/p>\n

I also realized that while I had fueled appropriately for the weather, I was only one gatorade and one gel into the day at 2 hours and change.\u00a0 I felt fine then, but I knew I wouldn’t by the end.\u00a0 I let the universe decide my fate – caff gel in one pocket, non caff in the other, and I got the non-caff.\u00a0 Probably for the best because I actually fell asleep before 3am, though the caff gel probably would have helped me finish a little faster.\u00a0 Tradeoffs.\u00a0 I also made sure to take in a gatorade and a water at each aide station because cool and wet doesn’t mean I’m impervious to dehydration.<\/p>\n

Just before mile 3, I did the calculations.\u00a0 If I didn’t see Zliten until mile 3.5, I was beating him.\u00a0 Then I looked up and immediately saw Zliten, running strong.\u00a0 I felt happy for him but also checked in with myself to see what I had left and see if I could at least give good chase.\u00a0 Survey says: I was not really to spend all my cash.\u00a0 I wanted to keep some of the change.\u00a0 In my head was the training I still have left to do for my A race.\u00a0 Six days until a long hilly 80 mile ride.\u00a0 Thirteen out from my long brick on the Austin 70.3 route.\u00a0 That is the race where I throw all the dollars at the course and say “keep the change”.\u00a0 Not this one.\u00a0 Patience.<\/p>\n

Also, I was already having a pretty phenomenal run split for me.\u00a0 I debatably did better at Cap Tex last year (slightly better official time, but this course was long and that one was a little short), but I was in much better run shape then.\u00a0 This was a pretty great victory.\u00a0 I kept plugging away, fading to low 10 minute miles in the last half, but still very pleased with what my garmin was telling me.<\/p>\n

We had some friends and BSS teammates on the course, and closing in on mile 5, I kept hearing Zliten behind me giving them encouragement as they passed (I give hi 5s, less talking\/breathing).\u00a0 I knew it was only a moment of time until I saw him and then… yep… decisive pass.\u00a0 I did pick it up a little and kept him in my sights for the rest of the race, but there was no way I wanted to do what needed to be done to my legs right then to go with him.<\/p>\n

I know there was some rain at points, but I don’t remember it.\u00a0 I love rain when running.\u00a0 I just kept plugging away and telling myself “10 more minutes of running, “5 more minutes of running” “3 more minutes of running” and then there was the finish and I ran across and it was 0 more minutes of running.<\/p>\n

\"sept26-5\"<\/p>\n

Ganked from teammate Larry’s facebook.\u00a0 Hopefully he doesn’t mind…\u00a0 Before the rain and the sweat!<\/em><\/p>\n

Run: 1:07:26 for 6.4 miles (registered 6.64).\u00a0 10:32 official pace. 10\/18 AG.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without really meaning to, I kind of paced this race like my ideal half ironman.\u00a0 I definitely had another loop of the bike course at that speed.\u00a0 If it was the race where I spent all my dollars (and also, had maybe done more than one 10 miler :P), I think I could have done another loop of the run approaching that pace.\u00a0 It was just getting cooler and cooler as it started raining harder, but as I said, I love running in the rain so I don’t think it would have bothered me.<\/p>\n

I post race fooded pretty well, got a taco and some chips and some fruit, and a beer.\u00a0 We sat around for a while and chatted, but got really cold and it started to pour.\u00a0 The first time it let up a bit, we got our stuff, and got the heck out of dodge.\u00a0 We had planned to stay and cheer and enjoy a few more beers and float in the lake.\u00a0 Sorry half finishers!<\/p>\n

\"sept26-2\"<\/p>\n

Only slightly resembling a drowned rat.<\/em><\/p>\n

Total time: 3:14:57. 6\/18th AG.\u00a0<\/strong> You’ll notice that I never placed above 7th in any individual discipline, but I ended up top 1\/3rd anyway.\u00a0 Consistency is key!<\/p>\n

Immediately after the race, I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed with it.\u00a0 There were high points and low points.\u00a0 I had no mystical “third place” to chase down on the run (5th was wayyyy ahead of me).\u00a0 I was motivated by Zliten chasing me, but not enough to not get caught.\u00a0 However, I had a really solid day altogether, pretty good age group placement,\u00a0 and one of my best longer distance runs off a bike yet.\u00a0 After 24 hours, I think I’m ready to mark this one down in the WIN column.<\/p>\n

What’s next? Two more recovery days, and then we jump back into peak training for a while.\u00a0 In the next two weeks, I have a lot of running and riding to do, and I’m ready for the final push to Austin 70.3.<\/p>\n

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I have a whole lot of thoughts on and around this one, but I’ll stick to the race details here.\u00a0 Kerrville Quarter Distance Triathlon race report GO! Sunday morning: After a few issues including LEAVING MY GOGGLES AND EARPLUGS at the gym in Austin and not noticing until after the expo closed (more of this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[86,75,81,82,29,94,89],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUhDu-1CS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6254"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6254"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6265,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6254\/revisions\/6265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}