Buckman 09 Race Report

Sorry this is so late. This report really doesn't reflect how much fun I had this weekend but I don't think I'm going to be able write anything better...

I took Friday off to meet with a roofing contractor and to get the place ready for Saturday’s party. It was a long busy day. I was glad when Kevin and Lara showed up around 9ish. At that point I finally took a break and let the weekend begin.

Saturday morning the weather was still kind of miserable. Light rain but fortunately it wasn’t too cold. We get to the race site and our friend Jeff is there. He is going to do the Swim on the relay with Maija and Kevin. I haven’t seen him since 1993 I think. I have to credit Facebook for the reunion.
We were a bit late getting there so I didn’t get to stand around and chat much before the race but we definitely were not rushed. It’s a small race and everything is close. No long walks from the car to transition.
We had a good group of friends there. Todd, who I run with twice a week was there. Ed and Chaz from our Y. Kevin and Jeff from College and Maija jumped in to bike for them when Genine started to not feel so well during the week.
I had my new sleeveless top for my wetsuit today. Some thought it might be cold enough that I’d want the sleeves. I found the water to be very comfortable. The race was small enough that all the male racers started at the same time. Then the relay team started in the next wave with all the women. Jeff was the 1 lucky guy swimming with all the women.
The swim start is very shallow and it stays that way for a long time. You could dolphin dive 8-10 times in a row if you wanted to. One of the college guys did in fact do this and he got to the front of the pack with that method. The water isn’t clear enough for me to want to do this. With my luck I’d find the one and only rock in the water and knock myself out.
I started out beside Todd, he’s definitely faster than I am. I plan on getting on his feet and trying to stay even with him for the swim. Unfortunately, because of the shallow start I wasn’t able to keep from being cut off. You couldn’t see much in the water anyhow. Following someone would have been difficult. My swim on the way out was decent. I felt that I kept a decent line and seemed to be swimming fairly well. On the way back, I kept feeling like I was swimming too far from the buoys. Sighting and swimming straight are definitely 2 things I need to work on.
I didn’t ever get to the point where I felt that I was swimming well but as I exit the water. Maija yells that Todd is just ahead of me. Sure enough we get up to transition and there is Todd.

I spent a ton of time in T1. I had decided to wear gloves today. With the wind and rain, there is very likely to be obstacles on the road. I’d rather have the gloves on. I almost forget to take my swim cap off before putting my helmet on. Fortunately Genine points that out to me. Todd yells back “NO COACHING!!” ha ha! Then he heads out of transition. I probably start out 20 or so seconds behind him.
I have a very specific plan in my head as to when I should be able to start attacking the course. I know it very well. Unfortunately, I’m without my bike computer today. I figured I’d be able to go on feel and wasn’t concerned about it.
I get Todd back in my sights shortly after the sharp right turn at the bottom of the big hill. I pass Todd at the tracks and try to take it up a notch. I should have known it wasn’t going to go well when I didn’t crest the 2nd roller with power. I gave up all my speed and was back to spinning. It wasn’t too long after that, at Pickell Park, that Todd was back even with me again and passing. This next section is the other area where I plan on hammering because I know I’ll get a nice break after I power through that section. Again, I feel like I have nothing. I have Todd in my sights but I can’t close.
The next section is a short recovery. You get a section of downhill where you can get up over 30 miles an hour for a bit. Todd plays it safe here and I barrel past him on the downhill. Unfortunately, the next section is my weakest of the entire course. So I know he’s going to pass me again. He does.
Last chance is the hill climb back to the park. We basically climb that section at the same rate and we are into T2 at almost the same time. Jeff, Kevin and Lara are standing at the transition area cheering me on. I say to them that I just couldn’t manage to get ahead of Todd and that I really needed to get a minute or two ahead of him somehow. They ask if I can catch him on the run. Ummm not likely, I figure he will be 60 to 90 seconds faster than me on the run. Lara is surprised that I’m going to do the run without socks. I did remember to put bandages on my feet, so I didn’t have a problem.
Todd is out of T2 ahead of me. He slowly pulled away the entire run. I see Genine taking pictures at the mid point of the 1st lap.

She says I’m going to have to run hard to catch Todd… I get to the 2nd lap, there’s Maija, Jeff and Lara. Maija is yelling for me dig in. I realize that I really am not going all out and I turn it up. I definitely felt that my 2nd lap was faster than my first. Can’t say for sure because I didn’t wear my watch today. This was a no technology race for me. I finish feeling like I put in a good race. I’m sure it’s not my best but it’s something to work from.
Next to cross the finish is Kevin. His first 5K I believe. When we looked at the results, his 5K time was one second faster than mine. Nice.
Now the funny part is this. Here it is Thursday and I’m just now realizing that their relay team probably beat my total time. Not surprising, it’s just that I haven’t thought to look. The only thing I really even cared about was making improvements in each event compared to my results from last year.
Let’s see, Jeff had a good swim, only a couple minutes slower than me. Maija I think finished 4 minutes ahead and Kevin added another second to that lead. Now I’m going to have to look at the results again. (I beat Jeff by 1:59, Maija beat me by 2:44 on the bike, Kevin beat me by 1 second. The rest of their lead is transition time. Beating me by 2:51 total)
I realize that this was a “fun” race. I didn’t really have myself on a training schedule that would allow me to put out my best effort. I’m l glad I raced rather than relay. I have a couple things to think about now because of it. Mainly I’m frustrated with my bike result. Was it because I didn’t have my cadence computer and I ended up over-spinning? Was it lack of calories/nutrition? Or was that truly the best I could possibly have raced that course. It’s hard to say because I don’t know my biking abilities well enough to have an answer.
After the race we headed back home for some lunch and to finish the party preparation. It’s been a very busy summer. It was nice to finally kick back and visit with everyone. Of course we still have a ton of food left over. Anyone hungry for a meatball sandwich with a side of cookies?