Monday, September 9, 2013

Yuba Sprint

1st in my age (30-39) didn't stick around for the podium - Ava had her first soccer game.  

After my last race Chase said something that stuck, "You need to run your own race."  I know my limits and how to push them.  I have a game plan for every race and sticking to the plan has always produced the best results.  This is the third time I have competed in the Yuba Sprint Triathlon.  I love the venue: flat and fast.  The 2008 race was in a rented wetsuit and a borrowed bike.  I did the backstroke and wore an iPod Shuffle on the run.

Woke up today at 4:45AM ate breakfast and did what I do every morning before workouts.  Nothing new on race day.  Yuba Reservoir is about 110 miles from SLC, and being alone driving in the darkness helped me get my mind right for the race.  I rolled into Yuba at about 6:45AM - giving me about an hour and a half to get copious amounts of gear set up.  Moved down to the water for the 8:15AM start time and did 6x25m warm-ups laps.  I didn't have a great swim which will be he focus of my training this winter.  Being 3:00-4:00 minutes behind when I get out of the water can't happen if I am going to be an overall victor.

Crushed the bike!  I had the second fastest bike split of all the racers and didn't move into my high threshold until the back 6 miles.  I questioned the structural integrity of my Orbea, but it held strong and got me through one more race.  My spun my legs the last half mile of the bike and tried to give my quads a little break before the run.

Keep a solid 7:10 pace throughout the run.  I saw the 5 guys in front of me at the run turn around and calculated they were about 5:00 minutes in front of me.  At the run turn around I picked up my pace and watched my heart rate climb to the moon.

The numbers don't lie.  What we are doing at Vitality is working.  I am faster, stronger and smarter.  It's time for a little break from triathlon training and just enjoy being outside riding - although it's hard to not be excited for what 2014 has in store.

Yuba Sprint 2008 (1:24:21)
Yuba Sprint 2009 (1:19:32)
Yuba Sprint 2013 (1:09:33)
14:58 swim
30:42 bike (2/119)
21:40 run
http://www.trutiming.com/2013_Camp_Yuba_-_Sprint_Race_Divisions.pdf

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