Getting ready for a solid race weekend I felt like a caged puma, ready to pounce on the flower city tri. Saturday leads off the weekend with a run-bike-kayak and Sunday bats clean up with the flower city half marathon. This should be fun.
First off let me set aside any worries about the course. Yellow Jacket racing put on a great race, tons of volunteers, the roads were all watched and traffic was held off where needed.
I started off race morning around 5, got some pre race grub and headed to GVP. We rolled into GVP around 6:30. Ms. Scott and I rolled into transition to find a nice spot a few bikes from the bike exit. Some of the athletes were taking up way too much room on the racks so I asked if they would mind sliding down a bit. Loaded up Ms. Scott and because it was cold I hung a jacket and a pair of gloves from my aero bars. Then I dragged my borrowed 8’ kayak over to the boat transition. Put the life jacket, paddle and a bottle of water in the boat. After transition was all set up I walked around shook some hands, kissed some babies and met a few of the other athletes before the gun went off.
Run:
Being a little chilly I ran in a pair of long pants and a long sleeved full zip jersey (red of course), just right for today. I have not run a 5k in about 2 years so right from the go I was going to let it all hang out. Coach had a simple plan for this race, go for it on the run, go for it more on the bike and kayak the best I could. I like to keep it simple. At the gun I took off with the lead pack and then dropped back few places to settle into a good pace. I hit the first mile in 6:39, and new that was going to be a little too fast so I eased it up just a bit. Running through GVP was a nice, views of the canal, lots of green trees and the only real elevation change being the four bridges over the canal and Genny. After the final bridge, knowing that there is still some race left, instead of sprinting to T1 I just held my pace and hit it at 22:03, yep that’s a big 5k PR.
T1:
The day seemed to warming up quite nicely so as I ran up to Ms. Scott I grabbed the gels out of my cycling jacket and stuffed them in the jersey. Shoes off, helmet on and off for the bike leg in under a minute.
Bike:
I had a little problem getting into my shoes on the bike once I was up to speed. Normally I am pretty good at this so I waited until making the turn onto a wider road to avoid any mishaps with oncoming bikers. I tried to take it a little easy for the first mile, although I felt like I was dragging an anchor (more on this later). After the first mile we turned onto river road the first couple miles were a little rough but after crossing Jefferson everything was smooth. River road has a few rolling hills and a little bit of a head wind for the day. The race organizers did a great job staffing the bike course with volunteers and police at every intersection. Being one of the first on the bike, I did not get the chance to do too much passing, in fact I felt like everyone and the mother was cruising by me. Now I am exaggerating a little bit but I really felt flat on the bike. I didn’t find out until after the race, but my rear quick release was left open. Fortunately, I have vertical drop outs so the wheel stayed on for the ride, that could have been a disaster. I guess when cruising along the wheel stays pretty straight, not 100% safe but it works. On the way back to transition there was bit of a tailwind which made for some nice cruising speed. I rolled into T2 in about 63 minutes, slower than anticipated but still in a pretty good place.
T2:
With feet out of the shoes beforehand T2 was pretty quick. I had a little trouble slipping my running shoes back on (the end run was going to be on gravel) but I got out of T2 in about a minute and half.
Kayak:
Only being in a kayak about twice in my life this was going to be a big wild card. Before the race an experienced kayaker told me that the longer boats should be able to average about 6 MPH and my little short boat would be lucky to do 4 MPH. Cool, my goal is around 45 minutes then for the 3-mile paddle. The day was really starting to warm up and it was a good day to be on the water. I was a little wobbly to start, but I stayed in the boat. A few of the volunteers might have wanted to rescue me, but I steadied the boat and was on my way. Kayaking was fun, I was able to power through the paddling without any major problems. I was passed by quite a few of the longer boats but I feel like I held my own out there, especially for the second half, it pays to be an endurance athlete. The boat took a little over 47 minutes, not too shabby for my first paddle race. Next time I am going to try to get a long kayak and see if I notice any difference in speed
Finish:
I made the short run up to the finish with minimal cramping and came home with first in my age group. They gave us flower pots with the flower city logo on them for placing.
Me and Richy flashing some hardware, apparently I am also a little teapot
Richy took third in the age group so he got a pot (smaller haha) to take home too.
Post race:
I had a burger and chips after the race (provided by the race) then got home to re-carbo load for Sunday’s half marathon. Iced the legs, did some stretching and took it easy for the rest of the night.
The half marathon is a subject for next time.
Train smart and stay safe!
