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The plan for the week was to rollover my fitness and incorporate lots of short intense workouts to stay fresh to race at both Evergreen Triathlon and then do an aquabike at Ironman Racine. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I did feel pretty darn good, but I started to feel an impeding upper respiratory infection on Thursday evening. Although I woke up on race morning with a slight headache and some chest congestion, I didn't feel like I needed to scrap the race. However, after the race I felt terrible, and I decided to scrap going to Racine and instead headed back to Madison to get back on the road to recovery. Today I pretty much feel like I death, but hopefully after a full rest day today, I can at least get back to some light recovery work tomorrow.
Here is a short recap of the race at Evergreen.
Swim: With record high temps in the midwest the lake temp was still 82 degrees and this race was not wetsuit legal. I lined up next to Bryan Rhodes and Christie Sym along with all the other elites and all the collegiate athletes that were also going off in our wave. We got the start signal and we were off. Unfortunately a quick swipe of another's arm down my leg and my timing chip was gone. For a moment in time I thought about that chip and what to do, but then snapped back out of it and realized that I was now behind the eight ball. I swam feverishly to try to close the 10 foot gap that was created instantly by Rhodes. I rounded the first buoy in 4th place and I saw a few other swimmers to my right. I did the smart thing and dropped back and stayed on their toes as I relaxed and let them dictate the pace. Half way thru the swim I figured out who the feet were and I knew they were feet in races past that I couldn't hold. The swim was long and I actually started to get cold during the swim despite the 82 degree water, but I knew forging ahead would simply be a waste of energy.
T1: Coming out of the swim I told the volunteers that I lost my chip and they told me to continue on. I was stoked to come out of the water with Tami Ritchie and I continued on to my bike. When I got there I found my chip wrapped around my helmet strap. Now usually I always make up 10-15% of the T1 total time compared to my competitors, but I don't exactly have a lot of experience in unstrapping a timing chip and restrapping it in T1.
Bike: On to the bike I went and I tried to keep a relaxed pace until I could get my power online. Once again my power didn't come online by itself and instead required a reset and repairing with my PT. This may seem simple but when your Edge button is flaky, is tucked between the aerobars, and you are moving at 30mph it is anything but. Anyway, my power did finally come online and I was surprised at the level of watts I was pushing for the perceived effort. I quickly dialed it down as I worked toward 2nd and 3rd place. In the first few miles I was able to see a tiny speck in the distance and the time check said I was 1:35 back from Rhodes in 1st. Naturally Rhodes had a lead vehicle, and I find that once a great biker is in the lead of the race that there is no way they are going to reliquinsh the spot. The advantage of a lead vehicle is too great. Nonetheless I pedaled like a man possessed as to drop 2nd and 3rd place and not provide them with a free tow. I could tell that I was gaining on Rhodes and I could actually start to see his wheels spinning but I was never able to close the gap and remained :45 seconds back as I rolled back in to transition
T1: Coming out of the swim I told the volunteers that I lost my chip and they told me to continue on. I was stoked to come out of the water with Tami Ritchie and I continued on to my bike. When I got there I found my chip wrapped around my helmet strap. Now usually I always make up 10-15% of the T1 total time compared to my competitors, but I don't exactly have a lot of experience in unstrapping a timing chip and restrapping it in T1.
Bike: On to the bike I went and I tried to keep a relaxed pace until I could get my power online. Once again my power didn't come online by itself and instead required a reset and repairing with my PT. This may seem simple but when your Edge button is flaky, is tucked between the aerobars, and you are moving at 30mph it is anything but. Anyway, my power did finally come online and I was surprised at the level of watts I was pushing for the perceived effort. I quickly dialed it down as I worked toward 2nd and 3rd place. In the first few miles I was able to see a tiny speck in the distance and the time check said I was 1:35 back from Rhodes in 1st. Naturally Rhodes had a lead vehicle, and I find that once a great biker is in the lead of the race that there is no way they are going to reliquinsh the spot. The advantage of a lead vehicle is too great. Nonetheless I pedaled like a man possessed as to drop 2nd and 3rd place and not provide them with a free tow. I could tell that I was gaining on Rhodes and I could actually start to see his wheels spinning but I was never able to close the gap and remained :45 seconds back as I rolled back in to transition
Run: I transitioned as quick as I could and made sure to get time splits to Rhodes and from 3rd and 4th place. I started out on the run destined to catch Rhodes and ran tall, strong, and fast. I got multiple check points, and being a local race in my old stompin' grounds, there were numerous people that knew me by name and gave me splits. The split at half mile was down to 39 seconds, then at 1.5 mile it was down to 37, at 2.75 it was down to 26 seconds, and then at 4.5 it was down to 12 seconds. Unfortunately fellow local pro Jared Milram had moved into 3rd place and was only about 15 seconds down from me. Jared made the pass and I tried to go with him, but after 20 seconds I cracked and I was done. Stick a fork in me done. In that moment I had known that I had not only lost 1st place but also 2nd. With a sizeable gap to 4th I throw in the towel and I decided that I would have to be happy with 3rd. I used the last 1.5 miles as my cool down and trotted it in for 3rd place. It was disappointing but that is the way racing goes sometimes.
Here are my weekly swim, bike, and run totals:
Total: 155 Miles / 14 hours 49 minutes
Swim: 15,888 yards / ~8 miles / 4 hours 44 minutes
Bike: 126 miles / 7 hours 35 minutes
Run: 21 miles / 2 hours 28 minutes
Core: 0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes
Weight: N/A
Body Fat: N/A
Calories Consumed: N/A
Calories Burned: N/A
Total: 155 Miles / 14 hours 49 minutes
Swim: 15,888 yards / ~8 miles / 4 hours 44 minutes
Bike: 126 miles / 7 hours 35 minutes
Run: 21 miles / 2 hours 28 minutes
Core: 0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes
Weight: N/A
Body Fat: N/A
Calories Consumed: N/A
Calories Burned: N/A
