race

There isn't a race report for Pac Grove and there won't be one as there wasn't too much to tell. Not a great race nor a bad one, just a race where I went through the motion as I've done so many times. And going through the motion on this day gave me a second place finish in my age group, just 10 seconds short of first place. No regret as I was never really committed to actually try and catch first place after getting off the bike 90 seconds down. Sorry for the delay in the race report. The last race report had special meaning and I just did not want to take it off the main race page (for an explanation, read the bottom of this page: http://racingawareness.blogspot.com/2008/09/training-vs-working-out.html). Going into my last tri of the season, I just wanted to have fun, whether that meant cruising the race or hammering myself. I was quite sore from the half marathon the week before and thus, was able to only do 2 runs of less then 30 minutes. I sat on the trainer twice just trying to keep the blood flow going. Of course I stressed because these were not ideal race preparations, even though my outlook was just to have fun. You just can't change some things. It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and drive 15 minutes to the race start. The swim went by extremely fast and I felt stronger on the second of two laps and I was first out of the water by 1 minute or so. The bike also went by really fast and I never really hurt but I also knew that I wasn't pushing my edge. The course is so spectator friendly and on each of the 6 bike laps, I got some crazy cheers from my teammates which was a blast. Off the bike, I knew my legs weren't there for the run. Though I've been running a lot, I had not been biking a lot and well, poor swim shape affects your bike, and poor bike shape affects your run. My stride felt like it was 2 inches long and my legs could not turn over as they felt like bricks. I just went out controlled on the first of three laps and tried to build the second lap but it just wasn't there. Heading out on the third lap, I saw Scott Zavack, a guy I normally outsplit on the run closing in on me. I made the decision that when he went by me, I would do all I could to keep up or hold him off. When Scott went buy, I hooked on his shoulder and within 20 seconds, I was deep into my mummy breathing. I didn't care about form, breathing or anything, all I focused on was staying on his shoulder. As my effort increased, so did my stride and I repassed him and he responded by saying, "It's about time you started running." So Scott egged me and at one point, even pushed me because I was starting to back off. Heading toward the finish, Scott veered off to start his third lap as he left in a wave after me, but he shouted at me to keep redlining it and finish top 10 overall. It was at that point that I realized "fun" for today would be punishing myself all the way to the tape. I haven't taken myself to that effort all season, the effort where you're kind of fighting consciousness, or your leg buckling from underneath you, or just getting air into your body. I knew my form looked awful and I was flailing my arms but I was just determined to keep whatever pain I felt present all the way to the finish. Crossing the line was such a sweet feeling and for the first time this season, I collapsed at the finish knowing that I emptied the tank. Props go out to all my teammates who were out there cheering me on, it was awesome to always get so much feedback. It's weird, I was supposed to take a break from racing this year and well, somehow I ended up with a pretty full schedule. I did more running races this year than I have done the past 4 years combined and somehow, I snuck in 5 triathlons, winning my age group in 4 of them. Go figure. All I can say is thank God, I'm not in the 40-44 or 45-49 age group, those guys are damn fast now! And now, it's time for my first marathon in over 8 years.