Heatwave 2010 Race Report

There were rain showers as I awoke just before daylight, making me anxious to check the radar on my computer and get an idea what to expect for race day. No storms were close by, but they would arrive at some point.
I was not as antsy about getting to the race site early as I usually am. This was a mistake, because I always get a nice parking spot close to the transition area. This time I had to park in a restaurant lot, not so far away, but I was not comfortable with it. I felt a little rushed getting marked and chipped and set up in transition. I did a sanity check on my gear and found I had forgotten my cycling shoes, but I had just left them in the car.
I enjoyed pre-race visiting for a while with old friends and local racers, and got in the water for a warm-up swim. The wind had whipped up the water to some respectable chop, but I considered that an advantage.(see previous post)
The mass swim start was much more crowded than any I had experienced, but I fought my way through feet and elbows into some clear water. It was a bit difficult to see the buoys, and I focused on the wrong one for a while. A kayaker guarding the course perimeter paddled over and warned me to swim back to the left. That faulty navigation probably cost me a minute or so.
As I made the final turn toward shore, the water seemed smoother and I turned on the speed as best I could. It was great hearing "go Billy!" from a few voices in the crowd as I left the water and ran to transition. (Swim time 17:52, #5 of 15 in age group)
I had no problems in T1, and headed out in heavy bike traffic. After a few miles I thought the riders would spread out and there wouldn't be so much passing and getting passed, and yo-yoing with other riders, but the race was pretty much that way until the last few miles. I was feeling good and strong, and gave it 100% the whole time. My new bike was great, and I knew I would post a better bike leg time than I ever had.
I risked the one-pedal dismount, where you coast to the dismount line standing on the left pedal, a quicker way than coming to a stop and then dismounting, but a potentially dangerous one if your foot slips. I executed flawlessly and even heard a compliment from the crowd. (Bike time 1:14:33, avg speed 20.0)
T2 was smooth, my fastest yet, 54 seconds, and I trotted out on the well-known jello legs. Kay Vee's orders were to swim hard, ride like a time trial, and ease into the run, but hammer the downhill return leg. The first 2 miles were OK, but the hills were making my thighs really ache since I had pushed hard on the bike. The heat was manageable. I carried a water bottle and filled it twice at the stops, and used it to douse myself when I felt hot. By the fifth mile I was having to stop and walk for 15-20 seconds because of the pain in my thighs. I did notice, due to a good swim and bike, that my friend Steve did not pass me until after the turn, and Kay Vee did not catch me until a half mile from the finish. Becky never did catch me! All this was very encouraging. But it was a poor run, still my biggest weakness. (Run time 1:09:21 11:23 mile pace)
Overall time 2:44:22 - a personal record by 5 minutes!

Getting Older

I hate to be a whiner about my physical ailments, but my body has been letting me down lately. I know I've asked a lot from it in the last 3 years since I've been doing triathlons. After the two half-marathons this past winter, I was excited about improving my running times at the summer triathlons. Thanks to a knee that would not cooperate, I had to take 3 weeks off from my running and the half-marathon endurance gains evaporated. My knee problem also caused me to miss the Memorial Day Weekend Annual Red Creek trip with ML and the river gang. Next, I had a blood pressure problem the week before the Heatwave Triathlon and worried that I wouldn't be able to participate, but my doctor changed my prescription and said, "if you've been training all this time and have that lifestyle, doing that event is where you need to be." Well, Heatwave was pretty tough for me this year with the knee not back to 100%, but I was happy just to be there.

Here's a success story: Fellow swim team member KE did her first complete tri, the Soak Up the Sun Triathlon and won her age group and beat the times in the age groups above and below. She did the bike leg on ML's 20 year old Peugeot, only having ridden about 30 miles on the bike before the race. (I will add that she can hang with anyone in our advanced spin class). The following weekend she does the swim leg on a relay team at Heatwave and her team wins the mixed relay. That was her second Heatwave relay victory. Her triathlon career stats - 4 races - 3 1st place finishes. Note the eager participants checking the results posted behind me.

Above is the complete Flounder team with Paul's daughter, who cruised through the swim leg at an amazing 10 minutes, 20 seconds , a top 30 finish in a field of over 300. KE was in the top 50 at 11:13, and I made the top 100 at 12:35. Paul rode the bike leg this time.

My next injury, a sciatic nerve flare-up has caused me to miss 2 weeks of workouts. I've had bouts with sciatica before but one morning the pain had me crawling back to the bed. Wifeunit built me a pallet in the back of my 4Runner, and I crawled in and laid out for the trip to the ER. They gave me a shot and some drugs and I'm almost 100% again. I'll see a Physical Therapist Tuesday and go from there.

One thing I did while resting was take another field trip with the Jackson Audubon guys to Harrell Prairie, a big open area in Bienville National Forest with some unique plants and good birding opportunities. The trip gave me a chance to practice with my new digital SLR. Now I don't have to tolerate the inconvenience of getting film processed at Walgreen's.

Also, several cyclists helped support a local Half Marathon yesterday. We just rode along with the runners, helping them be seen on the lonelier stretches of road and ready to call in medcal support on cell phones if needed.