A Giant Eagle 5150 Race Recap:
I know that it has been a long time since this has been updated, but I promise that I have been racing.....I just haven't been keeping everyone updated. I could give you excuses as to why I haven't written anything over the past two months, but they would be just excuses. Life happens and it happens to us all. With that said, things are really good in my life currently. Neeley and I have finally moved into our new house, our unborn child is progressing very well and I have been racing rather well. So without further delay, I will give you the most recent race update along the way of getting my blog up to date.
I traveled up to Columbus, OH with a couple friends to try my hand at the elite wave of the Giant Eagle 5150 with the intentions of qualifying for Hy-Vee 5150 Championship in that division. Neeley and I did this race last year and while it was a logistically difficult race, it was fast, fun and relatively close. Logistically, the swim is a 25-minute drive north of the race finish. The race offers a shuttle service from downtown (T2 and race finish) to the swim start (and T1) on race morning that is very nice but we were staying north east of town and this would have added more drive/ride time to our race morning. We decided that we would leave one car downtown on Saturday and drive the other car to the race start Sunday and just drive up there after the race to pick it up. It worked, but I don't know that it was any better/worse than last year when Neeley and I stayed downtown and rode the shuttle.
We arrived at T1 with what appeared to be forever before the race start, but before I knew it I was in a rush to get my wetsuit on before my wave started. Luckily, I have finally figured out that I have to put my TYR Cat 5 Hurricane wetsuit on by pulling it into place from the inside rather than the outside. As many have said before, the wetsuit is fast, but with that speed and flexibility comes a very delicate exterior. I got it on and rushed to the line to find a couple of familiar faces on the line for the elite wave. I thought that I had learned over the past 2 seasons that I NEED to push to front line on the swim and be aggressive. Oh well, lesson learned and no harm done. Swim was uneventful other than they claimed it was a 1500 meter swim, but when I stood up in the water and my watch read 16:XX, I knew they were mistaken. I got in to T1 just before my friends and knew that I would have to take advantage of the fast bike course to stay in front of them.
I knew that the bike course was a net downhill, but I also knew that there would be a couple hills early in the ride. My knowledge of the course from last year was not an advantage as road construction caused an immediate course change so I had to just roll with it. I was feeling pretty good and rolling pretty strong but for the second straight race I wasn't able to get the power numbers up to what I was shooting for. As I have learned, you just have to race with the what you got on the day and make the most of it. The weather was in our favor and stayed cool. I topped off on fuel with a couple sips of my secret Infint Nutrition"Go Fast" mix, but didn't need a whole bottle as I have in hotter races. I only saw a couple riders up ahead and while I was catching them, it was taking a long time to get there. I finally made it up to the first one and was halfway to the second when I was passed. This lite a fire under me and I was able to use him to legally pace and make the rest of the way up to the other rider. The three of us rode into T2 together and the run race was on.
I beat them both onto the run and found my stride, although it is difficult when you start the run with slight uphill, but I rolled through the first mile in 5:2X. I guess I must have relaxed too much after that because the second mile was not as good and allowed them both back into the race. I still had a lead at the out-and-back and was actually able to see who was ahead and how far. I got to the turnaround in 4th, but I had company. He was onto my should by mile 3 and the pace picked up as I tried hard to drop him. We worked our way to 3rd/4th by mile 4. I could see his shadow falling off as I pushed the pace on any incline, but never quite far enough back to snap the elastic. Shortly after mile 5, we caught a glimpse of 2nd place and we were able to catch him around the 6 mile mark and then it was just a sprint to the finish. Unfortunately, I found out later that he was former collegiate 800 meter run and my shadow for the past 3+ miles left me in the dust. Disappointed that I hadn't been able to drop him on any of the hills, but happy to run a 10K PR off the bike. As it turned out, we should have been able to see the winner as we came to the line, but neither of us can recall him. I finished 3rd and accomplished my goal of qualifying for Hy-Vee in the elite division. Now I just have to decide if I want to race AG or elite.
As it turned out (for the second straight year) the results were messed up and the one awards ceremony that I was able to stick around for, I didn't get the called up for the award that I rightfully earned. While they didn't have the results right at that time, they have since changed them to reflect what actually happened in the race. It was fun to race with and against friends and it is always nice to be able to get home in time to eat dinner with Neeley.
Thanks again to all the Maverick Multisport sponsors.
