Friday, May 11, 2012

Race Report Rev3 Knoxville Olympic: The Race of Three’s


Well, my first race of 2012 is in the books and it was a huge success!  In case you couldn’t tell from the title, it was the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville.  The following are 2 versions of my race report: the short and long version, which you can choose depending on how much time you have….Enjoy!

Short Version:  I finished 3rd Amateur Overall.  1st in M30-34.  Short enough?



Long Version:
I had done this race the past 2 years, but since it was part of my Ironman build for Coeur d’Alene, I raced the half both times, but never the short-course Olympic.  Actually, this was the first Olympic event I truly raced since 2009.  With a focus on an early-summer Ironman and qualifying for Kona in 2010 and 2011, I was completely focused on long-course training and racing from the start of the season.  However, with my plan to race Ironman Louisville (late-August) this year, I have the flexibility to race other early-season events.  So about 8 weeks ago, I discussed with my Coach, Bonnie Karas from Fraser Bicycle, which race I should do, the half or Olympic?  We agreed the it would be interesting and fun to see how I would perform on the shorter distance.  With that in mind, my goal wasn’t only to race the distance, but my goal was to place on the Amateur Podium:  Top-3 Overall.  Period.  Based on my fitness this year and looking at past results, it was a realistic, stretch goal.  With that goal in mind, we tweaked my training plan from the standard Ironman base building to include more race specific intensity.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  there is nothing easy about racing an Olympic; the training hurts!

Fast forward to the race weekend, I drove from Detroit to Knoxville on Friday, May 4.  Fairly uneventful, but when we went out to dinner in Market Square it was completely packed with people.  Apparently the first Friday of every month the City has an outdoor concert/festival/party in Market Square.   Definitely something to keep in mind if you ever decide to visit.  It looked like a great time.  Saturday was also fairly uneventful, which is a good thing on race weekend.  Pretty much it was final inspection of gear, easy ride and run and a practice swim in the river.  The practice swim was nice since this was my first open water swim of 2012 and the wetsuit always feels tighter than normal during the first few minutes.  The interesting part came when I went to pick up my number.  I was 333.  This got me thinking, was this some type sign of things to come?  I mean this was my 3rd race in Knoxville, my name has a “third” attached to the end, my son is 3 years old, and I was aiming for a top-3 overall.  Seemed like there was a theme here…



Race Day:
As usual, up early to go through my standard pre-race routine.  Even though it has been over 6 months since my last race, I was able to progress from one activity to another without skipping a beat.  Before I knew it, everything was ready and I was right on schedule: done by 6:45 and I had about an hour until my wave start at 7:50.  After my run, we headed down to the start area, where I continued getting ready for the swim.  Since this is an in-water start, there is no swim warm-up allowed, so any swim warm-up is done before getting in the water.  I was able, to find a place out of the way and hooked up my swim cords, which resulted in more than a few odd looks in my direction!  Oh well, they worked and I was ready to go.  With about 20 minutes before start, I took my Biest-Booster, and with 10 minutes to go I took my gel.  On with the wetsuit and now time to get in the water.  It’s go time!

Swim:
With no real swim warm-up, I made it a point to get in as soon as possible, which was about 5 minutes before the gun went off.  At least I was able to get used to the water and had a few short swim bursts.  While I was swimming, I missed out on the front row at the start line, and ended up about 5-6 feet behind the line about the 3rd row back.  Finally, the countdown and the horn sounded!  We were off!  It was the usual bumps and knocks for the first couple of minutes, but after that I was able to get into a good rhythm.   I found what seemed to be a good set of feet to follow and settled into a steady pace, which allowed me to focus on my keeping good form.   The swim is a river swim, that is about 1/3 upstream, where we turn-around and head downstream to the swim exit.  There is virtually no current, and the water is flat; absolutely no waves or chop at all and typical of river swims, the visibility was about 6” (I couldn’t see my hand at all during the swim).  About halfway through the swim, I decided the feet I was following were not moving fast enough, so I decided to pull out and go for it.  By this point, I was feeling good and kept the same RPE through to the finish.  The swim exit here is a bit different.  We swim up to the floating dock and heave ourselves out of the water, and being in our black wetsuits, I felt a penguin trying to land on an iceberg….hoping that we launch ourselves enough out of the water so we don’t fall back in!  This has to be pretty entertaining to the spectators.  As I ran up the dock I glanced at my watch and saw 21:18 (1:28/100m avg)!  Based on my training, my target was 23:00, so seeing this was awesome; I was ahead of plan, but with no time to waste, it was on to T1.  My placing at this point was 26th overall.

T1:  They move this about ¼ mile further down the road than last year.  I figured it would add about 2 minutes to my T1 time and I was close.  I was in and out on the bike in 3:51, not great, but good enough to pick up 1 more position, I was now 25th. 

Bike:
After racing here the past 2 years, I knew what to expect on the bike.  Plenty of climbs, descents and curves with a few technical portions and speed in excess of 40 mph.  So in other words, it’s not really a course where you just settle into a pace and ride.  On the flip side, it is a fun course that is honest; not overly challenging, but not easy either.  Going into the race, I estimated that if I average about 0.90 Intensity Factor (IF), my time would be about 1:00 – 1:02.  So that was my plan.  Based on some key race simulations, this puts me right in the “standard” Olympic pacing range and still have a strong run after.  In general, the bike went as expected.  I worked my way through the earlier waves of Half-Iron Distance competitors and at the same time passed a few in my race as well.  From mile 10 until about 18, I had a nice battle with another rider swapping positions every couple of minutes.  We were pretty even on the flats, but I was faster on the descents and he would pass back on the climbs.   On the little out and back around mile 13, I was finally able to get an idea on my overall position.  Counting the riders heading back, I figured I was in 6th place at this point, with about 10 miles to go.  The good news is that I was climbing the overall rankings, but I still had a ways to go get on the podium.  Since every position counts, I knew I had to drop the rider I was swapping positions with.  I couldn’t let him get away and wanted to beat him into T2.  Even if we had the same time, I at least wanted the psychological advantage of being back first.

Finally on the last major climb and technical descent I was able to get a gap and pull away.   For the rest of the ride I kept the hammer down and passed what seemed to be another unlucky rider with a flat about ½ mile from the finish.   I was back into T2 after a ride of 1:01:08 (23.55 mph avg) and move up to 4th Overall, 2nd in M30-34.

During the race I paced myself to what seemed to be the correct effort for the distance, but in the end my average power was about 0.85 IF.  This gave me a bike split of 1:01:08, which was right where I thought I would be and it was the 3rd fastest amateur bike split (I missed the fastest bike split by 6 seconds….damn, I was close!)  Based on my training I think I should have been able to ride at a slightly higher power, but the effort seemed correct.  I think pacing off RPE is better than trying to hold a certain power number, since it gives better chance of a strong run when you listen to your body.  Something to look into for next time.

My nutrition plan for the bike was pretty simple.  1 bottle (2 scoops) of First Endurance EFS, plus 1 serving of gel.  In my water bottle, I also added ½ scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race.  Man, this stuff really is rocket fuel.  This was about 300 cal/hr, which was enough to keep me fueled, but not enough to overload my system at the high intensity.  To keep things simple, I only carried this 1 bottle on my bike….between my extensions, of course!



T2:  I flew into T2 and again move quickly and efficiently.  I slipped on my K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5 with speed laces (no socks), grabbed my number belt and visor and headed out on the run.  In and out in 1:11, still in 4th overall.

Run:
As I left T2, I heard the other riders entering Transition, so I knew I needed to find my running legs pretty quick.  Normally, the first mile always feels a little bit off, both in terms of pace and form.  Today was not that different.  I went out at my target pace for the first 3 miles (goal was sub-6:00 min/mile), and while I was holding sub-6:00 (first mile was 5:56) my form definitely felt a little clunky….but I knew I had no choice; I had to keep pushing.  As expected, my running legs came around about 7-8 minutes into the run.  Now I was still pushing the pace, but my form felt a lot better and running felt more natural.  By this point I couldn’t see anyone in front of me or behind me.  Knowing there were at least a few racers ahead of me, I knew I needed to keep pushing.  At this point, I slowly saw my speed increase:  mile 2 was 5:50.  Somewhere between mile 2 and 3, I knew the turnaround was getting close and it was time to finally check my position.  First I saw 1 runner, then another, then another.  Damn I was 4th and getting close to the halfway point of the run.  Surprisingly, as I rounded the next corner, there it was!  The Turnaround!  At this point I figured I was about 40 seconds back from 3rd place with about 3.5 miles to go.  My first reaction was to put my head down and charge full speed ahead.  After a minute or 2, the thoughts started to creep in to be content with my position, 4th is still a good race, etc.   But I knew I wanted that podium, and I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t give a full effort.  I didn’t know if I would catch him or not, but I knew I need to keep the pressure on.  The good news is that I continued to see my times fall: Mile 3 was 5:41 and Mile 4 was my fastest yet, at a 5:36, but I couldn’t tell if I was catching 3rd place or not. 

The run at this point is in a wooded, meandering path, and you couldn’t see more than a few hundred yards at any given time.   Finally, I reached the end of the path and we were back on the main road that parallels the river.  As the road came into view, there he was!  I was getting close.  I was still about 25 seconds back, but at least I could see I was making progress.  We passed the aid station around mile 5, and he still had a 20 second lead.  I knew this was going to be close, and with the few small inclines (they were not really hills, but the rise and fall of the road), my pace had dropped to 5:48 for mile 5. 

The last ½ mile of the course is a climb to the finish, and just before that, the course enters a sidewalk with a couple of switchbacks to enter a tunnel to cross under the road.  I knew I didn’t want to get into a sprint finish on the uphill, and all the turns in the switch back would be hard to make up any time.  So this was it.  I had to do something within the next 0.75 miles, and I was catching him.  At this point, I had no idea on my pace, and I really didn’t care.  I knew what I needed to do, and it was right there!  As I closed in on him, I knew I wanted the pass to stick, so I paused for a few strides to recover (very slightly!) and then charged past as fast as I could.  As I passed I didn’t even look over; I kept looking forward and just ran.  After about ¼ mile I turned around, and he had dropped back about 10-15 seconds.  From this point forward, I kept the pace up and charged up to the finish.  Finally halfway up the hill to the finish, I turned around and no one was in sight.  At this point, I knew I could was going to do this!  I started to get excited, but still kept the pace on and finished my last mile in 5:42.  As I crested the hill, I could finally see the finish, and there was my family cheering me on!  I ran down the finish chute and finally I was done!  After the finish line I finally looked at my watch and saw I ran a 35:31 for the 10k run (5:44 min/mile avg), which is my fastest 10k ever, and a total time of 2:03:00!  At this point I knew I was third over the line, but the race wasn’t over yet.

Now came the waiting game.  While I was 3rd over the line, there was a second wave, so it wasn’t until about hour later that I finally knew if I reached my goal of finishing on the podium.  During what seemed to take an eternity, the results were finally posted, and there it was: confirmation I finished 3rd!   What a race!  I am extremely happy with the result, not only because of my placing, but also because I know I raced at my full effort.  Regardless of my position, I know I raced the best possible race and that’s what really counts to me. 



I also need to thank those that have supported me in helping me achieve my goals.  As always, the support and help of my wife and son are essential in everything I do.  All the people at Fraser Bicycle, especially Coach Bonnie Karas for providing the plan to get me “Olympic race ready” in 8 weeks, Ron Schmid for getting my bike ready after a long winter and Paul Rogers for his continued support.   Also, my partners, First Endurance for the producing the best in nutrition products, K-Swiss, SLS3 and H20 Audio for making the long swims much more enjoyable!

This race is definitely a thumb's up!
Now it’s time to recover and figure out what’s next.  My next race is tentatively planned for the Motor City Triathlon in Detroit on June 17.  On a side note, the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville is a USAT Elite qualifier, and by finishing in the Top 3 Amateur, I am now eligible for a USAT Elite racing license.  So I need to do some thinking if I want to take that step and if so, when does it make sense…. Stay Tuned

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