"A"- The race was a non-wetsuit swim. The water temp was 76.8 degrees with the wetsuit cutoff being 76.1 degrees. I've only done one other pro race non-wetsuit and it was a disaster. This one was no different. The wind was blowing like crazing creating lots of big waves. I started the race in contact with the group but after getting smashed with wave after wave I found myself alone and I switch from race mode to survival mode as I attempted not to drown. As a result I was 11 minutes back of the leaders after the swim...about 7 minutes back of any resemblance of a main pack of pros and my race was over. The rest of the day was competing for fitness and pride. It was tough and not a lot of fun getting smoked like that. I finished 13th of 15 pros and lost ot my first amateurs ever in a 1/2 Ironman distance finishing 17th overall of nearly 2,000 triathletes to start the race.
"B"- I began the week feeling good after racing the Pigman Sprint triathlon last Sunday. I woke up on Monday and got on the scale...161...what the heck have I done to myself?? I was pretty frustrated...borderline depressed with seeing this number. Just 2 months ago I was feeling as fit as ever weighing 147 and I could feel the benefits of this newfound slim figure. I was running and riding incredibly well. I grew content and through April and May developed some bad eating habits. I would begin most days still counting calories but every other day or so I would blow my calorie count up with binge eating of things I should not be putting into my body if I want to compete at a high level. Needless to say little by little the weight piled back on and here I am basically back to the weight I raced at a year ago. I had signed up for the Kansas 70.3 when I was light and fit and now I would be racing it at my old race weight...FRUSTRATING!! I'm the only one to blame for the lack of focus and discipline here. I need to get back to where I was if I ever want to know how good I can be.
Monday through Wednesday were three great days of training. I put in 14 hours of training between those three days and I seemed to recover better each day so it was a good sign that I'm over whatever sickness I had been battling for the past few weeks.
On Friday Jen and I left the QC around 1:00 for the drive to Lawrence Kansas. Jen registered for the QC Triathlon that is going to be this upcoming weekend. She was planning to ride my old 98' LeMond road bike that is way to big for her but I had other plans. I had secretly purchased her a 2008 Orbea Ordu...the same bike I used to race on. I bought it from a guy who lived 15 minutes off our path to Lawrence and I had arranged to pick it up on Friday night to surprise her. To do this I had to tell Jen we were stopping by a guy's house who I had ridden RAGBRAI with 10 years ago. I told her I hadn't seen him since I road RAGBRAI with him and that he knew I was going to be in town and wanted us to stop by to say hello. Jen was a little annoyed with this detour since she didn't know this ficticious character I had made up. She was straightening her hair in the car as we got close to his house. I told her he wanted to go on a bike ride with me but I would tell him we were in a hurry and didn't have time. When we pulled up to his house he was outside getting the bike ready and Jen said, "He has his bike out. He must want to show it to you...she was still oblivious to my plan." When we got out of the car I told her this was actually not my friend from RAGBRAI but a guy I had purchased a bike from for her. She was pretty stunned. I'm still trying to decide if she's excited or if she wants me to get rid of the bike. I'll probably be able to answer that one after Super Mom races the QC Triathlon on Saturday. We had put my LeMond in the car because Jen wanted to ride it in Kansas so combining the new Orbea with my Shiv and the LeMond would give us a jam packed SUV.
On Saturday morning Jen found a road race in Lawrence, KS and she won the entire race...guys included. This was the first time Jen finished a race ahead of all the guys and girls. She even managed to get off course and ran about 400 meters extra. I slept in while all this excitement took place. I went for a 4 mile run and then we headed to pick up the race packet, go for an open water swim together, and drive the bike course. The pro athlete meeting was at 3:00. We ate a late lunch/snack which I termed a snunch...Jen says I need to skip the snunch from now on. I was in bed by 10:00 awaiting the 4:00 am wakeup call.
On race morning I was up at 4:00 and had the Super 8 waffle for breakfast. We drove to the race site and Jen dropped me off so I could get my transition areas set up and get my warm up in before the 6:30 a.m. pro race start.
Where do I go from here? I have a lot of work to do. As bad as the swim went I have not lost confidence in knowing I'm swimming better right now than I ever have. The conditions of the day combined with the non-wetsuit left me in a tough spot and I didn't handle it well. I certainly don't believe for a second that I regressed in my swimming over the last week. I put in my highest swim week in over 3 months with 21,400 yards this week. I am excited for this quick turnaround with a race on Saturday. I know I'll be asking a lot of myself to get recovered in only 5 days. My left piriformis is VERY tight but beyond that I feel pretty good...better than I ever have the day after a 1/2 Ironman. A little ART from Kaminski Pain and Peformance Care this week along with ice baths, rest, and massage should hopefully have me ready to race again in 5 days. My next big race is in 5 weeks at Racine for another 70.3. I'm really looking forward to a swim I know will be wetsuit legal in Lake Michigan and I'm going back to a course I've had a lot of success on. I'll be hoping to improve upon last year's 6th place finish, my highest pro finish to date. I'll have 3 weeks of pretty high volume training combined with healthy eating that will hopefully have me back into my lean form and ready for my best ever. Even when days are tough like Kansas was I continue to dream of high finishes and continue to believe that I can and will race more competitively in tough pro fields. It would be great to see a nice crowd out at West Lake Park this Saturday for the QC Triathlon. So many friends and family members I know will be racing. It's an extremely well run event. If you get a chance to come out it would be great to see your support for people on the course. You can park at the New Life Baptist church about a mile from the park and they will be running a shuttle until 6:45 am when they will clear the roads for the race. Parking inside West Lake Park is difficult and they will close the roads down until the last finisher so if you are hoping to leave early park at the church and take the shuttle. Payton and Owen have been enjoying their summer getting out on the bikes a lot. Owen refuses help when he climbs Mt. Wild West Drive home from the mailbox. I thought about the effort I see from him climbing up the hill when I was out on the run Sunday. They inspire me to work hard. Hope to see you Saturday. Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!
3 comments:
Jeff,
Great report, and very happy to hear you stuck it out. I saw your run time and was very impressed. Nothing but good to take out of that man!!! Keep your head up and it will click!
Thanks Carson! You are off to a GREAT start this year. Keep things rolling!
Hey Jeff best of luck to both you and Jen in this weekends QC Triathlon...wish I could make it over to watch you guys but I will be checking up on ya!!!
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