Race Report: SHAC

400 yard swim, 10 mile hilly bike with three 180 turnarounds and two more 90's. 3 mile hilly run with 3 turnarounds.

The day did not start well. Some time around 1 in the morning a smoke or CO detector beeped twice. I went to investigate and it didn't go off. Go back downstairs and 10 min later it happens again. This time I think I find it. This basically goes on until 3:30 in the morning bc the intervals got longer and I had more trouble going back to sleep. At that point I was just up and left for the race at 4:30. The good news is that it didn't effect my performance but I couldn't go for a ride afterwards in the beautiful weather.

My race did not start until 9am as there is just a line and you get in when someone is done swimming their laps. I didn't think I had much competition but I wanted to put a lot of time into a couple friends and try and get as close to Ben Hoffmans record of 50:45 as I could. There were 330 racers in the race.

Swim 6:04, goal was 6:00. 7th overall

There is a run in and out of the pool that prolly lasts 15 seconds. I am disappointed bc 6 was supposed be me my easiest goal to hit the way I have been swimming. Need to work on pace and no chance for a warm-up is what I think did it.

T1 0:50, goal was 1:00 Tied for 1st. (Rory, I know you beat me by .024 or something)

I blazed this. Put on my shoes at my bike and ran out of there. I had my bike at the near end so I had to push it through transition since I would have my shoes on anyway and this be able to make up any lost time .

Bike 25:40 goal was 26:00. 1st by 1 min. Course Record that should hold for a while.

I hammered the 2.5 mile uphill out section and recovered the way back bc the course is so tight it is just hard to get time anywhere. Just a second here and a second there. Worked well even though I was a little worried for the run.

T2 :40 goal was 40. 5th

Thanks Brian for the tip on the baby powder. It worked really well. Can't go any faster then this.

If you put both transitions together I got on my other competitors.

Run 17:42 goal was 17:00 4th overall

The run is two loops (2 out and backs actually) and I felt not so great on the first one but thought my form was decent. It just felt like I had pushed the bike a little too hard. I saw my training partner and 10 min steeplechaser Shay Asay about 5 minutes back and looking good. I was hoping to see him near the same spot on the second loop and he had indeed only gained about 5 seconds and looking even better so I knew I was running ok. From there I just cut loose. My abdominals where screaming right below my sternum and below my right pectoral. A little higher then normal. Hard to say whether I had biked 20 seconds slower if I could have made up 33 seconds on the run to take the record. I think not. I am still over 170 and all of the research and calculators out there say a weight of 165 would have netted me the record. Between that and a lack of tempo workouts is my new found motivation. I think my running will really come around in the next two months even.

Overall: 50:58 goal 50:45 1st overall of 330 by 2:22 seconds.

Really happy with the overall time. This speed puts me up there with the faster pros. This has always been my biggest concern since I can train for distance fairly well without loosing speed. I really needed this race to get my focus back. This was my best from the gun race as well. Hurt the entire time. I think the hurt only gets worse bc with the increased fitness you are able to push harder and further. At least it doesn't last as long as the time before. The results are at www.milliseconds.com but their site is down today so you will have to click on SHAC on the right side of their page when it comes up.

I got the plaque which is nice, the wood carved medal is my favorite medal yet. It smells good and the detail is amazing and I hope I captured it in the picture.

Gonna use this to get another pair of Saucony Kinvaras. Really want another pair of Vibrams but will need to move to a place where I can hit soft trails more.