A busy weekend ....
Well needed summer rains in Texas meant the Dirty Rock Off Road Tri was moved to the same weekend as the Kiwanis Tri Rock Sprint triathlon. Both events are held in Rockwall, TX. I've done the Tri Rock Sprint before, in 2012 when I was still a Clydesdale triathlete but this was my first time in the Dirty Rock. As a Cat 2 mountain biker and triathlete it should be an event I excel in.
Saturday: Dirty Rock Off Road Tri
More rains meant that we couldn't race on the Squabble Creek trail so the organizers laid out an on-road/off-road circuit using nearby playing fields. It was a cool dewy morning so the grass sections were wet and likely to get slippy as we were doing three laps of the short 2-mile circuit. This was going to be a short, fast race.
I had a high start number for the short 150yd pool swim and was expecting some traffic which proved true. I was quickly upon other swimmers. I got an elbow in the face which partially flooded my goggles, but pushed my way through.
Swim: 2:37 (1:45/100yd pace - new PR pace for a swim)
I kept T1 nice and simple. No socks today - I used waterproof tape around my ankles to inhibit any rubbing of my shoes. This worked great. No glasses either - which proved a good decision with the amount of water and mud kicked up, glasses would quickly have gotten covered.
T1: 46 seconds
With just 6 miles on the bike, I put the hammer down. I quickly identified some faster lines on corners that others were missing. Lots of overtaking kept me on my toes as there were a lot of slow riders wandering all over the course. During one fast passing move I got to close to a thorny branch so I got back into transition with blood trickling down my arm.
Bike: 19:58 (2nd fastest overall)
T2 was going great until my bike slipped off the stand as I was putting my shoes on. Few seconds wasted picking it up again. My mtb seat doesn't lend itself to seat-mountain on a tri bike rack. Shoes on, no socks, grab number and vizor and off ..
T2: 52 seconds
The start of the run was a short trail and uphill on wet grass. My legs felt heavy - definitely different running after mountain bike rather than tri bike. But with just a 2 mile run I had to push. Finally onto the road I kept focused on keeping my pace up and trying to catch the runners in front. I hauled in one guy towards the end of the run and the downhill grass into the finish line made for a fast finish.
Run: 15:55 (7:58/mile pace - PR pace in a triathlon)
Race time: 0:40:10
That gave me 2nd in 45-49 Men age group, but more significantly, 5th fastest overall! Everyone faster than me topped the podium for some category or other and quite a few that I beat topped their AG podiums. One day I'll be that lucky ..... maybe.
Sunday: Kiwanis Tri Rock Sprint Tri
Woke to perfect cool temperatures and felt good to race again. Same routine. Just 15 minutes earlier.
The Tri Rock is a bigger event with 145 racers. The Rockwall Aquatic Center is a great location for a tri - plenty of parking and a great 50 meter pool. A few familiar faces from the Saturday race too. I planned to do the same and race without socks again. I got there early and secured a great bike spot, mid-transition on an off-set rack so I had no-one opposite me. Also I decided to go back to having my shoes already on the bike. While this makes for a slightly slower few seconds on the ride to get my feet in and fastened, it gets me out of T1 super quick (in theory) - helmet, glasses, bike, GO.
The swim went well - deep pool, wide lanes. At 300m it was too long to hammer so I just planned to keep it uneventful.
Swim: 6:33 (2:00/100yd pace)
T1 went super smooth as planned and I was in and out in 33 seconds - easily my fastest ever T1.
I probably tried to get my feet into my shoes too quick as the first 100 yds out of transition was slightly uphill. Once on the road, though, I got quickly settled into my rhythm. Next time I'll wait a little longer - the bike is more stable at speed which makes getting feet into the shoes less wobbly.
There wasn't much wind on the bike course which is unusual for this route. Also the wind most often comes out of the south making the out leg from I-30 to 205 superfast. But on this day it was a gentle NE wind. On a positive note this would make the predominantly uphill return leg less of a grind. It was such a great feeling to blast through the traffic signals and stop signs that normally interrupt my rides on John King Blvd. Even though this was a sprint, I still had to leave a little in my legs for the run. Brought back memories of one of my first races, slower riders struggling on the uphills while some fast guy steams past them at 25mph, except this time the fast one was me. Two years training and 30lbs lost make a lot of difference.
Feet out of shoes and a fast approach to transition, nearly blew past the dismount line! Carbon wheels with carbon-specific brake pads don't have much stopping power.
Bike: 34:14 (22.4mph - fastest bike speed of the year)
No bike shoes to worry about - just hang the bike, slip the Zoot Ultra Race 4.0 shoes on, grab number and vizor and go.
T2: 37 seconds. Beat that!
As ever after a short, fast bike leg, the legs are a little heavy. But I knew the run was my weakest discipline and there were quick runners in the field. If I was going to make the podium I had to push to lose a little time as possible. The run was changed from last time - more compact, twists and turns and some short inclines. Lots of runners were following the curves around the roads but I kept to my mentor's advice and ran cone-to-cone, no need for unneeded extra yards!
Mile 1: 8:22
In the second mile, I started to feel the two races. Running was getting harder and it seemed a long way to the finish. Push, push.
Mile 2: 8:26
Finally with the last turns, the Aquatic Center was in sight. I summoned everything I had left, lifted my feet and ran hard for the finish, my last 0.1 mile at around 7:00/mile pace.
Mile 3: 8:12
Run: 26:05 (official pace 8:22)
A couple minutes slower than my 5K PR recently, but ok for the second race in two days.
Total race time: 1:08:04. 13 minutes 12 seconds faster than my previous time on this course and a sprint tri PR. I thought I might have been a couple minutes faster but I put it down to two races in two days just sapping me a little.
Despite concerns about being a couple of minutes slower than I expected, it was still good enough for 3rd place in 45-49M age group. Second podium in two days. A productive weekend and good preparation for two weeks time when I will be racing the Arkansas Double - Olympic distance on Saturday, Sprint distance on Sunday, personal wager on the line with friends. The big takeaways from these races were the success of my simplified transitions, without socks or messing with Garmin watches, and if I'm going to challenge for top spot or Masters wins n sprints then I'm going to have to get faster on the run. A little more swim speed wouldn't go amiss either.
