Accel Triathlon

Broke 2:00:00, but still trouble on the run

I knew off the bike I could break 2:00 if I ran smart.

Preface

This was my first race back after Steelhead 70.3, so I was just happy to get out and race. I wanted to break two hours in the Olympic distance, and knew if I was going to, this race was my best shot. I had planned on this from the beginning of the season, but the Steelhead race was a spur of the moment decision. Honestly I lost a ton of confidence in myself after that race, having lost all control, and breaking down physically and mentally. I didn't know what my body could handle after the heat stroke, and honestly I was racing scared. Aside from that, I was able to meet up with two teammates from Tri-Hawks, Danielle and Lauren(Overall Women's Sprint Champion. I was happy to not be completely alone, and happy to have some people to give me some shit.

Pre-Race

I was frantic before this race, my family had decided to come up and watch. I got my normal bike in, and then got to do an easy jog with a stud from UMKC. Mitchell won the Overall Sprint distance, and it was nice to have someone to jog with. I knew that Tyson would be here, and I thought maybe Ian, both decorated pros, might come. Regardless, I was nervous and wanted to bounce back from Steelhead.

Swim - 19:24

I lined up knowing that Tyson had beat me out of the water multiple times already, and that was the only person I knew. The gun went off and I went out hard, which at this point had been my plan of attack, create space, and then work. I led for no more than 500 before Eamonn, a swimmer for GAC, passed me. I tried to match his pace, but by the turn around he was 30 seconds ahead of me. I accepted that, and settled back in for some work. I managed a PB by over a minute, on a swim that was rumored to be a little long. Out of the water about 35 seconds behind Eamonn, and in second. My goal was to get under 20:30, but I knew if I was under 22:00 I could stay below 2:00.

Bike - 55:31

My bike has been the chink in my armor for my triathlon. I tend to take 15 minutes to get into gear, and then I can start holding decent power. I also cannot corner very well, as Michael Libin knows all too well. I went out very poorly, 240w or less. It took me about 12 minutes to even get that to a steady 245w. I shit you not, 4 minutes into the bike Tyson shot past me at over 27 mph, and that was the last I saw of him. Second it was, I knew I couldn't outrun him yet. That left Eamonn to catch, and that took about 10 minutes as he had put a big dent into me in the swim, and I took a while to warm up. After that, I just new I needed to keep ahead of Kassem and Bell, two good AG from around Iowa City. I ended up getting to the turn around, say Tyson was about three minutes ahead of me already, and decided to just try and bike my best to keep the other people back. I saw Kassem, Bell, and Eamonn were a decent clip back, but I knew Kassem could run, off the bike very well. I finished the bike at 265w, and three minutes down on Tyson. I went out onto the run at 1:18, and knew I could break 2:00 as long as I ran and didn't crack.

Run - 37:26

Well, this started okay, I held 5:50 for about a mile and a half, then I died out. I fell to around 6:02 average pace, and while not horrible, I know I can run much better than that. I knew I was about a mile up on third, so did not feel the need to crank it up, but my legs were also very stiff. By the 5k, Tyson had already put another minute and a half into me and now was 5 minutes up. I ran it out, finished 2nd overall, breaking the old course record, and making some money.

Afterwards

First off, congrats to Lauren on absolutely killing the collegiate race, and racking up those points. Danielle, also congrats on the race, scoring some very important MWCTC Points! I also want to say thank you to Accel Group, for putting on another gorgeous race, and being so great, I will be returning next year. I am just very happy to have gone under 2:00, I knew at the beginning of the season that this would be tough, and a very big challenge for me, but I did it and I can only thank Coach Dan for pushing me beyond my perceived limits.