For two reasons I had absolutely NO expectations going into this race: 1) I had just finished a high volume week prior (350 miles on the bike and 6 "breakthrough"/quality workout…TONS of food and sleep) and 2) I had never done a du before. Since I was on spring break and work had slowed for the professor I'm assisting, I decided to kind of follow the to Inside Tri articles from the last two issues: Friel's article on crash training and another coaches article on setting up your own pre-/early-season mini-camp. If anyone is interested and responds that they want to see it, I'll post on Gina's website the 10 day schedule with workout specifics, what I ate, and how I held up.

The weather race morning was perfect: no clouds, very little wind (which is unusual for Marine drive next to the Columbia River by the airport) and about 50-60 degrees. Met up with Scott and Eric before hand, and, as usual, walked around the transition area and parking lot to gawk at the unbelievable bikes. After warming up, we headed to the start line.

After standing with Gina for a few minutes, she told me to head towards the front. After looking at the Shamrock 15k results, she figured that if I had started towards the front instead of the back, I would have been nearer the top of my age group. So, there's no telling "NO" to Ma G.

Race started and we trotted up hill to Marine Drive for the first out and back 5k. Hit a fairly comfortable pace and realized by the first few hundred yards that the front pack behind the leaders weren't THAT far away. At the turn around, the front pack began to thin and I thought I might be able to get in with that pack. I maintained a comfortable and relaxed pace with a quick cadence with a short stride. Hmm. Feels pretty good…think I'll let it out a little, at which time I passed a lot of the folks from the front pack. Passed maybe one or two women before the first turn around and didn't see any for the remainer of the first 5k. Thought to self, "Hmm, that's odd. I'm farther out front than I thought." As I exited T1. I heard the announcer say that the 1st overall woman was heading down Marine Drive towards transition. WHAT?!?!?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!?!? She's BEHIND ME?!?! How'd THAT happen. Well, ok, new race goal. Stay out front of the overall woman. YIKES.

Quick transition thanks to Yankz and I'm off on the NEW BIKE. WOOHOOO!!!! I thought, "wow, this feels pretty fast and I'm flyin' past a few folks." Hit the first of two turn arounds and headed for the first long stretch by the airport. I was spinning fairly quickly and feeling pretty conservative because I just didn't know how BAD that second run would feel. Approaching the second turn around, I could see the first folks coming back and how close the rest of the front pack seemed to be. This is a really REALLY weird place for me to be. Upon realizing all of this, I had the biggest freaking stupid lookin' grin on face for the rest of the race. At the last turnaround, I realized the wind would be with us for the rest of the bike. I began to push a bigger gear and I got some muscular endurance-type stuff happening. I was holding 25mph fairly well when Eric H came blowing past. Thought to self: "hmmm, I don't feel all THAT bad yet….might be time to kick it up and see what happens." I held 27mph for the last few miles and zoomed into transition. Someone (found out later that it was Eric H) went down HARD right next to me in the dismount area. I started to help him out but I was afraid of making things worse. I could just see myself falling on top of him! Quick transition back into those STUPID FREAKING RUNNING SHOES and I was off for the last run.

All I have to say about the second 5k is…..OUCH! I took me literally about 2 miles (of a 3.1mile leg) for my legs to come back to me. By then it was too late for ANY hopes of kicking it up for a negative split and passing anyone.

I finished 25th out of 204, and 7th out of 28 in my AG (30-34). Is it bad to wish for being in an OLDER age group that's not so freaking FAST!?!?! The top of 30-34 was something like places 1 through 4 overall.

Finish: 1:24:42
First 5k: 19:44 (6:21/mi pace)
Bike: 40:53 for 15.5 miles (23mph average)
Second 5k: 21:14 (6:50/mi pace)

Not bad for a slow, fat lineman ;-D I learned that even if you THINK a race is a C priority or lower race, at LEAST do a few transition simulations. Mine went ok but they caused HUGE panic at the end of the first run and the bike. I just would have felt a little more settled. I also learned that when I think I've pretty much trashed myself during the week, after a light day, a LOT of sleep and really focusing on good high-quality nutrition, I can push pretty hard and bounce back within a few days without injury…….so far ;-}

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Go fast, stay safe and have fun.

Jeff

PS - Gotta love getting a sunburn in the last few days of March in Portland!