Clermont EDR

Clermont, FL - March 7th & 8th - Finished, DNF

            Clermont caught my attention right around the time of Augusta.  As big races approach, I have a habit of visualizing my next race so I can get a mental break from pending race fixation syndrome.  I didn’t initially have a next race lined up, so I searched the internet for early season races and stumbled upon one of the few ITU races in the states.  Luck, unfortunately, was not on my side preparing for this.  I suffered a pulled Achilles at a November 5k (where I set a PR of 17:52 after taking the entire month of October off and switched coaches).  This injury followed me through the middle of December before I was able to resume normal training.  After a great January with my new coach, I tripped on the sidewalk while running in the dark (#moron), resulting in a nasty bone bruise that sidelined me from all but pulling in the pool for the month of February.  In the days before the race I successfully did some very easy running and a couple of short intervals on the bike.  Still, I was excited about a late winter trip to Florida with my parents and opted to view the race as a learning opportunity.

AirBnb

            Our host was fantastic.  The couple had over a dozen fruit trees on their property which provided us with fresh star fruit, lemons, and avocados, to name a few.  They were also a 10-minute drive from the race venue (Lake Louisa State Park).  Oh… and they also housed three professional triathletes.  OH… and one had won gold at Rio.  No big deal.  I fanboyed (that’s a thing now) so hard over their bikes and really enjoyed talking with them about triathlon and their respective journeys. I’m very grateful for the wealth of knowledge they supplied and how willing they were to hangout with me during their racing block. 

Swim

I knew ITU was a different beast, but I didn’t KNOW the true extent.  Oh. My. God.  The mass swim start threw me for a loop – so much thought went into positioning on the start line, how many strides to take into the water, and how many dolphin dives to take. All around me, racing teams were there with their coaches trying different variations of start position, water strides, and dolphin dives.  I foolishly thought who the hell cares and went about my business of not giving a damn during the warm up periods Friday afternoon and before day one of racing.  I was in trouble on Saturday from the moment the gun went off.  My reaction time was slow and I didn’t get out in front of the mad dash into the water.  I seriously debated DNFing in the water as I got relentlessly kicked, punched, and grabbed.  Granted, I was part of this problem - being that tightly packed doesn’t allow for much space unless you’re at the very front of the race.  10 agonizing minutes later, I finally finished swimming and made my way into T1.

T1

            Wetsuit off quickly… [check].  Minimalist ITU transition success… [check].  First ever flying mount with rubber bands put on by a professional triathlete… [check].  All in all, that was the most fun I’ve ever had in T1. I had spent part of Friday afternoon drilling my process and doing practice mounts, both of which paid off on Saturday. While I’m still not super comfortable doing a flying mount, I found that confidence was key - I watch some people make half-hearted attempts in the morning that did not turn out well. Committing to the jump at least allows you to land on your seat, even if there is some initial wobble as your feet find the shoes.

Bike

            Both exhilarating and infuriating.  It took me roughly 3k to get my shoes on because I was focused on working my way up to a pack of riders down the road.  My taped knee held up surprisingly well and, after lap 1 of 4 plus a needed breather, I felt strong enough to start marshaling them into a proper pack.  A few of us took our turn at the front, but people seemed hellbent on taking either no pull or a several minute pull.  We eventually overtook a kid I dubbed Canada and he hopped on our train.  Once he moved into second position (meaning he’d pull next) he decided to follow the leader and prevent him from dropping back.  After a few instances of this I decided to make a break for it with the lead guy.  I chirped at Canada briefly as I passed, told the lead guy to hop on my wheel, and took off.  That issue aside, I honestly forgot how much I enjoyed racing bikes in a peloton. It had been a few years since my collegiate racing days and I hadn’t made it to a local crit since the year I graduated.  As we worked our way into T2, I took my feet out of my shoes and prepared for the flying dismount.

T2

            First flying dismount at race speed… [check].  My knee felt okay as I ran barefoot to my rack space.  Part of that may have been my feet were freezing cold and my legs weren’t doing much better.  Only having to slip on shoes and grab sunglasses after racking my bike and discarding my helmet made for a smooth T2 and I headed out to the run.

Run

            I’m thrilled with this run performance, despite it being my slowest 5k in almost two years.  After 5 weeks of no run or bike training, doing my first ITU swim, and biking relatively hard, peeling off back-to-back 6:40s felt super controlled and easy.  Unfortunately, my knee started to feel sore just past the two-mile mark and, given I was towards the back of the pack, I decided to back off the pace to just over 7:00/miles.  It felt weird to not go all out during a race, especially into the finish line, but making the right decision for my body and checking my ego on the course are new skills I’m proud to have in my arsenal. 

Day 2

            After some lengthy thought, I decided to DNF after the bike regardless of how good I felt; I knew I wouldn’t be positioned to win, and I didn’t see the point in risking my knee recovery.  I had a much better swim start, opting for a position on the far left of the line and executing a slew of dolphin dives once in the water.  I unfortunately got kicked in the face as I worked my way over to the front of the main pack which both stunned me and knocked off my goggles.  This forced me to tread (not good for my knee) and left me fighting once again in the middle of the swim pack.  My knee didn’t feel great as I ran up the beach into T1 and, for the first time in triathlon, I made the call to pull myself from the race. While the decision stung in the moment, it was ultimately the right decision. A week later, after a break from training and some solid nights of sleep, my knee felt great and I was able to start building again.