On June 24th, both Melissa and I participated in the "I Love the Tavern" sprint triathlon here in Richmond. The race consisted of a 650 meter open water river swim, an 18 mile bike, and a 5K run. The river was very warm on race day. I tried my best not to think about the bacteria soup and just concentrate on swimming. I felt good on the swim and was surprised how fast it seemed to go by. I managed the swim in 11:47. Not the speediest but definitely a lot faster than 2 years ago before I knew how to swim. For the 18 mile bike, I squeaked in under 1 hour at 59:54. Finally, for the 5K run which was mostly on trails, I ended up with a 23:17 and my overall place was 148 out of 372. Not too shabby. I even managed to finish a few seconds faster than one of my ProK teammates. He crushed me on the bike but I managed a better swim and a slightly faster run. Not that I was competing with him but beating someone who I know is a very talented triathlete and 15 years younger does make me feel good about training and how I have progressed from last year. Training with Jon has been great for my development and I look forward to continuing to chase his fitness.
After the triathlon, we went to the Outer Banks for a week with my family and some friends. We had a great time. Of course, I did a lot of training including some long, hot bike rides and a couple of grueling runs. It was very hot and humid and there was a massive head wind on all my rides. I enjoyed the trip very much. I even got to watch some Olympic Trials and some of the Tour de France which was also fun. It was good to spend some time with my family.
When I got back from the beach, it was time for the Cul-de-sac 5Ks. The Richmond Road Runners Club puts on an annual series of 5Ks. For three Mondays in a row, I went out to the West End to run the 5Ks. During the first race, I hung back a bit at the start and ended up having a pretty good race. I ran a 21:19 which is pretty good for me.
For the second race, it was super hot. Before the race, the announcer warned us all to run slower than normal because of the hot conditions. I had forgotten my watch and when the gun went off, I went out way too fast. At mile marker 1, the times were being called out and when I heard my time, I knew I was in trouble. When the guy said 6:27, I let out a gasp. Sure enough, I started fading. My fellow ProK teammate caught me and ran off ahead of me. I had nothing in the tank. Of course I had done a 4 hour, 70 mile bike ride the day before but still, I could have run a better race. I ended up with a 22:11 which was nearly a minute slower than the first race.
For the last race, I managed much better. Another teammate who is much faster than me said he would pace myself and Jon. When the gun went off though, they still went out pretty fast. Too fast I think. I hung back and just kept them in site. At mile 1, they were about 20 yards in front of me. By mile 2, their lead may have stretched to 30 yards. But I had a strategy. After we turned onto a street that is a bit busier and requires runners to run in single file, I started to pick up the pace. I would push up to someone in front of me, hang for a few moments and then pass them. Once I passed someone, I would have to keep pushing because it would be rude to pass someone and then slow down. I could see Jon and Bryan coming back towards me and knew I would catch up to them. I passed Jon and then Bryan who then caught back up to me. He was pacing us, trying to help us break 21 minutes. I started to falter a bit but he encouraged me to stick with it. Towards the end, he said, "it's yours if you want it Jim. Now is the time." He was referring to the 21 minute mark. As I made my way around the last turn, I could see the race clock. It said 20:45. I snapped into overdrive because I knew I could beat 21. I passed a few people in that last 20 yards and managed to get in under 21. My official time was 20:53 which is a 6:43 min/mile average pace. My time was good enough for 3rd place in my age group. I was quite happy and grateful to Bryan and Jon for pacing me and helping me PR.
In addition to these races, I have been training a lot. I have been doing lots of swimming, biking, and running. When I am not at work or exercising, I am eating, buying groceries and nutrition, washing my workout gear, cleaning my bike, preparing for the next day's workout and sleeping. It is quite a commitment I have made. Luckily, Melissa is very supportive and helps me out a great deal including doing swim workouts with me. She is an excellent swimmer.
Finally, while I have not completed my first Iron Distance triathlon, nor even ridden 100 miles on my bike in one day, I have already signed up for another Ironman. Next July 28th, I will be racing in Lake Placid, NY at Ironman Lake Placid otherwise known as IMLP. There is a good size group of us doing the race. It will be fun to train with a group for the same race. Plus it is supposed to be a beautiful area and very scenic course. I am not sure if I will enjoy the scenery or not. Take a look at the elevation profile for the bike and run. Looks like fun right?
