Pleasant Prairie 2005

Summary: It was a perfect day for a race. I planned to have this race be the first BT workout of my IMWI Peak period. The result, a great race. I took 23 minutes off my time from this race last year.

Time: 2:07:49
OA – 9th (After “sanitizing” somebody that got crossed over with a sprint time)
AG – 3rd (Although I was #6 from my AG to finish, OA top three were removed form AG category)

Pre-Race:
This race was basically a family affair. My wife (her first Intl.), my sister-in-law (her first Tri – sprint) and her husband, and several friends. Two of my friends live a couple hours away from the race, and stayed at my place which is only a little over a half hour away. We left the house a little later then I had liked, and got there late. Basically this forced me to run aroudn with my head chopped off. Prepping my bike, my wifes. Taking care of business; and trying to fit in a warm up. I didn’t get to bike or run, but I did get to do about 10-15 minutes of swimming, so I was pretty happy. I felt good.

Swim:
Chip Time: 19:55 Water Exit: ~ 19:30
5th OA/1 AG (2nd in Wave)
To start with, when I got out of the water and saw my watch was under 20, I was excited. That had been one of my goals for the day. But back to the start of the race, they lined us up on the beach for a run in/dive in start. At the horn I dove in and took off. Usually I pull away from the pack in the first 75 meters or so, and swim alone pretty much the rest of the way. To my surprise there was one guy that was right in my arm pit. I was going fast enough that I couldn’t shake him without putting myself at risk, so I figured I’d be nice and pull him along. About 2/3rds of the way in, I decided that this guy was pushing me too hard, so I slowed a little and tucked in behind him. Shortly after this, he found another gear and took off. He ended up coming out of the water about 40 seconds in front of me. I was the second out of the water for my wave, but there were some fast dudes in later waves I guess.

T1: 1:14. Nothing to see here move along. ALthough I did have a lot of problems getting my watch arm out of my wetsuit for some reason; and I couldn’t find the leash for my zipper!

Bike:
1:07:05
27th OA/7th AG

#1 The bike was windy.
#2 The course was harder then I expected.
#3 Bike was a tad long (25.1 – 25.4 – but shorter then last year)

Anyways, I pulled out of transition and started cruising on my bike. Not to much happened; around 20 miles or so my left ham started to get really, really tight. I did what I could to stretch it out, but it was sore. I just hoped that it wouldn’t bother me to much. Needless to say, that while my bike was faster then last year, I was about .5 mph slower then my goal pace. But I attribute it to the wind, it made pushing 18 mph hard when you were cranking into it.

T2: 1:08 Routine – Off the bike throw it on rack. Rip Helmet off; slam shoes on, grab hat. Run towards sign the says “RUN OUT”.

Run (aka highlight of the day):
0:38:18 – Fastest 10k every in my life; in fact the 5k average is faster then my 5k PR!
19 OA/4 AG

I pulled out of the transition area and just started running. My hamstring didn’t bother me, but my legs felt a little unsure. For some reason, I come out running on bad legs for sprints and Olympics, but my two halfs this year, I start out feeling normal, a result of bike intensity? I saw my wife’s parents and my nephew around the .25 mile mark waved to them, and then went on my merry way. Not to long after that I realzed that my legs were feeling normal. No muscle problems. Was very happy to see the first mile spilt show up at 6:15. My HR was in the mid 150’s, which was good. So Kept cruising.

Mile two showed it’s head after 6:18; ugh not so good I thought. Mile 3 6:08 (YEAH!). After mile three it was about a 1/2 mile straight away to the turn around point and an aide station. This gave me a good chance to count the peeps in front of me. 1 went by (that fast swimmer dude), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 7th. I’m in 7th! I’m in freaking 7th place!

Turn around comes, grab some gatorade and beer bong it. As I turn around I see a guy ~30 seconds behind me. I think to myself that “Scott, you’ve got 2.7 miles left, let’s crank it up just a notch and not let this guy pass you. 7th freaking place!”

So I crank it up. Mile 4 comes at around 6:04, turning back the guy has gained on me. So I say “Scott, 7th freaking place!”

I run faster; Mind you, I’ve put together 4 miles at a pace faster then I’ve ever run more then two miles back to back before. Mile 5 comes at 5:55, I turn and look; he’s still gained on me! “Scott, 7th freaking place!” So I keep trying to run faster, unfortunately as mile six creeped closer I started to fade and he passed me with about a 1/2 mile to go. Mile six was ~6:08 or so. Last .2 was ~6 minute pace.

In the end, I ended up 9th (after adjustment), 7 men and 1 woman (Laren Jensen – that girl is fast) proved to have more speed then I did today.

It was a great day! I was pleased with the result, and all my family/friends did awesome. Especially my wife! Not only was this her first International, it was her first time running longer then 4 miles!