I’m not a sprinter

One of the races I was really looking forward to this year is done and gone. I don’t know why, but I get a huge kick out of the Lake Mills Sprint, I’ve done some other sprint races and I just don’t enjoy myself – I think they are to hard. Lake Mills though, I’ve got a soft spot for. It’s a short and sweet race with a flat as can be run course, and a 15 mile bike that is flat with just a couple really small little bumps to make it interesting.

I had a great race there this year, I bettered my time by nearly 3 minutes over last year. A little bit faster on the swim, a couple seconds on the run, and about 2 minutes on the bike (~1.33 mph faster). This was my first bike ride where I averaged over 24 miles per hour.

I was a little disappointed with my run – in the sense I was mad because I only went 19:19, but that it has stagnated compared to my bike, and I’m not sure why – I have some theories that I’m goign to try and address.

Overall I had a great race, and it was actually a great experience to do a race and get devoured by people. At IMWI and IMAZ (even more so), I was never really in a situation where I got passed by people like I was a bum, but at Lake Mills, while I did an OK job of holding my own on the bike, I got scraped off the pace on the run like I was a newbie. Very humbling. I came home with a lot of respect for those guys running 16’s and 17’s in a tri for a 5k, they are hauling ass. In a small way it makes me want to avoid those races to avoid getting beat down like that, but it also inspires me to train to become an all around better triathlete – which will ultimately make me a better triathlete at my preferred race distance(s).

One of my training partners, Lauren, mentioned to me the other day that I should consider doing USAT nationals and maybe worlds if I were to qualify. I initially dismissed the idea, but in reality the focus on shorter training even if it was only for a month or so would benefit my longer distance racing skills. Lot’s to think about.