Great Illini Olympic Triathlon - 2:41:37.1

AG 3/4
Overall 17/55

I was a “racing spectator” at this race. My primary goal for this event was to support Lana. This was her A race. Other than that, I had no real goal other than to have fun and get a good workout in. 

 

It was a very small and somewhat poorly organized race, which is kind of too bad, I would have liked her first Olympic distance race to be met with more grandeur. We didn’t really know it was as small as it was though.

Anyway, to the race report…

We woke up early and had a PB / Honey sandwich on Great Harvest bread (which is becoming a tradition for us) and some hotel room coffee. Then we set out for the race.

Swim 1500m
Rank 3
Time 30:24.4

The swim was pretty nice. We were in Lake Mattoon, which was as nice of a lake as you could hope for in South/Central IL. There was a little bit (a very little) of chop once we got out into the water, which made things interesting.

T1
Rank 4
Time 2:51.85

I was totally wonked out of my head in T1. I was very dizzy, rapid breathing, and just in general feeling out of my head. Why? Caffeine. Too much of it in fact. Yeah, in the right dose it is ergogenic, but too much is bad. Two Caffein pills are about right for me, but not when combined with my morning coffee. Oops. Lesson Learned.

I saw Lana in T1 and she was looking strong. I cheered as much as I could and kept moving.

Bike 24.8 M
Rank 2
Time 1:12:59.35
Speed 20.4 mph

It was my first race after changing from pedals from SPD-SL to Speedplays, and it took me forever to get clipped in. After I got clipped in and got going things were ok. My NP was right around 220W, which is ok for a 40k tri split. My time was bad though and was caused by a very bad headwind for a lot of the course combined with sitting on the mount line trying to get my pedals to work. Everyone was a bit off though, so that’s ok.

I was a bit surprised to not see Lana on the bike, but I could have just missed her when I had my head down, hard to say.

T2
Rank 3
Time 1:31.80

Just another T2 really…

Run 10K
Rank 3
Time 53:49.7
Pace 8:41/mi

I didn’t really enjoy this run. It was out on country roads that were in bad shape with real big crowns, which are hard on my hips. I set a moderately hard pace and just cruised for the most part. I had no idea how I was doing because I didn’t really see anyone on the run. I was behind the fasties in the Oly, and ahead of the fasties doing the half ironman distance, so it was a bit desolate. 

 

About 4 miles into the run I saw Emily S and Mark G, who were running the half. Emily was a rock star as always, making the 13 miles look as effortless as a jog on the trail. She would later go on to win 1^st overall female. Mark passed me looking strong as well, and let me know that Lana had flatted on the bike course. I said something like “nuts” but it might have sounded more like “&*#$@!” He said she got it changed though, so at least there wasn’t a DNF involved. I can’t believe it. A second flat in 4 triathlons this season. Awful luck.

Overall

So, after that I finished the run and got cleaned up / switched in to spectator mode. It was really cool watching Emily S. win. It was a great learning opportunity to hear her talk about the race immediately afterwards. It was also awesome seeing my friend and fellow Tri-Shark Scott R. finish his first HIM strong and healthy (way to go Scott!!!). Mark G.’s continued bike awesomeness never ceases to amaze me as well. It’s very cool to be surrounded by so many great people.

Most importantly though, it was awesome to see all of Lana’s hard work pay off when she reached her goal and completed her first Oly. I saw the daily work that it took to get there. She worked hard and she did very well. Even after changing a flat, she managed to capture 1^st in the Athena category. I also ended up with 3^rd in my AG.

Post race there wasn’t really much food, other than pizza they quickly ran out of. The trophies were cool, but they were HUGE. I’m still not sure where I’m going to put the thing.

Overall, a great race!