The Fastest Bike Split Leads To 4th Overall and First Overall Men's Podium With 3rd Place

Since my last race in the summer of 2019, I have been working to try to improve my swim technique, aerodynamics on the bike, and running pace.  One particular aspect of the sole race that I did last year that I wanted to make sure I did better in this race was to "race my strengths."  My strength has always been the bike split, but last year I was a bit too reserved and left some speed on the table.  Some changes I made to my training this year were to join a Master's Swim club and do more low intensity, longer efforts, especially in my run workouts.  The rankings demonstrate that the changes have made an improvement but a comparison against the 2017 race at the same venue gives the improvement some real depth and breadth to the numbers.

​

The swim ended up being a bit rough for me, especially the entry and exit into the ocean leaving me three minutes behind the leader.  However, knowing what the weather conditions were going to be, especially the wind, I thought there may be a chance to set a really great time on the bike, if not the quickest depending on who was racing.  The weather predicted a headwind going out and tailwind coming back.  Using the data from my Garmin, my speed in the headwind was 23.1 mph to the turnaround and in the tailwind, it was 25.7 mph for an average speed of 24.2 mph.  It should have been closer to 24.4mph if a car had not decided to do a u-turn coming right into the race path forcing me to go from around 27 mph hour down to 8.5 mph.  As you can see in the timing sheet below the time would be the quickest time overall which is a first for me in twelve race starts.  I felt like I had done a better job of pushing a bit more on the bike and it paid off.  The run which is always difficult was no exception.  I would pass my cheering wife and friend and blow her a kiss.  At this point, I am unsure where I am in comparison to any other athlete until I passed the turnaround heading back.  It was then that I would see a friendly rival who was still heading to the turnaround.  In three races against him from 2017-2019, I would finish behind him at 5:43, 0:50, and 0:30.  I knew I had an opportunity to finally get in front of him if I could hold the lead.  The pace by mile would be 7:29, 7:42, and 7:17 (including the 1/10th of a mile at the end) for an average pace of 7:27.  As I crossed the finish line with my rival behind me, I knew no matter where I ended up on the timing sheets it was a good day.  I had improved and overhauled a rival that in a 2017 race would be nearly 6 mins ahead of me in a sprint distance triathlon.

​

However, it wasn't until I had a chance to peruse the results to see my performance which was 4th overall and 3rd in Men's competition including finishing 1:07 in front of a rival.  There are definitely faster triathletes than me no doubt, but at this race on this day, I had the fastest bike and a podium finish in Men's competition.  To borrow a line from the band Montgomery Gentry, "that's something to be proud of."  A look at the difference between the 2017 and 2020 race shows how much improvement I have made especially on the bike at over 2 mph and a run pace that was 0:32 quicker per mile.  Those gains would come from an improved bike position and incorporating more run workouts with greater than seven miles.  In 2017, I would complete no runs above 7 miles, but in 2020 I would complete more than 18 runs with at least seven miles. 

​

Thank You

A quick thank you to GameOn for holding the race in the midst of the pandemic and to local law enforcement and safety personnel for keeping an eye on all of us.