MHAFB iTri Sprint - My first WIN!

Despite the size of a race, I think it's still really cool to cross the finish line first. This race was a first for me in triathlon!

Several months ago, I began talking with the gym director to set up an Olympic Triathlon at our nearby lake. I helped some with the coordination, but eventually, we realized that the base gym couldn't support a 51.5km race for the first go-around. So they opted to shorten it, have the race be completely local at MHAFB, and do the swimming in waves in the base pool. While a little disappointing, it's still a race! Bring it on!

Race morning shows up. Very nice to wake up in your own bed prior to race day. I only woke up with pre-race jitters at 5am as opposed to 2am.... *laugh*

I got up at 6 and went through typical pre-race checklist. Ate granola with almond milk and a Hammer energy bar, read the morning news, studied the Bible, and rolled on the foam roller. Then I went and woke Marian up - which is a tender process for a 3.5 month pregnant wife - but she's a trooper!

Then after she was adequately awake, I rode to the base fitness center early, set up my transition spot and checked in. There were a few athletes setting up already, but I still managed to grab the best spot. Heh heh. Suckers....

So about 45 minutes later, we were all lined up the on the side of the pool. Well.... everyone ELSE was lined up. I was IN the pool warming up. Eventually, a few other guys got in and started warming up with me... but it felt kind of awkward.

Then they finally started us!! Of we went!! I was actually pleased when a few guys in the lanes surrounding me went out fast too! Yeah! A race! So I pushed the pace, and they eventually fell off the wagon. I jumped out of the pool about at just under 6 minutes for 410 meters (the pool is slightly longer than 25 meters - I've measured it multiple time), one minute ahead of everyone and dashed out the side door to the bike racks. Slipped my socks on.... (no rocks this time...) completed transition and took off with my bike... Well sorda... had some issues getting my feet ON my shoes this time. But fortunately, once I conquered that obstacle, getting my feet in the shoes wasn't an issue - because they were actually unbuckled this time...

As I left transition, another dude was running into the bike racks from the pool. I sped out on the course and quickly hit a good cadence. I ate a Hammer Gel and put my head down. There was wind coming out of the northwest, but fortunately there was very little of this looped course that went directly northwest - so I was happy! When I had a tailwind, I time-trialed hard, kept a medium pace with a cross-wind, and spun on a light gear going into the wind.

It was nice to have a looped course with 2 and a half laps because that allowed Marian to watch. It was nice to see her and be able to wave to her as well. I led the whole bike leg and had to resist looking back to see where my competition was. I just kept going to the finish with about a 32 minute bike split for the 20k course.

I hit T2 and transitioned quickly. Next: a quick 5k to finish the race. I'd been working on my 5k a lot and so I knew that could push the pace hard and not die. Part of the run course overlaps with the run course, and so I got some playful jeers and cheers from the other side of the road as cyclists rode past me.

I rounded the last corner for the home stretch and saw the tape stretched out across the road, I ran it in for a about an 18:30 run time and a total time of 58:54. Although I knew that this was just a local race, it was still so cool to take the tape myself this time. Hopefully I'll break the tape on some bigger races some day!

It was high-fives, hugs, backslaps all around! I hung out with the fitness director from the base and chatted with him - Rick Holmes, the man who will have to sign off on my application to the Air Force triathlon team some day when I'm good enough. Marian and I chatted with him. He and Marian exchanged coaching styles and training methods. I stood there as the victim athlete... wondering what sort of awful training plan might come from these two putting their heads together.... *shudder*

Now it's time to amp up the training volume again. Got some great sprint work in. But Twin Falls Triathlon is next for me, which has the hardest Triathlon Bike course in all of Idaho... So there's much work to be done! Talk to you next time!