Mar26-Apr1

S: 25,800 yds
B: 6h 12min
R: 4h 8min

Total: 17h 41min

Pretty solid week! Lets see... there was another fast track workout on Tuesday, a 4min power PR on the bike on Thursday (in a workout) and then the race on Sunday.

The race was certainly fun, but also a little bit of a CF... Really a combination of multiple CFs.

We started off with a pool swim which, even when designed really well, never actually goes well (CF #1). I was given the number '10', corresponding to the tenth starting position. Four spots behind me was fellow pro Craig Evans, who is apparently a pretty decent swimmer. Now I dont proclaim to be Ryan Locte by and stretch, but while standing for the start, I quickly came to the realization that there'd be a good chance I'd have to swim over a couple of people. So between the lane lines (300 yds in a 25yd pool...) and the slower swimmers, the swim was a bit rough.

Somehow Craig managed to passed me through the madness and I failed to catch the guy who started 4th, so heading out on the bike I was in third before a funny thing happened... I started moving up. I caught Number 4 about 4min into the ride, then just a couple minutes later reeled in Craig. Needless to say, I felt awesome on the QR CD0.1 so I tried to fly by Craig, hoping to gap him. Apparently he wouldn't have any of that, as he re-passed me a little over a minute later. We spent the rest of the ride going back and forth until, a few minutes out, we came to a pretty big intersection without a cop (CF #2). Thankfully we both recognized it as the intersection where we were supposed to turn right to head back to transition, and did so at high speeds while managing not to kill ourselves. After a couple of misdirections, we were finally back in transition.

Craig entered before me and I fumbled with my shoes a bit, so he had maybe 10-15s on me heading out onto the run. While that doesn't sound like much, it is a lot in a 5k, especially since due to the TT start I'd have to finish 25-30s ahead of him to win. So I took off and finally reeled him in around 6min into the run. From there on out, it was all about putting as much time on him as I could while also not getting lost...

Which brings up CF #3. While it was great to have so many volunteers/spectators (sorority girls) out on the course, I couldve done with more markings and less turns. There were no less than three 180deg turns along the way and the course varied from road to sidewalk, so I was never really sure I was going the right way. There also weren't any mile markers which, although not a huge deal, was a bit disappointing, especially when I crossed the line after after having been running for 14min 55s. I've been running well, but not well enough to run a 14:55 5k!

Craig crossed about 50s later, and no one else for another couple of minutes, so I felt pretty good about the win. This race was a great way to start the season, but hopefully next year they'll get some of the kinks worked out. The RD did personally apologize to me after the race, saying there were two cops at one intersection which is why there was one missing from the one where we were supposed to turn. I made some suggestions, like the idea of having a lead car for the bike and bike for the run, so hopefully the event will be better next year. I've been in that situation before (a college student trying to direct a race on a college campus) so I felt her pain.