Mooseman

For me I think of the beginning of June as early season racing. I wanted to use this race to see how I could cut on the swim and roll on the new bike. And then just not hurt my self on the run.

Swim was delayed for an hour by fog, and then the course was shortened because we could barely see the second buoy from shore. The warm-up went out the window and it was hard to stay warm 'till we started. Once the face wasn't frozen any more the swim went well. I caught a couple of arms to the head, coughed up some water, and for a few seconds thought it was going to be a short race. But once I got out a ways I got into a nice rhythm. It was so nice to swim with other wetsuits around and to come out of the water in the top quarter of my wave. Maybe that swim training and Masters has paid off?

The roads on the Mooseman course are pretty rough but there are some good cruising sections and some tough little hills. But I felt quick sitting in the aerobars. Such a good feeling. Passed a slew of people in the first 10-15 mintues and then it turned into a time trial. Once in a while I had a glimpse of someone up ahead, but that didn't last very long.

I came into a very exciting T2. I don't think I can every remember such a pumped up and loud group of spectators. I think pulling into transition in third helped (Spectators get seriously less excited for the 443rd person). I had a pretty decent T2 considering I had to tie my shoes. I was expecting shaky hands, but they were actually pretty easy to tie.
I wore my regular distance trainers because I've been having some tight calves and was sure that if I wore my racing flats my calves would be decommissioned for a long time coming. It was interesting to note that half way through the run that the trainers really felt heavy on my feet. Because of some injuries and an inadequate volume of running I came into the racing thinking that I'd see what I could do on the swim and bike, I wouldn't push the run, I'd avoid injury and take this race as an early season benchmark.
The first mile spoke to this mentality in volumes. I had pebbles digging into my heals, my stomach was off, and I could feel a little twinge developing in my left calf. The run was a pretty good exercise in mental durability. It usually is. You know, "Just one mile at a time, okay the next water stop is right up ahead, only two more minutes to the next mile, you can do anything for 10 minutes, keep it up...." I didn't set my watch coming out of T2 and no idea how the first mile went except that it was rough. I tried to listen for the P.A. to see how far back 4th was. (My plan being to keep it up, until I got swallowed up, and then stop to take the rocks out of my shoes, give it a stretch and then jog it home.) But I ran it out 'till the second mile, then made it to the turn around, saw were the competition was and carried it through to the Finish. In the back half I felt remarkable good. I pulled down some unexpected 6 min/miles and felt comfortable enough. Ryan Kelly was out of sight and I couldn't pull in Jay Gump, but was pretty happy rolling in with a podium finish.

All in all a pretty great day on the course. I'm excited to get some more speed in and throw down in the next Olympic distance.