2009 Lactic Edge Triathlon

Lactic Edge Triathlon
Stevens Point, WI
July 11, 2009
Sprint Triathlon
500yd; 18.12 mile; 3.22 mile

Matthew Amman 1st Overall
1:09:31
S-5:49 B-42:12 (25.7mph) R-19:12 (5:57 pace)

PreRace:
At the last minute Scott Bowe talked me (and our wives) into travelling to Stevens Point, WI to do the local Cellcom YMCA Lactic Edge sprint triathlon. Previous year, Scott and I were in the area for our epic IM training camp and did it. Scott won last year.

The race course was different this year. Construction caused the course to be slightly longer than last, hence when comparing times things don't match up.

Swim:
The swim start was quick with Scott leading us out to the first buoy. In the first few yards I happened to get cut off by fellow Gear Grinder Tom Shepard. To prevent a gap between Scott and I, I pulled Tom underneath me. Not very nice on my part, but he did cut me off (he forgave me after the race). From there I sat in the draft touching Scott's feet--something he let know after the race he wasn't thrilled about. Gee whiz! But that's what you get for wanting to swim in the lead. Next time I'll be polite and not touch the feet. At the swim exit, I was a few seconds behind Scott and together we put a half a minute on the field.

Bike:
Transition was smooth and I managed to leave T2 with Scott. He led the bike course for a 1/2 mile before I took over. I was working hard with the heart rate staying really high (around 175 (LT)) and after another mile I was happy to see Scott come around and pass me. I then eased off the accelerator to give myself a breather. With my reckless abandonment for speeding around the corners he never got more than 15 meters ahead. After another mile I was tempted to push hard again but decided to make my move around mile 8. Between Scott fading a bit and my love of perfect pavement, I hit it hard at the 7.5 mile mark--Sentry World--and pushed all the way to the finish. The effort and outcome was good but far from stellar. That lovely feeling one gets when racing tapered is addictive and racing when tried doesn't allow one to feel that unbridled energy. I was hoping to ride the final 4 miles in the 50-12 gear ratio, but lacked the power to sustain it. Bummer.

Run:
I came into transition with about 1:30 lead ahead of Scott and Tom. Transition went well and I managed to run with an even effort holding 5:57 pace. I did flirt with a right side-stitch but running sub 6 is fast enough for me. To get rid of the it would require a lot of track work and that's simply not compatible with IM training.

Overall:
Congratulations to my fellow Gear Grinder teammates. Together we took 1-2-3 overall. Individually I was happy to win but felt my performance was mediocre. The Pewaukee Triathlon happened to be this weekend and I feel that there is no way I could have won that race if I showed up. David Thompson and Will Smith are much faster than me. I often wonder if I could get that fast. I remain skeptical meanwhile I'll be happy to be one of the local fast guys.

Adrienne placed first overall in the women's field.

Things to Remember:
* Breakfast of 2 Powerbar Protein bars was too much.
* I may be fast, but I have a ways to go before I average 27-28 mph on the bike and back it up with low 17 5k run split.