Date: June 16, 2007
Race: Splish, Splash, Dash (Lake In The Hills)
Distance: 1 mile swim then 3.1 mile run
Weather: Mid 80's, calm, - water temp approx 78
Time: 51:50 (Swim - 28:30, Run 23:20 - approximate times)
Pre-Race
The day started at 4:30 am when Jen's annoying alarm clock went off - it sounds like numerous chipmunks screeching inside my pillow (for some reason she can't part with the alarm clock as she's had it for nearly 30 years). Any other day, I would have struggled to pull myself out of bed, but at last, it was time to race. Seemed like the day would never get here as my motivation had hit a plateau. After the typical a.m. jockeying, we packed up the car and hit the road.
We settled into the transition area, put on sunscreen and made the necessary trek to the port-o-potties. Upon our return, we found that someone violated Jen's transition space and staked a spot right on top of hers. Needless to say, this didn't go over too well. After a deep breath (OK maybe two or three), Jen settled down, we resituated our gear and moved towards the water.
Swim
Let me start by saying that I have never heard of water stations on the swim and to this day am unsure if the race director was pulling everyone's chain when informing us of this option prior to the gun.
The swim start was uneventful with the exception of numerous individuals in the front row deciding to do breaststroke. After maneuvering around them and finding myself elbow to elbow with Jen, I broke free and settled in. Note to race directors - if you have a long distance race with orange buoys, don't get orange swim caps. I found sighting to be somewhat difficult because of this and once positioned myself towards some lost soul in the middle of the lake thinking that it was a buoy.
I passed a couple of people on the long back stretch and hooked up with someone for the last half of the race. I was on this guy's feet like a pit-bull on a steak bone. I typically don't try to look at my watch during a race except for the last mile or so, but couldn't resist as I exited the water - 28:30, WOW. This may not seem like a big deal for some folks, but I couldn't believe I pulled in a 1 mile swim at that clip.
Run
Quickly, I came to realize that when the race brochure states, "CHALLENGING run," you should take them seriously. The run started off with a fairly steep climb then leveled off for approx .2 miles. After that, the course went into fairly aggressive rolls. On my way down to the turnaround point, I could hear the pitter patter of racing flats in the background, and all of a sudden, this streak of yellow and black passed me like I was standing still. I tried to catch him down the steep grade towards the water station (thinking to myself - holy crap, I have to try and catch this guy while running back up this thing) but couldn't pull it off. After making the turn and knowing less than 1.5 miles were left I tried to dial it in, but the course wouldn't let me catch a groove.
At approximately mile 2, I saw Jen and she yelled something with a 3 in it, but I couldn't comprehend what she was saying (initially thought she was telling me that she exited the water in 30 minutes), and yelled back 28 (time I exited the pond). At that point I focused and saw three things in front of me - the yellow and black flash (found out later that he's the one I was drafting off during the swim), a woman running as if she was Tonya Harding building speed towards a double axle and the lead scooter. At that point, I figured out what Jen had screamed - you're 3.
From there, I kicked it into overdrive and caught the ice skater and moved towards the gazelle that was in front. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch him and channeled my thoughts towards keeping my legs down the last hill so I didn't bite it and roll into the finish line.
Summary
All in all, it was a good day as I was pleased with my performance (though I would have liked to be quicker on the run). I don't know what has changed in me over the past year, but instead of being 100% focused on results, I'm starting to enjoy participating in the sport for just the fun of it - however, still wanting to go out and do my best. One would think that my change of view is probably due to age, but I really think it's the support of my family (thanks to Jen for putting up with my obsessive compulsive training and spending habits), the joy of seeing Jen compete at this level once again - knowing what she was close to missing out on, and the motivation of Joe and the group at ET. Thanks to everyone!
Enjoy all the photos from Lake in the Hills 2007 at ET-Photo.
