Souixperman Pre-Race Report

Here we are... nearly 8 months since the last race... wow that is depressing considering the swim for One Last Tri was quite cold temps and I would not even think of getting in a lake right now.  Why do I live in Minnesota again?  Last year, I kicked off the season in Alexandria, MN with the Chain of The Lakes Tri.  Check out the RR to see the amazing conditions we had.... This year I was going to be crazy and take a gamble on the weather being nicer, but then realized that my wife's grandparents would be celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary that weekend in western Iowa.  60 years of marriage trumps the chance I would need to put studs in my tires to even race!

I was randomly searching on the interwebz one day and found a tri not too far from where we would be, and hey it happened to be on the same weekend!  What a coincidence!  After getting a seal of approval, my wife's step-father and I signed up.  Another pool swim and outdoor bike/run, early season, yet only 1 week ahead of Knoxville!

Swim: 300 Yard pool swim - This is my normal warm-up set, not counting drills.  I have been prepping for the REV3 Knoxville Olympic, so I will be doing this swim based on the Oly training, nothing specific for short burst distances.  6 laps... I just got an email saying it was changed from serpentine style to swimming in your own lane.  Based on my training, I seeded myself at 4:15, a 1:25/100 yard pace.  I am pretty confident in this pace, depending how busy the lanes are, I may be able to go quicker, especially since it is all done in the same lane and no ducking of ropes is required. Any seconds gained in the swim will go a long way overall I think. 

Transitions: I say 2 minutes total for transitions 1 and 2 combined.  I should be able to move quite quickly through these and use them as a practice go for Knoxville.  There will be no flying mount/dismount, but hopefully a non-eventful transition, unlike One Last Tri where my chain had somehow fell from the big ring to the bottom bracket between my practice ride and when I left T1, I got clipped in and went straight onto my side. Transition times will also be key to a competitive overall time.

Bike: Time to bust out the Kestrel Airfoil Pro SL for the race.  Along with the bike will be the HED Stinger 9s and disc cover!  Needless to say, I am pumped to get this thing out and see what it can do.  25k bike.  Here is the route.  Pretty simple out and back with only a few corners.  Elevation change is pretty minimal, so barring any crazy winds, this could be a speedy ride.  Downhill the first 4 miles, which puts me on the straight away, then climbing to the turn around point around 7.75 miles or so, then downhill a couple of miles, and finally a gradual gain to the end from mile 11.  My goal is to push about 240 watts the entire time.  I will not try to speculate what that will get me for speed, but if the wind is not too strong, this may be a blistering fast ride. In the big picture, I am going to have to be one of the fastest bike splits out there if I want a chance at the big picture.  I know I need to have a lead going into the run.

Run: 5k on a bike trail. I am feeling quick on my feet, and have set a goal to run a sub 20 minute 5k in a tri.  Will it be this day?  Who knows.  That gives you a guess as to what I am going to push for a pace. I am a bit on the fence about setting a goal for the run... why? Well because I would love to run a sub 20 5k as stated above.  What if that isn't good enough for the day?  Will I be disappointed because I may have higher expectations for the day?  My brick last week went really well and were much longer distances, so I think the formula for success includes a little race day adrenaline, combined with it being the first race as a Trakker, and some high expectations of myself. 

Overall: Use this race to fine tune a few things before Knoxville.  My brick gave me a good idea of what I can push for watts on the bike and not kill my run, but this race should let me pair that with what I can physically and mentally hold on for the run.  I am getting pretty excited for the season to kick off and cannot wait to represent Team Trakkers!  Albeit a short race, I know that I will be using my First Endurance EFS Drink paired with some PreRace before hand and some Ultragen post race in combination with my trusty Recovery Pump to ensure I am ready to roll at Rev3 Knoxville Olympic.