Jordanelle Race Report

The Jordanelle Triathlon - August 22nd - turned out to be great race, and absolutely loved the course (sans the first mile of the run, more on that later); it was pretty well organized (sans some pain points - more on those later).

I camped out at the Hailstone site on the opposite side of the lake the previous night - this was a little frustrating to have to shack up so far away from the venue, but apparently the Rock Cliff sites were washed out and there was some confusion - more like complete and total lack of communication from the race director until the week of the race, at which point we were told via email that there was no camping reserved whatsoever. Lucky for me I booked the Hailstone site 2 weeks in advance. $25 for the reservation sucks, but it beats getting up at 5 AM to drive, and I absolutely hate being rushed on race mornings. I was camped close enough to the lake that I snuck over and got a few hundred meters of swimming early in the evening to keep things loose. Slept good minus the air matress going completely flat again, but it was nice to have a hot shower and facilities close by.

Nutrition / Setup: Morning of I had half a bagel, a breakfast bar, and a bannanna. Took in 2 Propel for liquid prior to the race. No nutrition problems during the race or hunger whatsoever. Arrived at the parking in Francis (4 miles East of transition), found a spot, threw my gear back on my back and biked down to transition. I had plenty of time to setup early, and chat with a few friends doing the race. Like I said, I hate being rushed. Always feel like I'm forgetting something.

Swim: Hopped in the water about 15 minutes early and warmed up. Race started on time - Olympic wave left at 9:00 and Sprint 9:30. Chatted with a few of the other athletes, found my position near the front and left, by the buoy. My open-water swimming strength and confidence have increased greatly over the summer. Horn sounded - we were off. The pace was pretty furious at first - LOTS of chop and thrashing. I wonder if this had more to do with where I positioned myself, but it didn't bother me - I was probably dishing out my fair share of chop and kicking. I settled in to my own lane and cruised to the first buoy. Tempted to take a peek at my watch but I knew it wouldn't benefit me any, so I didn't. The first leg was longer than the 2nd and 3rd, and there was some hesitation by the pack going around the first buoy, but the pace picked back up. I was still in the first half a dozen swimmers in my wave in the lead, but we were now overtaking the Oly racers on their 2nd lap one by one. I had a very strong swim - very controlled and great tempo. If there was any negatives to point out, it would be that I could've pushed a little harder and possibly sighted better - I veered off twice but it didn't cost me much time. Swim time was 13:55 for a 1:51 100/M pace. By comparison - Echo was 14:19 for a 1:54 100/M pace.

T1: Was worried wearing my new Look shoes and pedals would cost me time, but it was smooth sailing. I did slip a tad coming out of transition trying to do the running style mount on my bike, but I gathered myself and took off. Next race I'm going sockless to shave some time. 2:00 even.

Bike: I told myself before the race I was gonna slaughter the bike course. I wouldn't say I did that, but I did pick up the pace. The interval training has been paying off - I was 8 tenths faster than Echo (19.1 MPH -vs- 19.9 MPH), but I wonder if Jordanelle wasn't a faster course with less hills. It was mostly false flat heading out toward Francis, and as it has been with all races, I seem to get passed and dropped by my AG'ers. Total bike time was 43:20 @ 19.9 MPH.

T2: Pretty uneventful. Shoes came off quick, run shoes went on quick, and after a major swig of some H20, I was out. 1:23. Could've been faster but meh.

Run: Talk about annhialating your legs. I came out wanting to push, but after hammering on the bike for 14 miles, I was spent. My hammies were on fire, and my calves didn't wanna toe off a single bit. I'm incredibly surprised that I didn't spend any time walking, because the first mile and a quarter were probably akin to that power-walk shuffle you see people do. After turning back up on HWY 32 and down into the nature reserve, things finally started to loosen up and I pounded the last 2 miles to the finish. I took in a cup of HEED at mile 2 and more of it ended up on my shirt than in my belly. So much for drinking and running. ;) Run time was 24:17 @ 7:50 Min/Mi pace - surprising considering the amount of pain I fought through for that first mile of the run.

Overall: I feel great about this race! My total time 1:24:58 was good enough for 5th of 30 AG, 2 minutes back of podium. Race day also happened to be the same day as Melinda's birthday and her 5k run at Sugarhouse, so we were both out doing things we enjoy. We celebrated with a nice dinner and a movie later that night. :)