5430 Sprint Race Report: John Moore, Boulder, CO.
I doubt I'll ever get to race in more ideal conditions than today's race. Great weather all week
meant a perfect lead in to the race, got to wake up in my own bed and had a 5 minute drive to
the race start. Cloudless sky, 65' at 7:00 and a race that has been run a dozen times so check-in,
marking, bathrooms were all dialed. Valeria and the boys we on course to cheer, and at
the finish line for the finale as well...a great way to spend Father's day.
Getting up and to the course was smooth, I had my bike racked and body markings on by 6:15 and
had an hour to run a few strides, make a pit stop and then get to the water about 20 minutes before
my wave start at 7:35.
The only real disappointment of the day was my third poor swim in a row. (IM CDA, the Indian Peaks
and now this) where I was short of breath and disoriented by the crowd at the start. Today I actually
grabbed a kayak for a minute or so, calmed down, stretched my wetsuit off my chest more and then
swam comfortably in for the last 400M . My time was 15:10 for 750 Meters or about 3-4 minutes slower than
I would do in a pool. The main lesson here is more open water swims and hope my new wetsuit will
be less constricting to breath in.
I burned more time in T1, almost 3 minutes. I felt like I moved through pretty well, just slight wrestling
match with my wetsuit, and I put socks on due to a small cut on my foot. This was one of the slowest
transition times in the whole race...not sure where it went. Helmet, glasses, shoes, etc were all
right where they should have been. I didn't use gloves. Everything after this was cake however.
I had rode the access road to the resevoir several times, and knew my gearing for the hills. I kept my
power at just above threshold for the first couple miles..then tries to keep it just under (between
225 and 250 watts) for the main body of the race. I was passing lots of folks from the earlier wave,
and focused on a steady cadence. In hindsight I could have gone a little harder..maybe the
middle section..but the stats were not bad (47:25 split 21.MPH and 201 watts) 170 out of about 1055
times.
The 5k run was a pleasant surprise. T2 was right in line (1:30..I could probably take 30 sec out) and I
headed out on the course with fresh legs. I tried to get my turnover up to a high cadence and when
I had settled into a groove I check my pace at it was 7:30! this felt like a minute slower. I split 22:30
for the 5k and averaged 7:15. I passed many more guys in my division on the run and was able
to split the last mile at about 6:45. I did not have much left after that. Run split ranked 161
Overall results had be in 20th place in the M45-49 out of 66 and overall in the race was 211 out of 1055.
Here is the confusing thing. On day to day training, I feel strongest in the pool, not bad on the bike and
like an old man when I run...but I seem to reverse that somehow on race day. I think good pacing on the
bike (and the power meter) is the key to a 'fresh' run and that is a good thing. Swimming I think I under-perform
due to practice in open water swimming, not conditioning. With a more comfortable swim leg, and a little more
hurrying in T1, I could get 3-4 minutes. With a little more grunt on the bike I could pick up a couple more.
5 minutes faster would have been top 100, 7 minutes faster today would have put me top 10 age group.
I was happy overall with the race...a strong run is a great way to end the race, and this gives
me some areas to work on.
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