Three weeks out from ITU Worlds, I decided to test myself
and see what condition I was in at the Ft. Yargo race in Winder, GA. I’d never
done this race before, so on Friday after I finished my last final exam for the
spring term I headed down for a pre-ride. Atlanta traffic delayed me a bit so I
missed packet pick-up, but I still got my pre-ride in before dark. The course
was fun and fast. It included a lot of diving in and out of trees, semi-banked
corners you could thrash, and some gnarly, deep double jumps. It was going to
be a fun day. I packed back up to head to Athens where I was going to stay with
some UGA friends for the night.
I didn’t make it to the race site as early as I wanted, but
I also didn’t plan on standing in the packet pick-up line for 15 minutes. The
longest I’ve ever had to wait outside of the Ironman venue. By the time I
finally made it down to transition, I was scrambling to find any spot left in
the cramped 175 racer field. I then scrambled to get my wetsuit on which I’m
not sure if it occurred in my haste or because the suit was stuck together with
residual water, but two spots on the right leg tore. Getting into the water, I
saw Craig Evans and said hey to him. It was good to see a familiar face, but
now I knew I didn’t have a chance at winning. My goal now was to take the 2 or
3 spot and make it on the overall podium with him.
No warm-up included, the race was underway. I felt tight and
like all my mechanics went out the window as we dashed for the first buoy. I
just kept pushing forward and finally felt decently good and like I was in some
rhythm with about 300 meters left. Perfect timing, right? Maybe it will work out
in my favor at ITU, or if I were to warm-up first. Going into T-1 I lost it. I
was fidgety and panicked. I put on my bike shoe before taking off my wetsuit.
Fail. I then had trouble getting the suit off making it just an overall crappy
transition. But it was time for the bike; time for me to shine. Trying to find
my groove, some old guy passed me. WTF? I don’t get passed on the bike! At
least not at a non-championship race. Who did this guy think he was? About a
mile later, I passed him back and left everybody else behind; I wasn’t going to
depend on my run game for the win. Closing in on the finish I was still in 5th
place. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Was my swim really that bad,
and who were these guys that were leading the race? I knew Craig would be
sitting 1st, but I wasn’t sure who was sitting 2nd, 3rd,
and 4th. I caught 3rd and 4th right before
entering T-2. The three of us started the run together until I got left about
.75 miles into the 5 mile run. I wasn’t feeling good on the run, but I wasn’t
feeling like total crap either, which was an improvement over all except one of
last year’s runs. About 3 miles in, another set of two runners passed me after
a little hill. I was hurting. Heading back towards the finish, I got passed
again with one mile left. I was stuck with 8th place overall, 3rd
fastest bike split with less than a minute behind Craig’s, and a sub 37 minute
5 mile trail run. (Results here) Not terrible, but not exactly what I was expecting or where I
was hoping I’d be by this point. I got my age group points and for the prize I
got a Maxxis Ignitor tire and a Cannondale jersey. Pretty sweet swag for a
race. Too bad I forgot to pick up my biking gloves from where I threw them off
on the run course. I looked for them the next day, but no luck. However, someone
did turn one in. Who the heck turns in one lost glove and keeps the other?
Somehow I got convinced to do the MTB race the next morning
instead of going to the Braves game that night. So the plan was to rest a bit,
hit up the Athens Twilight Pro Crit that night, and then race again in the
morning. The crit was amazing. I’ve never seen a race like that with such a
huge strung out peloton and amazing speeds. Past and present Olympians were in
attendance as well as the reigning USA National champion, stood by his mom for
most of the race. With over 30,000 other spectators, it was definitely an event
not worth missing. Although, I might have spent a little too much time up on my
feet and not hydrating enough. The situation was made worse once I got back to
the place I was staying to find out they were having a party; I mean it is
college. I was trying to sleep in the back room on the floor on top of my
sleeping bag and in my tights. It wasn’t a great night’s rest and I sweated my
butt off leaving me pretty dehydrated in the morning. The race was fun though: fun
in the sense of hurting a lot, pushing myself, and of course the super fun
thrill riding of catching air, diving around trees, and railing sharp corners. I
hung with the front group for the first few miles of lap one then faded back as
they attacked on a hill. I was sitting 5th and there was one
position change where I passed 4th and then 6th passed me
so still sitting 5th. Towards the end of the lap, I went down in a
corner I took too aggressively and then had to wait for the riders coming in
hot to pass by before I could remount my bike and carry on. For lap two, I latched
onto on the guys in the 39 year old age group and rode with him for a long
time. Shortly into lap 3, I had to leave him though. I was feeling better and
really wanted to pull that 4th place guy back in. It didn’t take
long and he was back in my site, as well as many others that had passed
previously. Lap 3 was going great for me. I got a second boost of energy and
was back to railing the course and having a blast making up tons of ground. I
finished 4th and closed the gap to 3rd down to just 24
seconds. I’ll take it I guess (My results on page 10). I didn’t make my money back for the race, but it
was a good experience. One thing I would like explained is how the Cat 2 riders
get better prizes and awards for their entire podium than I did for getting 4th
in Cat 1? I’d much rather take a free Maxxis tire and some HEED over $20. Cool Racing Photo
My original plan had been to do the racing there in Georgia
and then head over to Pelham for some more training on the ITU Worlds course,
but after those two days, I didn’t think my body could handle it or that it
would be worth it with the state I was in. My gooch was pissed at me for
forgetting to grease up two days in a row, my lower back was killing me from
the 32 mile mtb race, my shoe was soaked in blood again from a nagging heel abrasion,
and I had developed a few more blisters on my feet during the tri. I wouldn’t
have made it to Pelham until almost 7 o’clock too, so I just decided to bail on
the whole plan and just head back to Chattanooga. Once home and unpacked, I
tried to go for a run. My body quickly told me no in the .5 mile that I made
it. I’m glad I didn’t waste my time in Pelham. Monday I went out for intervals
and bonked before the end of the ride. Tuesday morning I went for a run and
bonked before the end. I ended up drinking from a house’s water hose and
sitting in someone’s yard just chilling for a while before I made it back home.
Tuesday night however, my legs decided to show back up and I had a killer
mountain climb on the road with the Tuesday night Red Bank group ride. I peaked
second over the mountain and felt really good about my performance on a blind
course and without my computer to tell me any data. Seventeen days and
counting. Let’s hope everything works.
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