Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove – Race Report
July 27, 2013 Cottage Grove, OR
This was my first time racing this event, and I have to say it was a great day all around. Jessie and I were fortunate enough to have a team of Sherpa with us thanks to Dave, Jackie, Mark, and Myah who came up to support us.
The day started off with a 4:10 wake up call for the 4:30 departure and the one hour drive to the race. Maybe a little early but it helps calm the nerves in the end. I once again ate a peanut butter bagel, powerbar, and Gatorade for breakfast. There was a lot of just hanging out before the race started and it was chilly, low 50s, was not at all expecting that. Good thing about being early is the primetime spot in transition. It was nice to go old school and have everything I need for the race right at my bike and not have to worry about bags or two separate transitions.
Swim: The men’s Olympic swim began at 8:25 right on time. From the shore the 1500m looked more like a mile and a half but turns out the race organizers had it right. Water temp was 76degrees, too warm! I swam in my full sleeve wetsuit, which was awesome for buoyancy, but I was boiling by the time I was done. Nice and wide open, didn’t get kicked or punched and I think I did a better job of swimming in a straight line. Key word is better, not good. Swim Time: 27:09
T1: Went very smooth, had to sit down for dizziness and to get my wesuit off . Only mistake was having my bike in too big of a gear to go up the hill right out of T1 causing a severe cramp in my left calf. It went away and off on the bike I go. T1 Time: 1:10
Bike: Very flat, Very Fast, Very Fun. I felt great all day on the bike. Just kept myself as aero as possible and pushed as hard as my legs would let me. Finished 2 GU’s and a NUUN on the bike for nutrition and to hold off any further cramping. I made up a lot of ground on the bike. At one point I think I made it to top 10 overall, and at that point I made it my goal to keep top 10. Rode most of the bike by myself without other racers around, but that’s okay because it allowed me to focus on my race. Almost did an all out endo into T2, but I stuck it! No crashing. Bike Time: 1:05:26strava bike link
T2: Smooth once again, outside of the massive bilateral hamstring cramp that decided it wanted to show up and I was trying to put my running shoes on. I thought it was going to be a major issue on the run but they never came back, WHEWW! T2 time: 1:01
Run: Out and back along the lake, 3.1out/3.1 back. For the first half of the run I tried to stay at a consistent 7min/mi pace and was fairly successful. My hope was to turn and burn for the second half, and I did up until about mile 5. Then I looked behind me and no one was in sight, so I took my foot off the gas. I’ll blame it on strategy and not the fact my legs were about cooked. At one point on the run, I was passed by someone in my AG, and I did my best to keep up, nope. He was a machine and I realized I had to run my race. Run Time: 43:38
strava run link
I ended up finishing 14th overall, third in my AG, PR the Olympic distance. Overall was a great day. When we were done with the race, we all (Me, Jessie, Dave, Jackie, Mark, and Myah) went for an easy conversational spin around the lake about another 8miles or so. Then we all hung out at the lake and went swimming and crushed the impromptu picnic Jackie arranged. This race will absolutely be on my race calendar in the future. Hats off to Rolf Prima and Dark 30 sports for putting on a great event.
Finish time: 2:18:21
Next up is IM Canada. Oh Crap! Anyone have an extra set of legs for my SN bag?
Adventures in Sport 