This race was already 3 weeks ago and since the next race is soon I figured it is about time to finish this race report. I knew going into the race there were many other good people at the starting line. The race plan was pretty aggressive since it was a sprint. Push 285 Watts on the bike and start the first mile in 5:40min/mile.
Swim:
I lined up in the front row and was set to fight for a good position in the short swim (1/2mile). I started hard and quickly was out of breath. There were some really fast people and I wasn’t able to hang with them. I ended up swimming in a group of 4. Halfway into the swim I started passing them until I was leading the group for the last part to T1. Running out of the water wasn’t as quick and 1 guy overtook me into T1. 800m in 12:15 which put me in 7th place overall.
T1:
I was still breathing super hard from the swim, but I tried to stay in control and have a quick transition.
Bike:
I started pushing 285 watts right away and felt great. Therefore I soon started pushing ~300 watts. I overtook a few “good” swimmers early on. Then 5min into the bike I noticed I might be overdoing it a little. I backed off a bit and Josh and another guy overtook me. At that point I had to decide if I would go with them, which I did. I had to work hard to stay with them which meant my watts were up again.
About halfway into the ride I started to feel better and started to push the pace. I would overtake the group and lead for a while but get re-overtaken by someone else who wanted to push the pace. The 3 of us kept changing position and arrived at transition together.
I covered the 15.83 miles in 41:05 (this includes the T1 time) and averaged 261 watts.
T2:
Entering T2 I was told that I was 2min down from the leader. I guess I have some catch up to do.
After a quick (28sec) transition I was leading the other two I biked with.
Run:
There were some hills right out of transition which made it surprisingly hard for the tired legs to adjust to running. Also running over uneven ground with my cold feet and ankles hurt. With that I quickly knew that I wouldn’t run the planned 5:40min/mile. I saw a 3rd place guy in front of me and started slowly closing in. The course was much hillier than expected. Around the 1 mile I caught up with him and it was very clear that he could not match my pace. I continued on, but wasn’t sure if I could close in on the two in front of me. At the turn around I saw that the Nick in first was way ahead but I had a chance to catch the guy in 2nd. I pushed very hard on a steep hill to close in on him, but on top didn’t have the strength to make the pass right away. But soon there after I went by him and finished the race in 2nd place overall. I did the hilly 5k in 18:15. Fastest run split of the day.
Gift card:
A great race and it felt good to push my body that hard.
The best part of the day was yet to come. After the race they had a lottery where they handed out prices based on the race number.
I won the main price which is a $1000.- gift card for Northwest Tri & Bike. Amazing! So exciting! I’ll get more cycling gear 🙂
Thanks
Thanks to Raise the Bar for putting on another great race. Definitely recommend it Lake Meridian Tri to anyone. Thanks to all the sponsors for the gifts/prices. Garmin bag & shirt, Zoot bag and obviously Northwest Tri & Bike for the gift card!
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