An Age Group Win in Pewaukee
I recently raced the Pewaukee Sprint tri and had a pretty decent day. I had two main goals for the day, both of which were challenging but doable. The goals were 1) finish under 1:10 and 2) run a sub 20 minute 5k. I had gone over the race in my head and knew the exact times I needed to accomplish goal #1…as for goal #2, well it just seems it’s about time I hit that mark (if I can run an 18:46 open, then a 19:59 seems doable for a sprint tri). Here goes…
Upon exiting the water I was off the mark and a little frustrated. The frustration came from a wave 5 start, which left me battling my way through many of the 250 individuals who had started before me. I was silently cursing the race director for not putting me in the first wave (I always request the first wave, and until this race have always been granted the requested position). Anyway, my swim was about 1 minute slower than I was hoping, but I still had a chance of meeting my goals if I stayed focused.
My bike was a blast! I know this course very well and pushed when I had the opportunity. Because of the later wave start, I was able to enjoy the feeling of blowing past the competition rather than the other way around (which is the case when I am in the first wave). I was only passed by one cyclist throughout the ride at about mile 14, and as he rode past me he said, “I’ve been trying to catch you since we got out of the water.” It felt good to know I was being chased…but as he passed, I knew I would see him again.J At the finish of the bike I heard some cheering directed my way (thanks Trae, Jess, & whoever else was there) and looked down at the split…damn, I was off by another minute! Although I was off, I really can’t complain too much because I did manage to improve by nearly 2 minutes from last year. The funny thing is that I still thought I could run my way into goal #1 (that sub 1:10:xx overall) and of course, if I did that I would easily achieve goal #2 (19:59:xx run).
I came out sprinting and immediately felt my shins tighten up. I had to back off for a couple minutes to let them loosen up, and then I gave it a pretty hard push through the finish. My run split…20:03 L
In the end I finished with a 1:12:xx, which was good enough for the age group win…brining me to the next question: Does age group success mean anything? I am going to do a quick write up on this topic for my next blog and will post soon…so stayed tuned!
Pewaukee Finish Line Shout-outs:
-“The Diesel” finished fourth age group & had a bike improvement of 5 minutes…not bad. But most impressive was his insane run time of 19:35!!! Nice work Vin.
- J finished 2nd age group and that’s even with taking the long way around in the swim! Not to mention out biking one of the elite females has gotta feel goodJ
Cheers,
-=Berserker Poke