Austin: Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

*yeah yeah yeah... so i recycled an image... race day photos aren't ready yet*

After Ironman Canada I realized that I now had to come up with a “rest of the season” plan. Prior to the race I had shunned all thoughts of what might come afterwards as I was devoting myself solely to doing well in Penticton. Talked things over with the coach and we landed on a nice little triplet of Longhorn, SOMA and Arizona to finish out the season. It’s nice to have carrots out there saying… “come get me!”

I was super excited about this race. For one the field was ABSOLUTELY stacked and two it was my old home town. I would be able to race in front of friends, visit my old haunts and my parents would be coming up to watch as well.

I wasn’t exactly going to do a big taper for the event and the volume was still pretty good for the weekly total. After my two week hell camp in Las Cruces, I had trouble feeling spunky at all during the week, save for a mid week ride high up into the mountains with some good intervals and bright yellow aspen viewing! :).

I arrived in Austin and made a beeline for “the shop” I basically hung out there amidst getting the pre race stuff in and my workouts done. Nothing like a trip home. Oh yeah… breakfast tacos on Saturday post ride simply cannot be beat. Taco Deli needs to make a comeback. ;)

Race Day:
As Summer drifts into fall I tend to forget that dawn does not happen so early anymore. Start time was not scheduled until 7:30 and so I was pretty lazy with a 6am wake up! :) Pre race was uneventful except for the fact that due to some traffic and parking issues the start was pushed back to 7:50. It was actually a bit chilly at the start once you were wet but that’s much preferred to standing around in a wetsuit (or swimming in one) and sweating.

Normally this is where I write BOOM or BANG or some other form of onomatopoeia, but in this case the pro field had a case of the drifters and with 10 seconds to go we started creeping away from the start line and then with 5 seconds to go SOMEONE ;) (not me btw) decided to just go and everyone followed suit.

I have learned that there is no need for me to rev my engines in the first two minutes of the swim. I just sit and let others do the work as we get away. Once I feel that the surge has ended… then I go to the front and do it again. Hit a turn buoy? Do it again. Feel like a little acceleration in the middle of a straight? Do it again! :) One of my goals coming into the race was to win the swim (just cuz it’s Austin) so towards the end I made sure I was well away from the group and got out on my own. Yes it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay short but whatever.

Despite the long uphill grade into T1 I was able to run up it hard, not something I’ve been able to do in the past so that was really cool. Also made me look good in front of the crowd! :) I must be getting fitter! Quickly thru the chicane of bikes and out onto the course.

Wow… what a rolly, hilly course. I don’t think I ever headed northeast on a ride in all my years in Austin so this was going to be new to me as well as those on their first trip. I had some problems with my powertap (torque was off) in the first few miles and messed with that as I was swallowed up by the first chase pack from the swim (eventually did get it fixed but power was again extremely low just like Canada so I’m calling the data bogus). For the most part the remainder (50miles) of the bike was a lesson in elite 70.3 racing. We had a group form that at first I didn’t feel was playing fair but things settled out quickly and appropriate gaps were held. There was however some pretty bad yo-yo-ing that eventually I got tired of and fell a ways off the pack to sit more on my numbers and just see how things hash out (funny: power file gets flatter during this portion :). I still ended up staying quite close to the group as it was. It’s kinda quirky as it’s sort of an altered roadie ride. We’re not drafting each other, but we do want to stay in contact so we go hard and back off in concert.

As we rolled back to T2 I just got sloppy and let the group go. Mentally I still felt “well I’m not a runner, I’m in 14th or 15th position what does it matter now” mode so slipped well off the back and came in about a minute down. I then proceeded to need to dig thru my TYR bag to find my socks so that ate up some more time and in general my T2 was just ssssslllllow.

Heading out onto the run I had some difficulty in getting settled. One thing I was happy about was that despite the tailwind and sun and heat… none of it affected me. The heat trainer rides I had done leading up to the race had worked! The first two miles really just felt rough as I struggled to get into a rhythm. I marked where the guys ahead of me were on the road and made notes so I could check where they were come loop two. The first out/back is paved and hilly/rolly with lots of turns/curves. On the way back to the main area I started to feel a little better and again marked the position of the guys behind me. The second “loop” of the course is pretty much cross country. Hills, dirt, gravel, sand, grass, rocks. Hmmmm maybe true racing flats were not the best choice. At about mile 4 is where I really started to hit my groove. Damn that felt awesome! Me… in a groove… on the…. RUN!? No way! :) Up the quad buster climb and into the woods. We then popped out just before the T-area where I caught (excuse the blatant-ness there but I have never caught ANYONE on the run before… let alone in such a talented field) Joe Umphenor. Right after that I caught Paul Ambrose. Whoa… is this really happening? I run on feel so had no idea of pace or min/mile times. Awesome! The “never the same” nature of the course was really nice as it broke up the entire run into manageable bits that you could work on.

The second loop was pure grooving. I kinda felt like a diesel truck in that I had the gas pedal on the floor and the chassis was going full steam but the engine still had more to give. Ah yes… racing at sea level. :) When we came to the out and back section I saw that I had lost very very little time to those ahead of me (aside from Joe, Richie and ITA dude) and was buoyed by this… only to be further uplifted by the fact that of those behind me it appeared that only Billy was putting time into me. Awesome!

Once rolling into the second section of the second loop I started doing the math and didn’t think that I could change my position. I wasn’t sure how deep the money went so just backed off the gas a hair to simply secure my spot. Running thru the last mile or so in the woods at a backed off, cruise pace, knowing that you had just thrown down a great race and an AWESOME run had me grinning ear to ear. Up the last hill and into the finish chute I saw 3:58:-- on the clock! NO WAY!!! On this course!!! Holy crap! That’s amazing! Super big grin at the line, not winded at all, feeling great, and getting to see my parents right there too. I finally pulled off a good race for them! :)

Chilled for a bit with the other athletes, tried to indulge in a freebirds burrito (tummy still jumping tho) and then started making my way out. Ran into lots of old friends so this took awhile, but that’s a good thing.

Finished up with an ice bath and a late lunch with the ‘rents at Maudie’s. Oh yeah. Hung out back at ATC for the evening then a little bit of dinner with Ben, Amy and Brandon before heading home for the early flight back.

It was an AWESOME trip. A great race back in the old home town, seeing friends, my parents and again having a result that says that this ride shows NO signs of slowing down.

I am SUPER excited about the next couple races and into next year. To think that this year’s successes have come on simply 4 months of consistent training has me looking ahead to the future eagerly. But first… I have to get the work done.

Results: Got Talent? How’s this for a stacked field.

1 Richie Cunningham - 3:49:44
2 Joe Gambles - 3:50:40
3 Alberto Casadei - 3:51:49
4 Simon Lessing - 3:53:19
5 Timothy Deboom - 3:54:02
6 Daniel Bretscher - 3:54:23
7 Brandon Marsh - 3:54:37
8 Ben Hoffman - 3:55:16
9 Kieran Doe - 3:57:52
10 Mark Van Akkeren - 3:59:03