Cache Valley Sprint Tri: NEW PR!!!

First of all, sorry it's been so long since I posted. Hopefully the length of this one will make up for it, if it doesn't just make it unbearable to read.

Last winter, my brother, my sister-in-law and me had this great idea that we would all do Spudman up in Burley, ID in July. And, even though they were online ready to sign up when it opened, Active.com screwed them over (as they have a tendency to do) and they weren't able to get in as the ~1600 slots filled up in about 10 minutes and they kept getting kicked out of the system. I, on the other hand, was able to get in. So, I'll be racing Spudman alone. The reason this applies here is that my sister-in-law now didn't really have any race to do. She decided to do the Olympic distance at Cache Valley, and I figured the Sprint distance would be a great way to prepare for Spudman (Olympic).

So, this was a B race for me, and I didn't really taper at all before the race. I didn't really have any time goals going into the race, but my PR last year was 2:05 at sprint distance, so I figured I'd be happy if I came in under 2 hours.

So we showed up super early, as I like to do, and the weather looked perfect. Here's a pic of my sister in law, myself, and a friend of mine who raced too (it was his first tri ever and he finished in 1:31).



Here's a pic of us basically intimidating the rest of the field. Some people find it intimidating to see everyone else's gear and stuff, but I choose to intimidate my competitors with my physique. As a side note, I swore to myself that I wasn't going to forget anything for this race, and in the rush to get everything packed I forgot to shave my stomach/chest, and you can't see it in the picture, but I also missed my back. I'm sorry if this offends any of you hardcore shavers. I'll try to remember that for my next race.



The horn blew, and off I went. I am sad to say that I didn't train much for the swim. I was concentrating so much on the bike and run, and figured I'd probably barely make it through the swim anyways. But, I was very surprised to find that I loved the swim. I was able to freestyle almost the whole length, and it wasn't too crowded. The only bad part was right at the end. I was right in front of a guy who apparently blacked out. I couldn't hear much as I had a neoprene cap on underneath my swim cap, but as I was coming up the stairs leading out of the water, I could hear people yelling "MEDIC!!". You can see that I look kind of confused in the pic coming out of the water, and you can also see the EMT jumping over the railing to go help the guy.



I think I swam right by the guy (which I feel terrible about), but I honestly had no idea. I didn't really know what was going on, but my transition spot happened to be right at the top of the stairs, so as I was getting changed, I kind of freaked myself out as I was watching them do CPR on him. Luckily my brother was there to tell me that I was still in the race (honestly, thanks so much), and that I needed to get on my bike. So off I went. Here are my times so far.

Swim: 19:12 (which is amazing for me)
T1: 3:49 (also a new PR for me)



So, I got out on the bike. I had heard it was a fast bike course, but there was a pretty steep uphill at the beginning. I kind of felt lied to, until I got to the top, and it was pretty much flat or downhill for the rest of the course. It was a great course, and I felt so good. As some of you know, I just got my bike back from getting a frame replacement about a week and a half ago, so I was a little worried that something might not be tight, or that something might not fit quite right. I actually felt better than I've ever felt on the bike. I found a good rhythm for me, and just started spinning my legs. I was passing quite a few people, which felt good, but more than anything, my rhythm just felt great. I kept the same cadence for almost the whole course, and I would just shift when I needed to. It was funny because I felt like I finally learned how to ride a bike. Here are some pics of the downhill at the end of the course. You can't tell in the pictures, but I'm pretty much going like 65 mph. Luckily that cop didn't pull me over.





I pulled into the transition, and my wife and my mom were at the transition area waiting for me. The first thing I thought to do was ask one of the helpers if that guy was okay, and sadly they said that they were still doing CPR on him when they put him in the ambulance. I had a quick chat with my ladies while I changed my hat/shoes, and off I went. Here are my times.

Bike: 43:12 (17.2 mph avg)
T2: 2:16

Luckily my brother and dad were right at the beginning of the course to cheer me on. My bro said "Go Cole, keep it up" or something of the sort, and my dad said "Go Cole, you totally don't look gay in that pink shirt". I thought that was a pretty low blow, especially since he gave the shirt to me, but I'm nothing if I'm not totally secure in my manhood.



I felt good heading out on the run, but I could quickly tell that I had underestimated the effect the bike would have on my legs. I didn't do any brick workouts, and I probably should have. But, I kept plugging along, and I actually ended up walking very little (probably less than most of my training runs). About .5 mi. into the run, there was a pretty steep hill we had to climb. I kind of tried to run up the beginning of the hill, but when I looked down at my Garmin and realized that I could walk faster, I pretty much walked the rest of the way up the hill. It was definitely speed walking though. I had my arms swinging and everything. All I needed were some 1.5 lb weights in my hands and I would have been pro. As I came up to the second water table, I was kind of all by myself, so it was pretty funny when the girl asked what I wanted and I said "water". I was still kind of far away, and I think I was walking at this point, so she got it, and waited, and waited, and I finally said "I'll get there eventually". It was pretty funny. Here's a pic that will give you an idea of just how fast I was running (thanks tsilcyc).



The turnaround came, and I still felt pretty good. And I was definitely looking forward to going back down the hill. Right before I reached the downhill came the highlight of the race. I heard someone yell from the other side of the road "Hey, ChunkyB (my nickname on the Trifuel forums)". So I said "Hey, Callco, what's up" or something like that. I'm sure it was pretty hard to understand though, since I was coughing and wheezing by that point, but the thought was there. Honestly, Callco, that totally gave me the kick in the butt that I needed.

So, I came speeding down the hill (gravity + MASS = acceleration) and when I got to the bottom I had to walk for a few steps. I probably would have walked longer, but I heard my mom in the distance cheering (screaming) me on, so I started running again, and ran the half mile right into the finish. I ended up doing the run in 33:11 and I couldn't have been happier. It was honestly the greatest feeling crossing the finish line and knowing I had done so well. Part way through the run, I started thinking how awesome it would be if I could finish in 1:45. Here are my final times, and a few pics.





Run: 33:11 (10:43 min/mi avg.)

Total: 1:41:43

I can't even describe how good it felt to put so much work into something and have it pay off like that. Thanks for everyone's support (especially my beautiful wife). Now wish me luck on training for Spudman.