Ok, finally... I'm hoping to cobble together some memories of this race since it happened over a month ago... I'm so far behind on keeping this thing current that I've considered scrapping it altogether... But considering my buddy Mike Grimes has made a reference to it in his blog, I figure I'll keep going just for him...
So after the nightmare that was MiM, I figured I'd have the chance to redeem myself at Heatwave, held right outside Jackson, MS. Kendrick had offered up his place to me, Chad, and the team of Alex, Scott, and Meredith... I was pumped because Heatwave was my first chance to get to see my fraternity brother Will this season, as well as see Michelle again (she came in from NOLA)... So if anything, at least it'd be a good roadtrip...
Got to Kendrick's and put "my" race wheels on my bike (aka, Jim Hamner's wheels that I've never returned)... bike was lookin good and I was feeling good about the race the next day... Rest of the gang shows up and we hit dinner at Pie Works... Will and Alicia (wife) join in and we head back to K's to hop in bed
Race morning and it's absolutely hectic... I'm used to one or two people having to get ready, but with everyone staying at Kendrick's, that number totalled 6... needless to say, it was a fight for quality time in the bathroom before leaving for the race... And, being all Type A on race day, we all agreed to get to Transition as soon as it opened at 5:30 (I think)....
I felt pretty good on race day... I knew that the swim and bike would be decent, but the run would give me some problems because it had started getting really really hot the week prior to the race... I simply don't do well in the heat... most of us big guys don't!
Wave start by age group for the swim... Clydes started in their respective age group, so I pull up next to Will in the water and wait for our start... Of course, me and Will were joking with eachother on who would take home the W between us (he did, of course-- and will probably continue to do so all season)...
We start the swim and I feel ok... I've improved my swim quite a bit over the last several months and can really tell a difference when I'm in the water... I was able to draft a little bit during this race, which I'm sure saved me some effort/time, but I can't ever tell the difference... I just try to save a little gas to turn it on from the last buoy to the swim exit... The more I race, the more the swim makes me push, because at nearly every race, I think to myself "Man, I'm ready for this shit to be DONE"... Finished the swim in a respectable 18:13, but my suspicion is that the swim was long (in fact, my Garmin said it was about .72 of a mile, which would make it +200... I kinda felt like this would be MiM all over again-- and it kinda was)
I beat Will outta the water by 2:14 and held him off on the bike... he passed me on the way outta T2 and I knew he had it in the bag....
The bike course was pretty flat and fast... we rode along the Resevoir so it was fairly windy... I've been using Jim Hamner's race wheels (HED 3 front and an 808 w/ a disc cover on the rear) so I've been learning how to handle my bike in windy conditions... It's not fun, but you get the hang of it pretty easily...
I found myself settling into the same bike race as at MiM, but without the rain... I hammered right outta the gate, because I felt so good coming out of the water.... By about mile 15, I was doing everything I could to just keep my legs moving.... My knees hurt, my back hurt, and I was cursing my bike for being too small (a fact that Kendrick and Chad FINALLY agreed with me on back in April)... I just knew that I had to hang on til the run, then I could jog and just finish this damn race.... Spent 1:09 on the bike, avg. 21.3... was hoping for a better bike split, but was happy that my avg was above 20mph....
Hit T2 and like usual, I'm spent... my legs are toast and I seriously considered calling it a day... I wasn't having any fun... at all... I hit my bike box and hear the voice of Travis Woods, one of my former students from Mississippi State say, "Aight Dave, lookin' good!"... I had seen Travis' Dad in transition before the race and he said that Travis had banged his shoulder up pretty bad and wasn't going to race... All I could muster back to Travis was, "Why the hell do I do this to myself?"...
The run, as it was explained to me, was an out and back on a fairly shaded path... Yes, it was an out and back... and yes, there were some shaded parts... All I can say about the run is that I made it Allllllllmost to the turnaround before having to walk... Then I walked almost the ENTIRE way back... it was absolute carnage on the run course... it was super hot, super humid, and people were walking everywhere... I, for the first time ever, unzipped my tri suit and skinned down in an attempt to stay cool... it didn't really help...
The run was misssssssserable, mainly because I was walking and it was really really hot... I'd try to jog a little, then my legs would just stop... I saw most everyone from my crew and they all looked super strong on the run... at this point, I resolved to accept defeat and just do the best I could to get the hell off the course....
Sidenote: for those of us who walk frequently during races like this, you understand the innate sense of commradarie that exists between all those who walk and/or are suffering at a snail's pace... I mean, yeah, it's cool that we're all out there suffering together, but maybe (just maybe) those who walk suffer a little bit more (or maybe this is just my way of trying to justify my shitty performance!)...
I continue my walk/shuffle/jog effort until about .25 from the finish, and all of a sudden, I see the rescue squad coming-- Meredith, Alex, Scott, Kendrick, and Chad are all jogging towards me... Great, now I get to be THAT guy who has to have his friends get him through the run course... After excusing that thought, I realized how freakin awesome my friends were for even making their way back out on the run course to tug boat my ass in... Everyone was really encouraging and when I needed to walk, they'd let me walk, and pick a landmark and say, "Ok, we'll walk to that over there, then we'll run, ok?" (Meredith was really good about this-- she ran for the team of her, Alex, and Scott and absolutely killed it)...
They peel off just before the finish line... In a sick joke, the finish line for Heatwave was UP A HILL... Thankfully I had walked nearly half of the run and had enough energy to scamper of the hill and be done with the race... Finished the run in an abissmal 1:14:16...
I was hot, I was tired, and most of all, very disappointed that yet again, I had a shitty race... Sure, I know that I had again accomplished what most people never do- and done so before most of those people were even out of bed on a Saturday morning, but once you get into racing/triathlon like I have, you get disappointed really easy when things don't go like you know they should... MiM didn't go like I knew it should have, and neither did Heatwave... I kinda felt like I had pissed away my money and time doing Heatwave, so that added insult to injury....
Kendrick and Chad took 2nd and 3rd in their AG and the team took 2nd... Solid day for everyone! Will took off over 3 mins from his time last year so I was super proud of him for that...
Since the race was on Saturday, we ended up going back to Kendrick's and having a Fat Kids day... ice cream, cookie cake, cinnamon rolls...
Alex and Scott left early Sunday morning... I got guilted into going for an "easy" run... an easy 6.2 miles... I can't believe I caved... I should have let Meredith, Chad, and Kendrick do their thing, and slept in... But, not wanting to miss anything, I soldiered on... Thank God Kendrick ran with me... I would have repeated my walk fiasco if he hadn't...
The most beneficial part of this trip was that I FINALLY got a professional bike fit while in Jackson... Over the last year or so, I knew that I wasn't fit to my bike and it was causing all sorts of problems for me (mainly lower back pain so bad that it would keep me up at night, as well as knee pain bc my saddle was too low)... anyway, I finally caved after yet another shitty race and told Kendrick to "call his guy" and tell him I was coming... So I head to the Bike Rack on that Monday morning, hoping for the best... 3.5 hrs later, Mike Harrison (Kendrick's "guy") had me riding pain free for the first time, really in forever... I blasted myself for not doing this sooner... The first ride after my fit, Shayne asked, "Are you ok man? You seem really quiet, is something wrong?"
Nothing was wrong, I was just so dang comfortable on the bike that I had nothing to complain about!
(I've written on this post for a few weeks now, so I'm switching gears to a more "reflective" tone)
It's been a long summer... a long, HOT, summer... sure, I know I live in Alabama and should expect such weather, but this summer has been especially tough on me-- I've had a LOT of problems running in the heat... so much so that I wasn't making it but about 20-25 minutes into runs before having to surrender and walk... Which, on a 60-80 min long run, is (as you can imagine) absolutely demoralizing... I've done everything I can think of to help-- changed my hydration routine, running routes, diet, time at which I run, effort, clothing, everything... It's gonna be a long summer if I can't figure this thing out...
Thanks for reading
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