So I raced in Millington, TN yesterday at the annual Memphis in May triathlon. It just so happened to be the hottest day of the year (for me) and also the hottest day that I've ever raced in. So that made for some fun race reports (from friends and fellow competitors).
Just like last year, we did our usual dinner at Amerigo's the night before the race. We woke up early and I drove Ben and Kevin to the race site and I went back to the hotel to go back to bed. The pros start time was at 10:30 compared to the 7:15 race start for everyone else. I showed up to the race site close to 8:30 and it was already a warm day (only to get hotter). I got my gear ready and tried to stay cool before our race start. I watched Ben, Kevin, Sean, Beth, and Allison all come in off of the bike and take off on their run while I was getting my transition area set up. I started my watch when Ben took off on his run to see his 10k split. Well, after the 40 minute mark passed, I stopped the watch because I had to go get ready for my race. I saw Kevin come in looking pretty bad so I knew it was going to be a long day. Kevin ran under 38 minutes 2 weeks ago at the Knoxville Rev 3 tri and ran 44 minutes yesterday. Ben ran under 37 minutes last year on this very course and ran over 44 minutes yesterday. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the run.
By the time we started, it was close to 90 degrees and still rising. The ITU race I did in Austin last year was a little warmer but there was no humidity compared to Memphis. Luckily, Millington has comparable weather to KY because the humidity was almost as high as the temperature. I had on my Kiwami speedsuit and was ready to roll. I was the 10th pro into the water. I felt really good in the water, and I got into a pretty good rythym which is wierd, haha. The last 300 - 400 yards I was hurting a little bit, but overall I felt that I had a decent swim. It was my fastest swim split ever at Memphis so that is something to be happy about (18:04). I came out of the water, stripped off my speed suit and grabbed the bike. I have felt really good about my bike workouts lately so I was confident about the bike. It took me a few miles to get warmed up, but once I was, I got around several of the guys that passed me in the water, and the others that started in front of me. After ten miles or so, it was only Andrew Starykowicz and Daniel Bretscher. We rode together (don't worry, it was legal) for the rest of the ride pretty much going into T2 within 15 seconds of each other. I knew that Starykowicz was injured, but it was still a little confidence builder to ride with him considering he is one of the strongest cyclist in the business. My bike split was around 54:45. I had a great T2 and was the 2nd pro overall to start the run.
AND THEN....
It was all down hill from there. I immediately felt the heat and was overwhelmed. I was walking with a 1/2 mile of starting the run. When Daniel came running by me, I started running again and we spoke for a brief second until he dropped me. I walked the first aid station to make sure I got enough fluids over my head and in my system. I ran the whole 2nd mile considering it was shaded. I was running slower than 6:30 pace and I couldn't have cared less. I felt horrible about DNF'ing at St. Anthony's last year and that wasn't happening again. I was determined to finish the race no matter how long it took me to run/walk the 10k. At about 1.5 miles, Zach Winchester came flying by me. Just like Daniel, he had some encouraging words for me to keep going. I hung in there and told myself only to walk when I absolutely needed to. There was no walking if it was shaded or if it was downhill. So I almost ran 2 miles with walking. At the turn around, I stopped and walked a little to get some more ice water over my head. I made it up the hill that is the 4th mile of the course. I felt better and better as the run went on (not that I was really running any faster). I took 2 more short but sweet walk breaks (aid stations) and I managed to run my last 2 miles in under 12:50 (compared to the 6:50 pace I ran for the first 4 miles. I finished the race with 2 competitors within 20 seconds of me (but they started behind me at the start of race so their overall time was faster than mine by more than 20 seconds). My 10k split was 41:39. But considering the fastest professional run split was 39:15, I wasn't too terribly upset about my run. Instead of being a swim/bike/run triathlon, it turned into a swim/bike/"survive the heat the best" triathlon. And apparently I'm not that good at surviving in the heat.
I finished the race with a smile on my face and was happy that I had gutted it out. I had a blast racing which is THE goal of the year. I want to have fun which I did (the pic at the top proves it because that is 100 meters from the finish line). It was fun to go fast on the bike. It wasn't as much fun to battle the heat like that on the run, but I dug deep and managed a 5th place amongst a solid professional field and a little pay day. Only 13 pro men and 9 pro women ended up finishing the race considered 30+ started the race.
We stuck around for the awards ceremony, then we hit the long road back to Lexington. By the time Kevin and I made it back, we had some techno music jamming in the minivan trying to keep us awake. We had a fun trip, and we're looking forward to another road trip to Lawrence, Kansas in 2 weeks for the Kansas 70.3 race. Hopefully it won't be as hot, ha.
Tony
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