The weekend started with some relaxing around the house with Casey and watching Gwen Jorgensen tear up the Chicago WTS race. We left for Chattanooga Saturday afternoon, picked up my packet around 5:30 pm, then headed over to one of Casey's friends' house for our "home stay." It was super nice of Tracy and Stephen to open up their home for us to stay with them. We relaxed, called it a night pretty early, and woke up at 5 am Sunday morning. It was kind of nice to have a "later" start at 7:30 as I got to sleep to almost my normal wake up time. However, I wouldn't have minded a 6:30 start if we could have avoided some of the heat.
We drove down town, parked, and got my transition all set up. After a pretty stress free morning, we walked to the swim start and got prepared to race. Being the only "pro" in the race, I was racer number 2 (there wasn't a number 1) and was the first individual racer after the relays were sent off. I got a pretty good start and had passed every relay swimmer before the 2nd buoy. I was by myself until about half way when super swimmer Bruce Gennari swam up beside me and passed with ease. I sat on his feet for a few hundred yards until he accelerated away from me. I came out of the water about 20-30 seconds behind him (he started about 30-40 seconds behind me in the time trial start). I put on my Rudy Project Wingspan helmet and Swifty sunglasses and was running full steam ahead out of the first transition.
Unfortunately for Bruce, he got a flat in the first 2 miles of the bike course, so I passed him as he was already on the side of the road. I was out front by myself for the rest of the ride. The bike course is on a highway and has some very large rolling hills. I felt better than I have all year on the bike during this ride. I had to back off the effort on some of the hills as I looked down and was putting out 370+ watts. I knew with the heat that I would expend too much energy on the bike if I held that effort and would not be able to run well. Here is my Strava file from the bike.
I have to give a shout out to Quarq and the guys down Red Kite for helping me out the past 2 weeks. They sent my power meter back to Quarq to take a look at it since it has been cutting in and out for no reason. They replaced my 2 year old power meter for a brand new one since it was covered under warranty. So I now have a brand new power meter with the newer technology that Quarq just released this year.
Anyways, my legs felt pretty good coming off of the bike, slipped on my running shoes, and took off running. The first 1/2 mile is pretty much straight up hill. I kept the pace solid, but under control for the first mile. I hit the first mile in about 5:50 and was surprised it was that fast. I got a side stitch almost immediately after the 1 mile mark. I haven't had one of these in a long time and I forgot how bad they hurt. I tried to work it out but only managed a 6:15 mile 2. I knew at that pace, the 2nd place guy would probably catch me. I stopped and walked for 10 seconds, worked it out, and was back running. The third mile was also in 6:15, but that included the walking. I hit the turn around and the next guy was only 1:30 or so behind me. His race number was 49?!?! Holy Crap!!! I immediately started doing math in my head. How far back did he start after me, how can he be this close, how bad do I want to win? I immediately found another gear and picked up the pace. From mile 3 to 5, I ran 11:20 (never saw the 4 mile mark) and knew that I could hold that for the last mile. Well, I forgot that a lot of the 6th mile is a gradual climb going into a short but very steep hill before running down the big hill I originally ran up in the first 1/2 mile. I kept the pace hot all the way across the finish line since I have literally lost by 1 second at this very race in past years because of the TT start.
Tyler Jordan, number 49, finished 2:45 later (I know this because I timed it on my watch). I was super nervous for the next 2-3 hours as I had no idea if I actually won or not. Casey tried to keep me calm as she was more confident that I had actually won than I was. When I crossed the finish line, a writer from the Chattanoogan interviewed me, along with a guy from Channel 9 in Chattanooga.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/jun/30/white-degan-win-waterfront-triathlon/
I did eventually find out that I did win by about 30 seconds. It was all in the swim as well. I out swam Tyler by about 2 minutes, he out biked me by about 1.5 minutes, and we were almost dead even between the run and transitions. Congrats to Tyler as he kept my effort honest and I wouldn't have been able to go that fast without him there to push me to the line.
At the awards ceremony, they asked the winner to give a speech as Team Magic does at every event. I kept it short and sweet. I did win a door prize while waiting and got some tasty Red Bike Coffee.
And I even got to take a picture with the birthday boy Blake.
We made the short trip back to Nashville after the race. We snacked on some Welch's fruit snacks which made the drive that much better. Then we chowed down some pizza and a Reese's blizzard from DQ for dinner. I don't always eat like this, but allowed myself a bit of a cheat dinner on Sunday.
This was a big confidence booster going into Muncie 70.3 which is now only about 1.5 weeks away. I feel comfy on my bike and just need to pace myself a little better on the bike to have a solid run. Thanks to Tri4Him for the support this year along with my lovely wife Casey, and the rest of my family who have helped me stay positive through the few set backs I've had early this year. God has blessed me with these support teams and blessed me with my athletic ability. None of this is possible without Him.
Tone Loc
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