Jay Benson '08 et. al.

I've been away for awhile, haven't I? I have a lot of catching up to do!

May is kind of a busy month. I have one and two races per weekend over the rest of the month, and it's all stuff I really want to do. Plus I train in between the races, my training schedule is intense. Plus I gotta work, and be wife and mommy and stuff. It's been kinda challenging.

Last weekend, I did the Run for the Zoo. I like running for the zoo. The gorillas and flamingos totally deserve to have funds raised for them...Not sure I feel the same about the spiders, but I do like the capybaras. This is one of the bigger races that happens around here. Everybody who runs likes to run for the Zoo. This is a race that also brings out some of the ringers. It seems that we have some pretty high calibre runners around here, there are a few surprising times at the end...the kinds of times you see for elite distance runners (the top two finishers in the 10K times were 30:38 and 30:42).

I signed up for the 10K, I signed my beloved up for the 10K, I signed my kiddos up for the 1mi fun run, and my mother for the un-timed 5k (they also had a timed 5K). I enjoy this race, I believe that the zoo should be a family supported affair, and it's really close to our house.

On the Saturday before the Zoo, I did a 58 mile bike ride with my fellow outlaws SW TriGal, Mo, Bones, et. al. I didn't have high expectations for this run. Because it was a fun run, I didn't bother to look up my times for last year before I left. My only goal was, in the end, to do at least as well as I did before. Hopefully.

You can tell I was serious about this goal...

The race was as uneventful as it could be - and it felt easier than last year. I walked through both water stations (which I don't think I did last year). I felt pretty good most of the way, I've been fighting with my transverse abdominus lately when I run fast.

Because it was a fun run, I also decided to pace my mother in the 5K un-timed race - her second 5K ever. She did awesome - had a PR! I think she said she came in about 4 minutes faster than her last 5K.

And of course, because it was for fun, I paced my kiddos in the 1 mile fun run - which was by far the most difficult race of the day. They would take off like they had wings on their feet, then stop cold "ow, my side hurts." Then take off again. Then stop. 1 mile, by the way, was the farthest distance they'd ever put behind themselves - and they were really proud of themselves after it was over.

So 10K + 5K + 1 mile = almost 11 miles for the day. Pretty good for a fun run!

I looked up my training records for last year, just for fun. It seems that the day before last year's race I did a 30 mile bike ride.

Last year's time: 55:58
This year's time: 56:10

Well, it seems I lost about 2 seconds per mile over last year's time, but had twice the bike ride the day before, and it didn't seem as painful. Not a bad result, I'd call that virtually the same or better.

Today I had my first triathlon race of the season: Jay Benson. This was my very first triathlon, and this is my 3rd time to do it - and my 3rd season of triathlon. This time I recruited my mother to come and do it as well.

Initially, I wasn't even really hot on signing up. I wanted to come along and sherpa her and the kids (I planned on them doing their first triathlon today as well). I didn't feel like I had to do this race, though it's fun. It's a funny race - it attracts a lot of locals who do this as their very first (and possibly only) triathlon. Along with the tons of first-timers there are a number of internationally ranked triathletes who also do this race, and they're some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Somehow I decided that I did need to get an early season triathlon in, just to remind myself how it's done. Get practice. I could sherpa her from within. My beloved didn't decide to do it until after the race was full, though we did manage to get the kiddos in. So I was committed - and he was official sherpa to the junior triathletes.

Last year I saw some definite improvement in my race time. I had a couple of goal's for today's race, but I didn't really think about them until I was setting up in T1:

1) Do at least as well as last year
2) Have a better swim
3) Have fun

Today in transition, I mostly complained. It was cold, it was windy. I ran into about a jillion people I know, and that kept me distracted. I goofed off with Mo and Geekgirl. I joked. I played. I whined about the cold. I didn't stress about the hundred-and-one things I normally stress about. It's great being around people who are first timers, as they are far more freaked out than I am. They take away my freaked-out energy, and I can remain calm.

Here's my first year's splits:

Total   Run     Pace   T1      Bike    Mph   T2      Swim
 1:21:52   25:11  8:24    1:38   41:14  18.1    2:03   11:48       

Here's last year's splits

Total   Run     Pace   T1      Bike    Mph   T2      Swim    
1:18:35   26:37  8:53    1:35   38:16  19.5    1:59   10:10

Here are this year's splits:

Total   Run     Pace   T1      Bike    Mph   T2      Swim 
1:15:53.35   26:00  8:40  1:41  36:27  20.5    2:02    9:46 

Wow. That's pretty cool!

Although my transition times show that I was totally goofing off, my race times are uh, significantly different. Quite unexpected.

The Run
I went as hard as I felt comfortable, and I goofed off with others in the run. I offered to draft someone as I passed her. I stayed within myself and just did what felt good. I decided Nytro's race strategy of "balls out on the run, balls out on the bike, balls out on the swim" sounded like a fine strategy. So I went with that.

I had to pee, so I probably could have picked up some more speed at the end. Mo will be laughing about that - I must have gone to visit La Facilities about 5 times before the race - and STILL I had to go when it was time to go. Curse my ever-filling bladder!

The Bike
Well, I guess 10 weeks with Satan as a spin instructor at 5:30 in the morning really does work. He did teach me to work past my anxiety, and it's true - I really can do more! After much deliberation, I elected to wear my fancy-schmancy Outlaw aero helmet, which I think is probably a big reason my bike was a whole 1mph faster than last year's time!

As with races before, I expected to pass a few people on the bike, but I didn't expect to pass everyone...and I mean everyone!

The good thing about being faster is that it's fun to go fast - really. And you don't really have to worry about what's behind you - just what's coming toward you in the front. The bad thing about being faster is that it's more crowded up front. Back of the pack has plenty of space, I don't have to worry about passing others, I don't have to worry about getting in anyone's way. As I started to pass people on the bike I ran into progressively more dangerous situations to avoid...like the two women who were riding side-by-side taking up the entire road, and the woman who was passing them...like the people who didn't want to ride close to the white line, who instead preferred to ride somewhere in the middle...like the bajillion people who were passing each other as I was blazing through. I didn't feel like I was ever working that hard, because I kept having to pass people, shouting "on your left!"

When I was trapped behind 3 ladies who were eating up the whole road, of course a race official came up behind me. I sat up, and said "I swear to God I'm not trying to draft." They knew (later on I found out that they assessed a penalty to those two women).

As I passed them, I shouted loudly "ON YOUR LEFT" with more testosterone than I usually use. I gather they were doing the race together. Doing a race with a friend is a great idea - but could they maybe have found a way to do it safely, and without impeding everyone else on the course?

At the second turnaround I heard something metallic hit the ground, and it sounded like it came from me. I couldn't tell what it was, I thought to myself "gee, I hope that's not me." I asked someone as I passed if there were bits falling off my bike, and she said no. Nothing felt weird, nothing made noise, it seemed OK.

It turns out that my saddle bolts had both completely dropped off at that point - and I didn't discover it until well after the race had ended - my mother saw my bike parked in transition with the saddle at a very wrong angle. I don't know why they both came out, it's likely that I didn't get one of them tight enough the last time I test drove a new saddle, but two? I was lucky.

The Swim
I drew on my hat and goggles as I ran through transition. I passed someone who was still messing with their goggles and threw myself into the pool and went to work.

Maybe all that 5:30 work with the big fishies will finally pay off!

The swim turned out to be the same kind of cluster f*ck as the bike, except worse. People passed me in the swim and breastroked as soon as they passed, then waited at the end. WTF??? Even so, I found that I was really tired in the swim, and breathing was harder. Previously, I was a one-side breather - by the end of the first lap, I would be breathing with every stroke on the one side. Since then I've taught myself bilateral breathing, which I used for this race. I think that although I'm more efficient with my swimming, I was anaerobic faster than usual, which was harder. But still do-able.

And in the end, I was passed by some pretty good swimmers. I'd have never seen these ladies, if it had been a conventional tri...

well, except for when I would pass them on the bike.

After I finished, the kid's race started - same unconventional format. My girls did really well - 400m run, 1/2 mi bike, 50m swim. Awesome distance - and the best part for them was that they didn't have to have an organized transition area. They had pretty much every Outlaw on hand as their tri-sherpas - someone to run with them on the bike, someone to help them park their bike, someone to help get their shoes off, someone to help them get their goggles on. They were totally psyched - I'll post some pics of Baby's First Triathlon next time. They're already asking about when they can do it again.

Next up: the Jemez Mountain Trail Run half marathon followed by the Santa Fe Century - next weekend. Yes, both of them.

That'll be fun!