Raf and I showed up for this race because it is one of the Grand Prix events and we wanted points. He is "tapering" as only Raf can and I was hoping
to survive the heat. Olympic has always been my toughest race and I have done very little distance work this year so I was unsure what to expect. An 8:00 start
combined with spending the weekend in MA 40 minutes from the venue made for an easy morning. I was given the race number 5 and put in the primo rack again with
the pressure to keep up with the "A" players in my section like the last grand prix where I was #2. It was too hot to warm-up so after a couple
hundred yard run I mostly sat around in the shade till 20 minutes out when I started my swim warm-up. The swim was a two loop course which initially looked too
long, but was probably pretty close to 1500. I started in the first wave giving me a very clear idea of how I was doing relative to the others in my group; not
great. I was stuck next to one swimmer with "hangover breath" so bad I could only breath on my left side to avoid smelling it. With no extra gear, I
couldn't pull away and had to wait for him to fade. I thought I swam progressively faster but my splits indicate I slowed by more than a minute in the
second loop. Still, I felt very good coming out and had a smooth transition off to the four loop flat course (very minor rolls). I decided to ride an easy
relaxed pace to assure that I had enough energy to finish the run strong. The weather cooperated with the clouds rolling in and keeping the temps down. Strong
cross winds nearly blew me over at some points by the cranberry bogs, but Raf said they didn't have an effect on him even with his disc wheels. I felt
progressively stronger thru the ride and got my average up over 21 by the end without feeling like I was pushing; rolling courses rock. At the end of the ride
I passed an age class competitor, trying to do it quickly so they wouldn't notice.
I headed into the run knowing my competition was probably on my tail and felt good because the start was on dirt roads and trails and my legs felt pretty fresh. The run follws the same loop as the bike, but in the opposite direction. The distance measures out to 6.4 or 6.5 on mapping tools, which was consistent with my mile times. After I hit the main road I ran well with no fatigue until the fourth mile when I began to fade. At that point Buzz, my competitor, came up and started to pass me with a short greeting. This got the juices flowing and I picked up the pace and held him off on several more attempts on the loop picking up the pace as we progressed. When we turned into the Y camp road I surged and gapped him enough to hold on for 1st in my age class. Although it is hard to compare different olympic races due to variations in distances, this was almost a 7 minute lifetime PR for me with consistent performances in all three events. Needless to say, I was very happy with this race, especially in warm conditions. Raf also had a great race considering he was taking it easy and holding back to prepare for LP. He was well over 22 mph on the bike and won his age class piling up more points on his grand prix standings. There was a nice feed afterward to complete the day.
I headed into the run knowing my competition was probably on my tail and felt good because the start was on dirt roads and trails and my legs felt pretty fresh. The run follws the same loop as the bike, but in the opposite direction. The distance measures out to 6.4 or 6.5 on mapping tools, which was consistent with my mile times. After I hit the main road I ran well with no fatigue until the fourth mile when I began to fade. At that point Buzz, my competitor, came up and started to pass me with a short greeting. This got the juices flowing and I picked up the pace and held him off on several more attempts on the loop picking up the pace as we progressed. When we turned into the Y camp road I surged and gapped him enough to hold on for 1st in my age class. Although it is hard to compare different olympic races due to variations in distances, this was almost a 7 minute lifetime PR for me with consistent performances in all three events. Needless to say, I was very happy with this race, especially in warm conditions. Raf also had a great race considering he was taking it easy and holding back to prepare for LP. He was well over 22 mph on the bike and won his age class piling up more points on his grand prix standings. There was a nice feed afterward to complete the day.
