This time it was a short trip to Cedar Point, Ohio for the
Rev3 Grand Prix 70.3 triathlon. About 120 miles due north of Columbus, Cedar
Point occupies a peninsula, which is the home of one of the largest amusement
parks in the region, perhaps in the country. Everything seems to be large about
it. There is the surrounding Lake Erie, with waves that could sometimes rival
those of a sea or an ocean. There is the imposing park which projects an image
of a little resort-town crowded by humongous rides and other attractions. And
finally, there is the seemingly never-ending parking lot ready to absorb
thousands of cars at any time.
The race village and the transition area were set up
adjacent to the park. The weekend forecast called for a nice weather conditions
with gentle winds and about 10% chance of rain. I never really understood the
latter, but perhaps, it is just me. The race-day routine was the same. A 3
o’clock wake up call. If I only relied on the hotel call, I would have probably
awakened just in time to see the first athletes finishing the race. Note to
self, always relay on your own wake up system.
Indeed the morning was warm, but the wind seemed to be much
stronger than the forecasted 10 mph. It was bit of a concern because I was
planning to ride on 808 Zipp wheels, which in strong crosswinds could make the
bike handling a bit more challenging. Other than that I was looking forward to
this challenge. The relentless winds of Southern Mississippi, where I spent six
months working and training earlier this year, provided me with a fabulous
physical and mental training for such eventuality.
The wind was blowing hard all day.
At 5 o’clock, the winds continued kicking up. The rip
currents with their corresponding four-foot waves brought about reasons for
concern. Shortly, after arriving at the transition and setting up my equipment,
the race officials moved the swim venue from the open lake in the east to the
protected bay on the west side of the peninsula. As I understood later, this contingency has
been in place every year due to the weather unpredictability.
The new swim venue required athletes to circumnavigate an
island. Because of the new layout and partial visibility, it was quite
challenging to sight the course for the rolling waves and sprawled buoys.
Instead of a wave start, athletes launch in to the water in a time-trial format
where pairs of competitors were sent off in two-second increments. Following my
usual strategy, I started near the front and lunched off in the third pair. The
water felt warm, perhaps a bit too warm for a wetsuit-legal swim. Nevertheless,
I was quickly able to lock-in to the wake of a swimmer just ahead of me and stay
with him for a little while before he left me in the “dust.” Then came another
swimmer, and another, until I had enough open water to swim without any body
contact. The swim felt fast for the first half. The second half must have been
against the current because I noticed working much harder in reaching the
consecutive buoys. While not as fast as I would have liked, I
reached the swim
exit gate in 37 minutes, effectively placing me 9th in my age group.
These lake conditions forced the officials to move the swim venue
Next, a long, long, long, 800-meter run to the transition. The
9-minute transition had a definite impact on my final time. And it could have
been so close, again. Nevertheless, we all had to do it, and after this longer
than usual transition I was on my bike commencing the 56-mile ride. The first 7
miles miles were along the beach, on a poor-surface road with crosswinds
beating up on me. At times, I had to get off the aerobars to maintain solid
control of the bike. I remember actually liking it because in a month I would
have to battle the famous winds of the Big Island of Hawaii. So, on that day we
had all sort of winds challenging us. Ohhh yes, remember the 10% chance of
rain? Yes, we had that, too.
After the initial poor-quality road, the other 40-plus miles
were on smooth-surface roads through the countryside. Despite the challenging
conditions, my power output was high and the ride felt relatively light.
Sometimes, I could not figure out why I was able to ride over 20 mph into the
wind? Perhaps, it was just my day for riding. On the return 7-mile stretch to
T2 the winds kicked up even more forcing me to stay off the aerobars for the
remainder of the ride. In the end, I reached the T2 in 2 hours 33 minutes and
moved to the third position. Yes, I had a strong ride. As I was transitioning into the run, I noticed
only a few bikes back and kept thinking, what if my swim was a bit faster and
the T1 shorter? Well, nothing could be done about that, now.
In just over 2 minutes I was leaving T2 for the 13-mile run.
The wind seemed to have been in my back. The run felt light, but I knew that at
least 6.5 miles of it will be into the wind, at point during the run. The
weaving course took us through the streets of downtown Sandusky. All I wanted to
see were the men with the numbers 50 and above tattooed on their calves. I
wanted to make sure I stayed on-pace because there were many others behind me
with the same idea. With about 4 miles to go I finally spotted my
first age grouper, walking. I went by him and noticed him trying to stay with
me. My immediate thought was to pull a “Macca” on him, and this was exactly
what I did. My quads were feeling the effects of the fast, but in about 50 meters I saw him walking
again. I cranked up the pace in the last 3 miles to a sub 7-minute miles, but
in the end, ran out of real estate. Even though, I knew I will not PR in this
race, I continued giving my all. Not knowing where I was in the AG classification, I crossed the finish
line in 5 hours 7 minutes, running a 1 hour 43 minutes half marathon.
Now, I can stop running. All the work is done.
After properly hydrating my body and a 30-minute massage,
courtesy of NorTech, I check the results. Finding my name near the top of the
list could have not make me happier (well, perhaps, a little). The day’s work
had paid off, after all. No penalties and the second place in my age group.
All smiles and a big thank you to Chuck and Jackie for memorializing it for me.
This race was my last 2013 qualifying event for the Rev3 Age
Group National Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee in May 2014. With 6
accumulated points (the fewer, the better), I have likely qualified for that
event, and pending the official results, I may have also placed rather high in the
overall Grand Prix standings.
A must-have requisite for an after-the-race muscle treatment.
