22 June 2019 - Loveland Lake to Lake Sprint Triathlon

I really struggled with whether or not to write this race report.  I have bounced into embarrassment, frustration and other emotions.  Eventually I decided for the report so I can reflect on the event and put it behind me.  I had no control over the bad parts but am just not happy with my results.  Yes they could have been worse but I had high expectations with all the training I've been doing and with my new Cervelo P2 triathlon bike.

Last Saturday I completed my first triathlon of the year.  This Sprint triathlon was held in Loveland at the High School with the swim held in Loveland Lake.  Last year I did the Olympic distance and was so impressed with the event that I decided to do the Sprint this year.  For me, there was anxiety leading up to the triathlon as the weather forecast was predicting rain and high 40 degree weather.  I could handle the cooler weather but racing my new bike in the rain made me a bit nervous.

We decided to go up a day early and spend the night at the Fairfield Inn in Loveland.  On the drive to Loveland, it rained and hailed.  My bike was on a bike rack on the back of our vehicle.  As the hail beat down for about 10 minutes, I was hoping and praying my bike was OK..  Luckily it was! 

Dinner was my traditional pasta with chicken, breadsticks, and salad from Olive Garden!  It rained pretty much the entire evening in Loveland.  I attended packet pickup at the high school around 7pm and was told the event would be a "go" unless there was lightening or pouring rain and neither were in the forecast.  All I could do at this point was get ready and hope for the best.

At about 5am, the alarm went off and we were up.  I drank a cup of coffee, loaded up my triathlon gear and bike and we hit the road about 530am.  At this point it was about 46 degrees and raining.  We arrived at the High School about 545am and I waited in the car until the rain slowed down.  Luckily the rain pretty much ceased at this point and I was able to setup my transition area. I found a spot fairly close to the bike entry/exit so was happy about this.  They closed transition for the Sprint folks at 650am and I waited until the last minute to leave transition.

One of my friends (Donnie Hinshaw) was also doing this triathlon and we were in the same swim wave so we headed to the water to warm up.  With wetsuits on, we waded into the warmup area and were shocked at how cold the water was.  From what I've been told it was 62 degrees.  It took a few minutes to get under the water and get going and neither my head nor feet warmed up at all.  I was hoping this wouldn't be the case once the swim started.  Next we headed to the start and figured out the buoy configuration.  It seemed easy enough as I think we followed the yellow buoys.  As cold I was with my wetsuit, I was shocked to see a number of dudes in my swim wave that had nothing on other than a swim suit.  One guy said this was his first triathlon and he didn't know what to bring.  Oh my this was gonna be a tough lesson for him!

At this point I was excited.  My swim training leading up to the event had been going well and I was excited to see how it translated to open water.  About 10 minutes before my wave started, I took a Clif shot Mocha gel.  Once they called for my wave to get in the water I moved to a side away from the traffic and got ready to go.  About 723am, they said go and I swam hard and didn't really encounter much traffic until just before the first turn buoy.  It was at this point, I had caught the swim wave that started 4 minutes before and encountered several swimmers treading water and swimming real slow.  At this point I slowed down a bit to avoid collisions and then made the turn at the first buoy.  I felt really good and that I was swimming fast (at least for me).  There was traffic pretty much the rest of the way but I tried to avoid it and just swim hard.  Surprisingly I was not cold at all and actually enjoyed the swim.  As I approached the swim beach, I stood up, peeled the top of the wetsuit down to my waist and started the jog to transition.  I peeked at my watch and was disappointed to see the swim took me over 19 minutes!  I was hoping for 15 minutes.  I tried to be positive and not disappointed as I took the wetsuit off and got ready for my bike ride.  T1 was slow for me 3:13.  I was hoping for about 2 minutes but with the temps being about 47 degrees, I guess I was just moving slow.

I headed out of transition wearing only my race singlet.  I contemplated throwing on a jacket but it wasn't raining and really didn't feel that cold.  I mounted my new bike and began to go.  I felt so good for the first 10 miles.  Nobody passed me and I passed several folks.  I started thinking maybe I had a chance to podium if my run went well.  The new bike felt so good and I was going fast without pushing too hard.  My breathing felt good and so did my legs. Then disaster struck!  A flat tire on a sprint triathlon.  The worst...   Once I was over the mental disappointment, I took the front wheel off and proceeded to remove the tire.  I took the tube out and inspected the tire but could find no reason why the tube went flat.  I proceeded to put a new tube in and then put the tire back on the wheel.  I couldn't easily get the last bit of tire on the wheel so used my tire tool to pull it on.  This was not a good move on my part.  I didn't realize yet but I had pinched the tube when I did this.  Next I went to use my co2 canister and wasted some of the air trying to remember how it worked.  I was able to inflate the tire but not sure how much air ended up in it.  I put the wheel back on the bike, climbed on  and "pow"  the new tube blew where I had pinched it.  I was totally frustrated at this point and was wondering why the bike maintenance guys were nowhere to be found....

Instead of crying in my beer, I took the wheel off again, took the stupid tube out and luckily I had carried a second one.  I put the second tube in, put the tire on the wheel and inflated it.  The air was low but seemed to hold so I put the wheel back on the bike.  27 minutes after discovering the flat tire I was embarrassingly back on the road.  I was nervous about the tire the rest of the way because I really did not know why the first tube blew.  Also I knew the currently installed tube was low on air and was just hoping there was enough to make it the next 4-5 miles.  Luckily there was and I finally arrived back to transition.  I parked the bike and changed into my run gear in about 1:59.  Pretty slow but at this point all my goals were blown so I decided to just enjoy the run and finish the triathlon.

The run went decent.  TriDot wanted me to finish in 30:57 and I was originally hoping for about 9 minute miles.  I finished somewhere in between.   I felt fine and could have pushed harder but didn't see the point.  As I crossed the finish line I decided the day was a success.  I was very disappointed in my time and the flat tires but I endured and finished.  My worst sprint triathlon ever but I learned a couple things and enjoyed the experience.  I do triathlon because it is fun.  Some days will be funner than others but they are all good.  By the way I really enjoyed the after race food.  Loveland L2L by far has the best after race food.


By the numbers:

• Swim:  21:44 (including the long run to transition)  81st out of 219 finishers
•      T1:   3:13   52nd out of 219 finishers
• Bike: 1.14:37 (dreadful!!)   204th out of 219 finishers
•      T2:   1:59   96th out of 219 finishers
•   Run:  29:29   (9:26 per mile)    111th out of 219 finishers

Age Group (60-64M) 5th out of 5 crazy old dudes   (in other words Dead last!)
Men:  101st out of 122 finishers
Overall:  170th out of 219 finishers

What's next for me:
- July 21st - TriBoulder Olympic distance triathlon
- August 4th - Copper Triangle (79 miles over 3 mountain passes with Julie)
- Sep 15th - Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Atlantic City NJ