A lesson learned: AG Nationals 2014 and Super Sprint Showcase

So I've had a pretty good summer of racing as a whole in my mind. I've had a few times where I would have changed a few things, but no races that were "bad". Nationals and the Super Sprint were rough, and by default two races with in a couple hours of each other should be. However, I could have thought through exactly what I was getting into before the race instead of just banking on my endurance to make doing two races back to back easy.

To go along with the double a few other factors were at hand in my race results. Normally Nationals has naturally been my goal peak race of the season, but this year was more about the spread throughout the summer. I wanted to perform at every race I could, and not really focus in on one. So with such a great summer under my belt and cross country season already underway nationals kind of got put on a back burner.

The week preceding the race I had cross country camp in northern WI, so I Friday I just had to drive down to Milwaukee after a morning run with the team. Upon arrival I head to the hotel where I am staying at and chill for a bit with Connor Dilger. I clean my bike completely we head downtown together to get our packets and ride with Alex Libin. We put up our packets, and get a solid ride in down the streets of Milwaukee. I feel pretty solid even with the strange taper this week. After we finish up the ride we set our bikes up in transition for the night, and head to Noodles and company to be treated by the Dilgers as they graciously pay for my meal. (Thanks again!) After enjoying my delicious Indonesian Peanut Saute we head back to the hotel and slap our decals on right before knocking out to get some sleep.

We wake up before the sun, eat, and head to set up transition downtown. After we get it all set up we have a few hours to kill before our wave goes off so we find one of Connor's friends and I take a quick nap. Once my cat nap wraps up it's time to warm up so we head out on a run warm up. We take our warm up out a gorgeous peninsula that we loop a few times to get our legs up to speed completely. I finished up with a few accelerations and a few dynamic and static exercises so I was ready to roll when our wave was called down. Finally, our wave was called to the shore, and I strip down to my suit and start heading down cap and goggles in hand. As I headed down I was started to put some real thought into the race since I hadn't quite done so, (which is very odd considering I put a lot of thought into my races) and I knew for sure I wanted to at least take the swim and T1 hard to get myself into a position to make the choice to push the bike and run or conserve myself for the Super Sprint Draft Legal Showcase. We get called from the holding pin while I was thinking and are able to get a quite swim warm up. Which was needed considering I missed the 1 o'clock open swim time the day before. The water is cold, but honestly perfect racing temperature. After a quick swim warm up it's time to race.

We get called back to the in water start and wait for a few minutes that felt like lifetime. Finally, the gun goes off and I take it our strong and to the right side of the field. My stroke doesn't feel too bad and as we approach the narrowest part of the swim under the bridge I am swimming pretty much by myself just behind the first pack of swimmers. I quickly drop the guy closest to me and gain ground on the leaders. With each buoy we round I get closer and closer to the front. I power out of the water and and posting the fastest transition split once again to get right up with the pack.

Now in draft-legal races I would have hit the jackpot with such a massive race, however this is non-draft legal. Our group has a bunch if strong bikers and everyone wants to be in front to avoid penalties or getting beat. This lead to a race official following for the entire first half of the race. I ended up with a 2 minute penalty, but some of the less fortunate had 4, 6, or were even kicked out of the race. The reason I only ended up with two minutes was because I decided to just hang off the back until they started to spread and I could move up easy. The was a mistake because it took me out of the race and gave the race a way too relaxed feel.

I ended up coming off the bike down quite a bit, but not out as I later learned. I take transition fast an head out onto the course. I surge for the first 400 meters and then settle into an easy pace to save energy for the next race since I didn't think I had a chance to podium. I clock in a very slow time during the run portion which has came to be top 5 material every race I've done this year. The result along with the penalty is a poorly executed race and a place way back from what it could have been. If I had a normal bike split and run I could have easily been top 3, lesson learned and now onto the super sprint.

I get done and head straight to the food tent to recovery from the Olympic distance race and prepared for the next one less than 2 hours between. After getting some food I head back to the Z3 tent and start the setup for the next race. Thanks to awesome parents and teammates I get my old numbers rubbed off, new ones out on, disk wheel gear set taken off and put on my 808s, both wheels pumped up and ready to go, aero bars taken off, and new numbers put on the bike all in record time.

Once all of that finishes up I head out on a course motorcar preview on my bike. This is extremely cool experience as only a few accepted athletes could be in the race. So I was racing a ton of great competitors in a field I was blesse to be a part of. We looped a a few times and then I broke off to work on the curved U-turn that a ton of momentum could be maintained or lost completely depending on how you took it. Once I feel I have sprints down I head out on a run with Tucker and Alex, the other two Z3 guys competing in the race. We get a few miles in and some strides and I'm ready to roll for round two.

Once I'm back i gather up my cap and googles and head down to the starting line. We each get called down by our names and where we are from, in the order of our bib numbers. I nab a spot right next to Alex on the right side. The tension builds as we stand there on the line, he calls us up, and we are off! I know this is a FAST race so I hammer it right off the guy with big powerful arms that prevent anyone from taking me under. (I later learned that I mauled Alex quite a bit during the first 200-300 meters, sorry!) The field has some very strong swimmers so it strings out a bit. I'm a little exhausted from the Olympic but I know I am still in the competition with my speedy transition. I finish up the swim and do just that, power up through and onto the bike.

Right away I realized that I had to solo to catch the group in front of me if I wanted to survive so no draft only speed. Our bike is over in a flash and we are on the run course, I have moved up considerablely during the bike and run from my swim position. I continue to push straight into the 3rd transition and this is where I have a brain fart. I go to the wrong basket and can't find my cap or goggles. After losing valuable seconds I finally get my caps and goggles back on and fly down to dock, into the air, and finally back in the water for swim two.

I know I'm behind quite a bit and I have to keep it within a minute of the leaders if I want to keep racing due to the race format. So I push the swim as hard as I can, fatigue hits me pretty hard from the previous race and the format of the race. I still hold out hope as long as I get close enough my 4th transition would be fast enough I knew it. So I wrap up my pretty much solo swim and burst out of the water and up the path to transition. I get to my bike and I feel a tap on my shoulder, and as I look up the lead group flys by on their bikes. I was barely over a minute behind, and my race was terminated early.

I watch the rest of the group behind me file in to learn they had been bested. I was so close and I know I could have been in the race if I had bit of a better plan coming in for sure. Lesson learned. However, I do have to say it was one of the most exciting and fun races I have competed in. I am so glad I go the opportunity to race in it, thanks again Jenny Weber for the nomination! Thanks to everyone who volunteer and the awesome people who put everything together. Next race evaluation is my finally triathlon of the season so make sure an read it! Thanks for reading!