Rocketts Landing Triathlon Race Report
July 24, 2011
Adam Otstot
Once again, Laurie Mehler and the Richmond Multisports team put on an incredible event. I am so thankful that the Richmond area has a community that embraces the sport and works to create world class races.
The field this year was extremely competitive, with not only some of the best athletes from the Richmond area competing, but also athletes from clubs all over the Mid-Atlantic region. It was shaping up to be a tough battle from start to finish.
The weather was hot, but not nearly as suffocating as the year before, although the water temperature was much worse, a balmy 92F! For maybe the first time ever, I would be looking forward to cooling down AFTER getting out of the water.
For those interested, I have somewhat unique eating habits pre-race. I always like to eat a Subway sub the night before, and then the morning of, will eat a chocolate Powerbar, two strawberry frosted Pop-Tarts, a banana, and Gatorade. Not the most nutritious morning breakfast, but I’ve been doing it since high school, and it seems to work ok from time to time.
I lined myself up in the James with some of the stronger swimmers, with the strategy of staying in their wake as long as possible. As the race started, there was a bit of congestion for the first 100 meters or so, but quickly it thinned out, and I was able to stretch out and get into a rhythm. Luckily the swimming pool at the Williamsburg Rec Center is typically between 84-85F, so having to swim hard in hot water wasn’t too far out of my comfort zone. I managed to stay with a solid group of about 4 guys for the swim and came out of the water in 19:40. The swim was probably about 100 yards shorter than last year’s race, but having said that, even with an addition 1:30 added to that time, it would still have been a best time for me by close to 25 seconds. As Borat would say, “Very Niice!”
I passed three of the guys who came out just before me in the swim on the way to the transition area, and before I pulled my bike off the rack, I made sure to take a couple good swigs from a water bottle I had put conveniently on my helmet before leaving to start the race. I figured a couple seconds in T1 drinking water was time well spent in the long run. I still ended up with a pretty fast transition, got on my Orbea and got rolling.
The bike was the best part of the day for me. This was my first ride with Zipp 808’s, and they were amazing. My goal was to ride just like I had been riding in training over the past couple of weeks, holding an average power of between 320-325 watts, with an average cadence around 90-93. That’s pretty much exactly what I did. I took the lead after about 3 miles into the bike leg, and just stayed at my goal pace. Although there were a ton of duathletes out before us, I knew who to look out for at the turnaround to gauge my position in the race. So halfway through I figured I was about 1:15 up on the next guys in my wave, and Dave Luscan (who can absolutely wail on the swim and bike) was about 2:00 ahead of me on chip time (he started 3:00 behind me in the second wave). Sometimes you just have to trust your race plan regardless of what others are doing in the race. So I stayed in my power range, continued to pass duathletes, and ended the bike at the same power as I started off on, which is always a great sign that you won’t be cooked on the run. I managed to come into T2 right before Dave, who was now 3:00 ahead of me.
I was feeling good, hydrated, and fueled, and ready to rock the run. The plan was to start at 5:45 and drop the pace from there if necessary. First mile 5:42. Second mile 5:44. I felt smooth and relaxed, and the volunteers at the aid stations did a great job handing me drinks and ice towels to keep my core temperature down. At the run turnaround I found out that I was now about 1:30 ahead of second place, so I continued to cover ground as effortlessly and lightly as I could. As I finished I felt proud of my effort, thankful that I stayed safe the entire race, and honored that I represent Richmond Velosport and 3Sports, who have continually helped me in many ways to achieve my goals. I also could not have been here without the help of First Endurance Nutrition and CORE Fitness.
My finishing time was 1:55:34, a new personal record for an Olympic Triathlon by about 2 minutes. I figure that even if the swim was a true 1500m, I would have still pulled out a PR by half a minute or so.
Congratulations to everyone who finished this grueling event, I am always humbled to watch racers digging deep into the pain cave and realizing their own goals. See you all out on the course soon.
Adam
