Skip to main content

Kissing Asphalt

It has been 10 months and three days since my last triathlon. You would think that I would have been prepared well in advance of the San Diego International Triathlon this year considering all of the time I had to train. Life seems to have a way of sneaking up on you sometimes, and about two weeks ago I realized that I needed to start swimming again if I expected to survive 1000 meters in San Diego Bay.


14 days, and 5 swim practices. Not really the sort of preparation that it takes to win races, but it would have to do. This race was really just an opportunity to determine where I was at fitness wise anyway. It helps to go in with low expectations to avoid disappointment.

I figured I would be OK on the run, as I have been running somewhat consistently over the past month or so. My pace has been around a 6:15/mile for shorter efforts so I estimated that I could push out 6:45’s for the race if I felt good. Obviously the bike would not be an issue after all the cycling I have been doing in the off-season.

So there I was, treading water at 6:45 am waiting for the gun to go off. I was anxious to get going as the water was a bit chilly. “3-2-1-GO!” and the horn went off. I immediately got into a good rhythm. Not too fast, not too slow, but a pace I felt like I could manage for a while. I actually felt pretty good after the first 100 meters or so. I hit the gas on the turn, and kept it steady to the swim exit. 18:00. Better than I had expected!

I had a decent transition, although it was not my fastest. I didn’t really care too much though. I was not looking to break any records. The bike was my strength, and there would be plenty of time to go hard.

I hit the gas. I hit Canon street hill and held 18MPH for the climb. The fastest ascent of the hill I think I have ever held. I felt good though, and I was passing people like they were going backwards. I kept the throttle down and eventually hit the rollers on Cabrillo where my computer showed an average of 23 MPH before I even got to the lighthouse. That means I had to be pushing around 30 for the rollers. Crazy.

I sprinted up the hill at the light house and then feathered my brakes for the sharp 180 degree turn at the bottom of the hill. That’s where disaster struck.

The back wheel of my TT bike just slid out from under me coming out of the turn and I instantly knew that I was in trouble. Skipping once or twice on the asphalt, I eventually slid along the ground for 10-15 feet before coming to a stop. I could feel the asphalt scraping each layer of skin off my body like it was happening in slow motion.

Shit.

A volunteer ran over to me. “Is my bike OK?” is the first thing I said. I guess my priorities are a little out of whack.

Slowly picking my bloody self up, I didn’t think anything was broken except my ego. My rear derailleur was stuck in one gear, and I slowly rode myself off the course and back to transition.
My race was over. DNF.

Sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan. I guess I didn’t really have a plan for this race, but I can tell you that if I did, it didn’t involve crashing. Live and learn.

I fixed the bike yesterday while chasing pain killers down with mimosas. Hoping I can pick the training back up this week.

As for the San Diego International, I’ll see you next year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Excited Heart

It’s no big secret that I was not feeling super great heading into my last race. It was the perfect storm in many ways. I had a stressful week at work two weeks prior working on a massive deadline followed by a heavy training volume week where I nearly doubled my weekly mileage and then fell behind in sleep the week leading into Quad Rock. I was super stressed out heading into Quad Rock due to the distance and vertical gain. I felt comfortably trained up to the 35 mile distance, but I had failed to put in the back-to-back days in training that would have given me confidence to make the jump to 50. The night leading into my race I had some significant arrhythmia while I was lying in bed. The feeling was not new to me. 10-years ago I was diagnosed with benign PVC’s. The condition takes place when nodes in the ventricles fire off signals that interfere with the main SA pace-making node in the heart. The result is a feeling of a skipped heartbeat followed by a hard thud in your chest ...
2 comments
Read more

Tall Trees and Tough Trails. The 2024 Cascade Crest 100

Welcome to Easton! The welcome sign that we stopped to take a picture of just about summed up our experience here. On the hour or so drive up from Seattle, Julie and I couldn't stop taking about the amazing trees and dense forest that lined the highway. The trees were so tall that you couldn't even catch a view of the entire towns that laid just behind them. Definitely a contrast to Colorado where the main attraction are the 14ers that line our skylines. I'm so happy that Cascade Crest 100 found me. The idea to travel to Washington for a 100 mile race started when I looked into doing a race close to a good college friend of mine that moved to Washington several years ago. I hadn't seen him or his family in years, and it would be an excuse to both see them and have an epic adventure at the same time. I had heard about the Cascade Crest 100 from a couple of friends that had raced it previously. As a Hard Rock 100 Qualifier, the race had a reputation of both difficul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Quad Rock 25

For some reason every time I know I have to wake up early the next day, I can’t sleep. I set my alarm the night before for 4:45 AM and went to bed around 10. I woke up just about every hour on the nose and looked at the clock. By the time 4:15AM rolled around, I just laid in bed and waited for my iPhone to tell me it was time to get up. Buzz….It was time to get up. My pre-race plan I rolled out of bed virtually exhausted and put on my battle armor for the day -- shorts, socks, compression, t-shirt, jacket, and my signature trucker hat. I had loaded up my car the night before with all my gear and nutrition so I was good to go. I kissed Julie on the forehead, she wished me luck as I left to go grab some coffee, pick up Chris and carpool to the race. We made it up to Horsetooth about an hour before the race start. Since we carpooled, we were able to park about 100 feet from the start line. This was clutch because outside it was 37 degrees, raining and windy. View close...
Post a Comment
Read more