This race (sprint/Oly/Half) starts at Lake Mead, about 3 miles from Boulder City on Boulder Beach. The weather and water conditions were ideal -- low 60s air, low 70s water at 7 am. I had a pretty laid back attitude towards this race (minimal bike training) and just wanted to have a good swim, even paced bike, and solid run.
The swim went ok, I overcame the usual hyperventilation in the first 300 meters or so, and then got into a good stroke with a mantra which helped "keep in the box" for me. My swim yardage has been at an all time high and it showed in my swim time of 41 min, which (for the first time EVAH) was the fastest in my age group. Tragically, in the Oly race, a 59 year-old man drowned (probably from a heart attack) and was discovered by another athlete (feet were already blue). If you ever see someone in trouble during the swim, stop and make sure they are OK!
Put the Hed wheels on the Trek, so no power output on the bike. This was probably a mistake, as the bike course is hilly (rolling hills for the most part) with 4500 feet of elevation -- and I could have used a power meter to even out my efforts. Went through some low spots, lots of ITB and hamstring pain, and it reminded me that nothing replaces good solid threshold interval workouts on the computrainer. I did somehow manage to get a second wind on the last 4 miles of the ride, up a 4% grade, and passed 3 guys who had passed me earlier. Not sure what that was about, but it may have been a mental sugar-related boost from taking my one and only gel during the ride (I did my usual 1.5 scoops, about 120 cal, of UCAN per hour). Or those guys may have just started flaming out (they all had miserable runs as it turned out). As usual, on UCAN, no stomach issues and no feelings of bonking during the entire race. Bike time was a very slow 3:23 or so. I wasn't expecting a great time, but that was pretty disheartening when I looked down at my Garmin and saw that!
But onto the run... legs felt pretty good, temperature was perfect (mid-70s, although with a clear sky and no shade it definitely felt warmer). Was glad I was wearing the Hoka Bondi-Bs as they felt pretty springy and smooth. Wasn't wearing my Garmin on the run, so I just ran by feel and tried to do a slightly negative split (not sure, but I probably came close). This run is not flat, but not too hilly -- although tons of peeps were walking the little grades. Not any spectators, and it got very lonely on the run out there in the desert... two loops and the first 3 miles felt like 5...
Took in about 3 small cups of Gatorade during the run and half a Clif shot bloks package that I brought along. No coke provided, but my energy felt fine and again no GI issues. Left hamstring felt a little crampy for a while, but it fixed itself after about 2 miles. Felt a little blister issue about halfway and it was indeed a big blister on my index toe but didn't really hurt during the run. Finished the run pretty strong in 1:49; probably could have pushed it a little bit more but wasn't motivated to hurt more than I had too (and I indeed had two days of very very sore quads after the race). Managed to finish in 23rd place out of about 100 and 1/6 age group. Only got chicked by one woman! :-)
Lessons Learned:
a. Could probably have taken more UCAN or a couple of more evenly spaced gels during the bike
b. The Hacienda Hotel on highway 93 south of Boulder City is very close to the race -- nothing fancy, but location, location, location.
c. Forgot to use sun screen. Vaseline on the wrists and ankles doesn't make a difference in getting the wetsuit off (next time take it off in the water).
d. Use slippers to run from the water to the bike -- it is a very long run up a very rough chip seal road.
e. Take a power meter on the bike and ride the course smartly -- it is rolling and offers numerous opportunities for dumb mistakes.
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