The Wolfpak Tri concludes the last triathlon of the season, and to think I had doubts of doing it because I was mentally tired. It happened to turn out to be one if not the best race of the entire season. I had everything packed and ready to go the night before. Woke up and had a small breakfast. Wait wonder if that Wood Chuck came into play at all last nightJ. I arrived at the race site by 6:20, one of the first people like normal. Racked my bike, changed, & downed a GU.
Last year my swim was way too fast and I knew I didn’t need to redline so early this year, so I backed my swim from a 7 min ¼ swim to 7:46. This pace was very good and pretty relaxed the whole way. I ran out and passed 2 or 3 people going into T1.
As I ripped off my swim cap and goggles and changed shoes I was out of there in 31 sec. Moving to the bike I again hammered the mess out of last year and couldn’t ever catch my breath. This year was about pacing and saving for energy for the run except for one minor detail.
This one guy on the bike seems to have beaten me barely in ever road race triathlon there was this season. I wasn’t sure about his mountain bike skills but I knew I needed to catch him and keep him in my sites. He is a hell of a swimmer and a great road biker. I saw him half way on the trail and realized he doesn’t MTB bike too much. He was holding his own, but road seem to be his stronger suit. I passed him and made sure I opened a gap. That was my only goal for the bike, I made sure to stay relaxed and take deep breaths when I could. As I approach the home stretch for T2, I would not in a million years expect to get a tap by my buddy Charles as he passed me. HOLY CRAP, THIS JUST GOT INTRESTING! 21 mins flat which was faster than last year’s split.
We raced into T2 racked the bike and threw on the shoes. I was out in 20 secs.
The dreadful run
I got out ahead of Charles from T2 but it’s never enough. We basically left together and ran pace or pace the whole way. I knew the first hill was going to be a killer so I tried to take it easy, but didn’t want Charles out of my sight either. He always gets me on the runs. Our first mile was 7:44 pace. I was excited about and felt ok for the most part. There was a Memphis Thunder guy we saw not too far ahead and our plan was to pull him in. As we picked up the pace our 2nd mile was 7 mins flat and the thunder guy wasn’t any closer. We both grabbed water from the aid station and our buddy Brad was there handing it out. Charles asked where I was and I gave him a friendly tap on the back in return. I think he knew I was there but just wishing it was someone else. This last ½ mile of our run just kept getting stronger, we were pushing anywhere from a 6:30 to 6:40 pace and was doing fair. Charles and I traded position back several times I think to give each other breaks. But the end was getting close and I have never sprinted Charles out before. He is returning from an injury, but he always has a great race after an injury so I couldn’t cut him any slack. We were still pace for pace with .05 mile to go, there it was. The epic sprint up a grassy hill. We pushed and strained all the way to close out the race. I ended up having a small step ahead of him, but we finished having the exact same time 47:58 for the 2011 Wolfpak Tri. It was a great day and the best race ever. I showed us have an avg 7:07 pace on my Garmin, which was unbelievable. No, we didn’t pass that Thunder guy, but that was irrelevant at this point.
All the Journeymen athletes placed in their age group. (Anthony, Bobby, Charles, and myself) 2- 1st places, 1- 2nd place, & 1-3rd place.) We have a great group of guys on our team, and glad to see the tri scene expanding some from JMR.
