In a desperate attempt to fill weekly topics, and provide a more detailed insight into something that consumes much of my life, I will be using 3 of my September pieces as race-recaps. The triathlon season is coming to a close and since I don't have a traditional blog like many athletes, I will be using The Odyssey for this purpose (at my readers expense).

Even though I qualified for USAT Age Group National Championships on August 13th, I had no way of actually transporting myself to Omaha, Nebraska, where the race was being held. I don't have a car, both my carpool options decided to fly there, and plane tickets were expensive.

As a consolation, my teammate Egil asked if I wanted to join him for a relatively unknown race in Billings on August 27th. "Billings?" I couldn't help but wonder "Where do they find clean open water in Billings?" But seeing a unique opportunity, I registered for the Yellowstone Kelly MountainMan Triathlon, and we made a race plan.

Not wanting to spend money on a hotel room, and dreading car sleep off to the side of the road, we opted to leave extra early on Saturday morning. I woke up at 3 am, and we were on the road by 4. The Olympic distance race started at 7:30 sharp, so we planned on arriving at Lake Elmo State Park, where the transition area was set up, by 6:30 to give ample time to set up our TA, pick up our race packets, bibs, get body marked, and put wet-suits on.

Egil drove the entire way, mostly through darkness as I attempted to sleep a little bit more (with minimal success). But as planned, we arrived in Billings just as the sun was rising.

Swim: Being a below-average swimmer, my strategy is to put in a good effort in the water but understand that I will probably run into T1 towards the back of the pack, close the gap with the leaders while biking, then move up lots of places in the run. I had recently gotten a new XTERRA Vector Pro full wet-suit, so this would be my first time racing in it. Everyone I talked to said that a full wet-suit (with sleeves, as opposed to sleeveless) is the way to go as it increases buoyancy in the water and therefore makes you more efficient. Whatever the experts said, plus my freshly shaved face, must have been somewhat true as I set a personal best 1500 meter swim in 26 minutes 11 seconds.

T1: First transition, I was a bit disoriented coming in to the racks because I struggled with pulling off a full wet-suit for the first time, while also fitting on a snug aero helmet. I nonetheless managed and had a fairly slow T1 time of 1:21.

Bike: More test racing. I was using a new Giro Selector aero helmet, and to give my MSU uniform a little break opted to wear my new Zoot kit. At the suggestion of my roommate and elite-level triathlete Nick, I shaved my arms and legs to reduce drag while peddling. I also had my coach adjust the saddle angle and height, and handlebar mount lowered to position myself more aerodynamically on my bike. I kept myself hydrated more than usual while riding, and it must have translated since I moved much quicker than normal. I passed a decent number of people on the gradual uphill leading towards the top of the rim rocks. Unlike most bike courses, which are usually just an out and back on two or more lane roads, this one made an awkward T-shape of sorts and included spending lots of time on a small paved bike path where you couldn't pass anyone else. I decided that I was better off going hard on the first half, which was almost all uphill, and then using the gravity of the returning downhill to pick up my pace significantly. My momentum was cut short twice however, first when one volunteer wasn't doing her job quite right and briefly had me stop for a car she thought was coming across the intersection (racers ALWAYS have right of way on a course that is open to traffic), then the second when I dropped my water bottle while taking a swig and had to turn around to go and retrieve it. Regardless, I came into TA with more excitement for the run than at any other time this season. 40 kilometer bike ride was done in 1:18:14, though it would have likely been faster had I not gotten caught behind somebody much slower on all of the 'no passing zone' bike path.

T2: Second transition. Running your bike to the racks with cleats hitting the ground, plus briefly forgetting where your stuff is, makes for a slight delay. However T2 went off pretty smooth as I switched to running shoes, then grabbed a gel, my race belt and running hat to head on course in decent time. :48 seconds.

Run: Having a strong cross country, track, and trail racing background, on top of understanding training theory to a point where I could probably coach a high school team with success, makes the run my strongest, and favorite, leg of a triathlon. I hit a killer pace heading around the first lap and was passing people left and right to quickly gain a higher position. A side cramp drastically slowed me down at around mile 3, but I persevered and kept pushing onwards. After keeping a consistent stride throughout, I clicked into a new gear with roughly 1.5 miles to go and even though I accidentally ran past the finish line and had to turn around, I completed the last leg with the fastest 10 kilometer run time for males in 45:01. Not anywhere near my personal best for that distance, but given the circumstances it was nothing to be ashamed of.

In the Olympic distance I finished with a surprisingly slow total time of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 36 seconds, but since the entire field posted relatively slow times, it was still good enough for 1st in the 20-24 age group, 2nd out of all males, and 3rd overall out of 25 competitors doing the longer course.

Egil finished in 6th, but was in close proximity to me the entire race after I passed him early in the bike. He was also 1st in the 35-39 age group.

We returned to Bozeman by 4 pm, completely exhausted and not at all ready for school to start up on Monday.

Next stop, Best in the West Triathlon Festival in Sweet Home, Oregon! This race will also be the USAT Northwest Collegiate Regional Qualifier.

YK MountainMan results:

http://competitivetiming.com/results/165325O