Accel Triathlon 2017

On July 8th, I competed at the Accel Triathlon at George Wyth State Park in Waterloo, IA. The weather could not have been any more different from last year. If you remember back, it was the Accel Triathlon in 2016 that an unexpected thunderstorm ended up cancelling the event as we were lined up ready to begin. This year, we were greeted with clear skies, low humidity and temperatures starting in the 60's. I competed in the Olympic distance, which includes a 1,500 meter swim, 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) bike, and 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) run.

I'll be honest, with a week of vacation leading up to the race, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in. For me it is really easy to over think everything going into a race. I knew that I hadn't been biking or running as well lately but I had been swimming very well. I didn't have any hard goals, but was hoping to be within striking distance of my time at the Des Moines Tri last fall. 

Erin went with me to the race. We got there plenty early and it only took me a few minutes to setup in transition. We spent the remainder of the time sitting on a bench overlooking the lake. It truly was a beautiful morning. 

Setting up transition

Looking out over the swim course

Pre-race selfie

After double checking my transition area, I completed my final preparations and headed down to the swim start for the National Anthem and final instructions. Unlike in Des Moines, where we were started 2 people at a time, this race used a mass swim start by waves which was a little overwhelming. It only took me a few minutes to get comfortable in the water. The course was an out and back, but looking into the sun on the way out made sighting very difficult. I relied on following the other swimmers to the turn around. As expected, I did swim a little better then last year, but more importantly, I felt much more comfortable in the water. My official swim time was 43:53 (about a minute faster then last year), but transition started quite a ways from the water, so I was actually done about a minute faster than that. Don't get me wrong, that is a really slow swim time, but I'm happy to see improvement. 

Lining up for the swim start

And we are off (I'm in the center of the picture taking a breath)

Long line of swimmers

Out of the water, headed to T1

There weren't a lot of bicycles left in transition when I got there, which was not unexpected but is a bit disheartening. T1 is another place that I made improvement as I was able to get socks and shoes on my wet feet in a shorter amount of time then last year. After buckling up my helmet, I grabbed my bike and headed for the Bike exit. Although it is not my favorite discipline, the bike is certainly my best portion of the event. It didn't take me long to start passing people on the route. The route was extremely flat, with the exception of a short stretch going down to the river towards the turn around point and back up again. My official time on the bike was 1:20:09, less than a minute slower than Des Moines, and put me at a 18.5 mph average. This was much better than I expected going into the race, so I was very happy as I came into T2. 

Heading out of T1

Heading out on the bike course

While I was out on the bike, Erin had to leave, but Abigail and my mother relieved her to ensure that I continued to have a cheering section. They greeted me just outside of T2 cheering loudly. I racked my bike, swapped out my helmet for a visor and headed out on the run course. The run course was an out and back 5k, which meant that all Olympic distance triathletes had to loop the course 2 times. For some reason I was never really able to find my pace during the run. I finished the run in 1:06:53 which is much slower that I would have liked. My official race time was 3:15:21. I finished 103 out of 119 overall and 6 out of 9 in my division. The Accel Group really puts on an excellent race and I look forward to returning for years to come. 

Official time

A lot of people have asked me "How as your race?" I would classify my reaction as neither disappointed nor excited about my performance. This was my first triathlon of the year, and I have a lot of opportunity to improve over the next couple of months.

The next race on my schedule is August 5th at the Crossroads Triathlon in Dewitt, IA. It will be my first sprint triathlon and I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do at shorter distances. I enjoyed my day off today, but it is back to work early tomorrow morning with a trip to the pool. 

A big thank you goes out to everyone that has been supporting me. To Erin for going with me to the race as well as encouraging me and providing me the time to train. To my children, who provide motivation every day. To my parents for watching Abigail and Bridget during my race (as well as all week leading up to the race). Lastly, to everyone who reads my blogs and provides words of encouragement or just ask how training has been going. I am certain that I have the best friends and family in the world.