Graniteman Clearwater Race Report

Graniteman Clearwater Olympic 
Race Report

July 11, 2015

This was race 2 of 3 in the Graniteman Series. This was the first year with an Olympic(ish) race on this course. Due to a wedding in the park, start times were moved up an hour compared to the previous few years.

We arrived at the venue at 06:15. Parking was very limited, so we ended up about 0.5 miles away from transition. Ran into many other LAMS as I was going through pre race routines. Sara & I chatted about our race plans/strategies. I have had some disappointment and frustration in my last 2 races, and I had all but overlooked this race. I told Sara that my focus was on riding the IMOO course in a week!

The pre race meeting ran long, so the long hike to the start didn't leave much time to warm up! I snuck in a quick 150yds, then I got positioned to enter the start chute.

The swim start was a little rough, but not as bad as some.  My right goggle got hit/kicked in the process letting a flood of water in. I decided to keep pushing forward. By the first turn, I was all alone. At the second turn, I sat up, cleared the goggles, and continued on my way. I started passing wave 1 people. Around corner 3 & directly into the sun. Corner 4 was basically back at the start and the same as the sprint course to the finish. I ran into, weaved around, & passed many sprinters & others on the stretch to the swim exit. 

I came out of the water in a crowd.  I sprinted to get clear of the mess, but in doing so, over exerted myself! As I ran to my transition spot, there was a group of spectators standing around talking right in front of my bike! Really?!? I (politely) asked them to move as I approached.

The bike exit is on an uphill, so make sure you are geared accordingly! I passed about 8 people struggling between the mount line and the first turn.

There was a nice tailwind on the out legs, but a decent headwind on the way back. I focused on keeping my heart rate & cadence steady...once my hr finally came back down. Just before mile 18, Sara caught me (I was a little worried that I had not seen her yet).  I hung with her until the turn back into the wind….she doesn’t catch nearly as much wind as I do!  The bike course was about 4 miles long from a true 40k Olympic distance. 

The run is a mix of trail and road.  The Olympic distance continued further up the road than the sprint course.  I was very happy to run through the overspray of some of the farm irrigation system overspray as it warmed up.  I ran my race & was able to negative split the run!  A win in my books!

Overall, my Olympic time was slow, but with the extra distance on the bike, expected.  Taking distances and averages into consideration, I was right where I wanted to be!