Race Coverage

Rockin' With His "Tri Mates"...

Friday, 14 August 2015 00:10

By Brad Mitchell

USAT NATIONALS SPRINT REPORT!
Water was much colder than last year! I lined up on the pier with the other 112 dudes in my age group wave (the nasty 40-44 boys, largest wave at nationals) and 109 of them jumped in with their wetsuits and did the usual power swimming/posturing (us 3 idiots without wetsuits did various arm flapping, push ups and chicken dance maneuvers--thank you Patrick Parish and Dani Fischer...) and felt quite pleased with ourselves. The countdown began, and we were told to get in.
Kevin O'Connor, who got 2nd in age group and 18th overall, (he is a legend, and yes, I am a fan boy!) happened to be two swimmers away and gave me a supportive wave. I wished at that moment I could bet a months wages that he would be top 3.
So, off we went and it felt good... as soon as I could feel my arms. Apart from some bloke doing backstroke and slapping me, it was a good swim, 69/113 out of water smile emoticon Had a really fast run to...

transition, passing a few guys waddling along in their neoprene, and found my bike!
Until I reached the big bridge, I was feeling great on the bike, 25-26mph, and quite happy to crank out more watts than usual, as I knew the bridge was coming, it was nationals, and I had to catch some of those pesky swimmers.
No dismount drama, good transition and ran first mile in under 6. Settled into second mile (as planned) and when I hit the home stretch mile it was time to "burn the last match" (a DKTism). Picked up a lot of guys in my age group with loud grunts and generous amounts of "run-snot" protruding from facial orifices and made sure to give a little burst each time to break their spirits and make them dismiss any attempt to catch me wink emoticon
So...triathlon is a process and I was really happy to see good improvements from last year in this race and in my 3rd season of multi-sport:
2014 Finish time 1:13:53
2015 1:09:17
2014 AG place 57/105
2015 28/113 (I had exactly same time as 27th - how do they decide I was 28th??)
2014 Overall 597/1735
2015 200/1673
Positives were: 18:50 run at 6:03 pace, 4th straight tri with bike ave over 23mph, 13/113 AG run and 97/1673 overall run. Combined transitions were 40 seconds faster this year. Plenty of things to work on (that is why we do this, right?) Swim time was a disappointing, 10 second improvement from 2014, but lots of people told me afterwards (including Suzie Fox, who is fast and smart) that the swim course was longer than it should have been. Bike and run of course could be /will be much better, but I stuck to my coach's plan and training is working.
Speaking of my coach, Coach Joe Moyer has been on point for me since January 1st, with a great training plan, which has been a huge part of my gains in the bike and the run. I still draw inspiration from a day I spent training with David Thompson in the winter, and my swim confidence and form has been helped dramatically by coaches Kris Koepp (the guy who got me into the multi-sport life) and Catherine Griffin Sell with Triton Multisports and the Rochester Cyclones Tri team. Rochester's Kona bound pro Ruth Brennan Morrey has been a mentor from day one, and provides lots of sports psychology sessions. Steve Born and the team at Hammer Nutrition continue to be a great asset too.
A great weekend and race was made 100x better with the company of my parents who are visiting from New Zealand (have not seen them for 4 years) and Uncle and Aunt from Indianapolis- first time seeing tri-geeks in action and loved every minute of it. They all remarked that the camaraderie and support seem to be a big part of tri life. Mum was a bit annoyed that I was biking too fast for her to get a photo.
Then there is the most awesome part of triathlon - tri mates. I spent all Olympic and super sprint on day one learning from and cheering on Minnesotans like Lisa Lendway (very exciting being at 1/2 mile to go, screaming for her with 3rd place only 25 seconds back), Patrick Parish, Kevin O'Connor, David Thompson, Steph Yaz, Mitchell Clayton, Heather Lendway, Matt Payne, Larry Hosch, countless strangers in Gear West kits (they were all named "Minnesota"), a few DuTri randos, Bennett Isabella, Matthew Radniecki, Diane Hankee, Kris Spoth, Mike Buenting and lots of complete randos. To put the cherry on top, I even had a yarn with Jerry MacNeil!
Coming off this race, 2nd overall at Rochester and 5th overall at Trinona and Minneapolis, I'm really excited about getting faster. Looking forward to Maple Grove and then Kiwi domination in Chicago!