Moses Lake Triathlon

Some days thing go well, and some days they don’t. Then there are those days that things just “happen.” I think this day was one of those days that just happened.

Moses Lake…I am not too sure what this community is know for other than a quick stop on the way to Seattle at the Starbucks and fueling up at the local restaurants. By the way, Moses Lake has one of the best pizza joints called Chico’s. We have actually driven from Spokane (1.5 hrs) on multiple occasions for their pizza. But this weekend Moses Lake would be know for the triathlon being held there.

Since the race was on Saturday, we headed out after work Friday and picked up Steve en route. As usual, Jessi supplied us with some amazing eats for the trek. I am pretty fortunate to always have Jessi in my rig. She makes sure we are “honest” with what we eat since she only brings the right food, and enough food, to eat. I don’t know what Steve was planning on eating, but he did not have to worry since Jessi supplied it for him too.

We arrived in Moses Lake about 1 hour before packet pick up closed and then we headed to the race venue. It was a typical park on a smaller lake. The road surface/parking lot was pretty rough but you got the idea of the race day layout. Jessi went for a swim and Steve and I got out on the road for a ride. It was a warm afternoon with some wind so I thought it would be a good example of what the race conditions would be like. Moses Lake is know for being hot and dry and even a bit windy. I am fine with the windy part…not the hot and dry though. That beat me up pretty good at Onionman 2 weeks ago. Not a huge fan of that. After the ride, Jessi fueled us up some more and we were off to the hotel.

I always “ask” for a main floor room. But I don’t think I have ever received one. This time would not be an exception. Fortunately this hotel was all “non smoking.” Now, when we opened the door, I am guessing that they acquired the “non smoking” status the day prior because the room smelled like it was the only room they smoked in. I hate that, but you live with it. There were actually burn lines on the carpet and on the table tops. Classy. I am not going to say where we stayed because I don’t want to get emails from the Shiloh Inn, right off I90, about giving them negative press. That’s no fun. We got the bikes all dialed in and were ready for bed…after I made a quick walk to the local gas n’ sip for some fig newtons. I just needed to top off my belly.

We got up about 5:15am and had a nice sit-down breakfast in our “non smoking” room, and then were off to the race site. But before we could get on the road, we needed to stop by Starbucks per Jessi’s request. More of a ritual thing I think. Since the race site was 2 miles away, I figured we had time. Supposedly the transition area did not open until 1 hour before the race. But when we got there we still set our transition area in the designated spots. We were the first 3 bikes there. Love that. One of the coolest things was seeing all the Tri Fusion members there racing. I think there were over 20 in all. Though it does not speed things up in transition, it’s nice to chat with people and know that you have a lot of peeps out there.
The TTX was all set up and ready to roll. Now the only thing to do was to get on my Helix. Once that starts going on, I think my heart rate automatically elevates. Not too sure if that is because of the work it always seems to take getting on wetsuits, or if it is a signal to my body that it’s about “go time.” I meandered down to the start, swam a little, and then lined up. Since there were so many club members there, it seemed like we were just out for a swim. But we were awfully close to one another? Hmmm…. When I saw the swim course I immediately thought, “That’s short.” But I was reassured by a lady that it was long enough because we did 2 laps. I again said, “Yes, I understand, but it’s short.” I have always found that whenever a course ‘looks’ long, it’s normally right on. When it seems right, it’s short. And when it looks short, it’s really short. Once again, I was reaffirmed.

My best impersonation of a monkey

The countdown started with a 1:30 warning…then 30 seconds…then 10…then we were off. The first turn buoy was a mere 50 yards out and it was a 90 degree turn. So getting there quickly was pretty important. I took off aggressively and was able to avoid congestion at the turn. I found some open water and was heading for the turn buoy. It came quickly (unsurprising). When I made the turn, I actually looked up and down the lake further thinking that there must be one more buoy…nope. So I headed back to complete lap one. I felt good on the swim and it was going by fast. After completing the 2nd lap, I was first out of the water heading to T2. My Helix came of flawlessly and my Rudy helmet was on and buckled. It was time to ride. As I left T1 I took a split and saw on my watch it said 16:XX. Sixteen minutes? Hmmm, I must have hit it in the swim. Nope, I later found out that I swam a 15:44. And no, I don’t swim that fast. It was actually supposed to be a mile swim too. Wouldn’t that be nice? I am sure everyone would like to have had the time they did AND have had the course be a 1mile swim. Buuut, it wasn’t.
The bike was disclosed as a 22 mile course. Great…not only was the swim short, but the bike too. Not exactly a course suited for my strengths. I wanted to start off on the bike and keep things steady. This was a rolling course with a pretty good headwind at this point. I was really doing my best to manage my watts and not get overzealous at the start. For whatever reason, the bike did not feel like it was clicking. I was moving along, but it seemed like I was having to work harder than it was showing. I hit the turnaround in 28 minutes and was headed back. Immediately after I started coming back, I could feel a nice tailwind. One of those tailwinds that finds you in your biggest gear and you still do not hear anything but the tires on the road. Though this feels good, it’s almost impossible to make time on people when everyone is going 35 mph. I saw second place and knew I had a pretty good gap. I kept it steady and forged on home. I made it back in 23 minutes. Tailwind? Maaaaybe. As in almost all triathlons, no one is really ready for the first bike. So I navigated my way around people in transition getting ready to start the sprint race and was in and out.
I wanted to settle in to a comfortable pace right away and avoid the discomfort I had at Onionman. Just keep it steady, comfortable, and smooth. Don’t run from people, run what you are capable of. Most of the run was along long open stretches of road that actually felt downhill, which made me think that it would be a little tougher coming back. I felt good and thought I would be at the turn at about 18:30 ish. When I hit 18 minutes, I could not even see the turn…19…19:30, finally, the turn. I rounded at 19:40. Seriously? What a blow. Here I thought I was running well? Heck with that, I knew I was running better than that. The course was long. Often I feel like the run course is long, but I know it isn’t. This time I knew it was long. Short swim, short bike, long run. This is just not my race. I took a split to see where 2nd was. After seeing him, I knew I just needed to maintain what I was doing. Don’t do anything crazy, just keep running. I started to see the onslaught of people and it looked like they were all flying. Again, ‘just keep doing what you have been doing, and you’ll be fine.’ I told Steve that the run is long when I saw him so that he would not think he was having a crappy run. It felt like the finish was coming quicker and quicker,,,that’s a new experience? I saw Jessi when I had about 1 mile to go and I could tell she was in a bit of a quandary. There were some gals in front of her running well that I knew she did not know if she should try to run with or not. I told her to stay within her race and to do ‘her’ thing. It’s hard to when you think the race is going away from you when often it’s just people being eager, and then it all comes back. It’s hard to separate the two. But I did not think it would be a good time to tell her that the run was long :) As I rolled into the final quarter mile, I zipped up my TIMEX suit and was excited to be done…I held on today. A very good feeling. I ran 19 minutes on the way back. Negative split the run. What next? Is Jessi pregnant? Is it going to snow race morning at IM Cda? (no, Jessi is not pregnant). Also, the run was 6.55miles too. Whew, I was not crazy. So though on paper this was not an “ideal” course for me, it turned out pretty well. I will say that the weather was VERY kind. Overcast, 63 degrees, a little rain… I must have been nice to someone.
Jessi had a great race too posting the highest watt output in an Oly race. She moves out quite nicely on the bike. Since we both love the rain, cool temps, and overcast, I don’t think it mattered what place either one of us got. It was just a good day. Now I will cheer on all my fellow Tri Fusion athletes, and Team TIMEX athletes, at IM Cda next weekend. What a long day that will be. I need a recovery week after cheering for people.

Hope all your races are going well and you are able to find moments that surprise you.