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Pat Griskus Sprint Race Report
Sunday, August 10, 2008
July 9, 2008 Well, so much for learning from past mistakes! I got the opportunity to race for the first time since Ironman Coeur d’Alene last night and had flashbacks of how frustrating Ironman recovery can be. First, though, the headlines Total Time 1:02 Swim 12:05 Bike 29:00 Run 19:00 10th Overall 1st in 35-39 Age Group After racing Ironman Lake Placid last year, I vividly remember racing at the Litchfield Hills Olympic triathlon only 2-3 weeks after Lake Placid. I was very excited to get back to racing and prepare for Kona and I headed into that race with high expectations of putting a good time together in only my second Olympic distance race. Unfortunately, the mind was willing, but the body wasn’t able and I got a crash course about deep seeded exhaustion in learning how badly broken down my body was. The crazy thing was that I felt no muscular or tendon based pain whatsoever. Additionally, I didn’t feel actively fatigued or particularly devoid of power in my legs. Regardless of how I felt before the race, I hit a wall within minutes of entering the swim. I felt as though I had lost several ‘gears’ of power and simply could not muster any strength to accelerate or break out of the blasé feeling I had. After the race I sought out some literature and counsel on Ironman recovery and learned that one should really not expect to have the kind of power one might have had before racing that distance for anywhere from 4-7 weeks afterwards. This year, though, I figured maybe I could sprint well as the distance and time competing would be less than half of last year. Boy, was I wrong! To make matters worse, there was a great field assembled for this race as the top 4 guys were all more than 3 minutes faster than last year’s winning time. So, on with the breakdown… The swim start was fairly electric as the folks in the first wave knew each other very well and were jostling for a good position prior to the gun. This gamesmanship continued well into the race for at least the first 400 meters as I got beaten up worse than in any of my 3 Ironman swims! A lot of elbows, hits to the head and bodies were climbing all over each other as everyone battled for position and a good draft. Things only opened up with about 150 meters to go and I was able to find some open water and exited with #4 swim split in the first wave. I had a quick transition and jumped onto the bike course where I jumped into the lead…for about 60 seconds! After the first mile or so, Ian Ray dropped me badly and I was unable to respond. A quick check of my heart rate monitor showed me at about 166 (with a max of about 184), so I knew I was pushing, but my legs weren’t listening! I was fairly alone for the next several miles until the cavalry came. Between miles 5-7, 6 guys came up to me and blazed right by leaving me no other choice but to wish them good luck! I plugged away through the hilly 10.5 miles and was ecstatic to come into T2. Unfortunately, like a true newbie, I had forgotten to mark the proper ‘run out’ exit and ended up running the wrong way out of transition. A quick shout from the volunteers got me on the right path and I was off, hoping to salvage a good run after pumping the bike with my dead legs. My first mile split (downhill, no less) came up (6:55) and pretty much confirmed things weren’t going to work out. I knew the guys ahead of me were going to be putting down 5:30s and being so far off the pace didn’t bode well for my mental focus to bring in a good split. Anyway, I did what I could to hold things together on the out and back course and cheer on my friends who were battling it out for the podium spots. After about 2.5 miles, 2 more guys came up and passed me solidifying my 10th place finish. All in all, my experience was another great learning about recovery, intensity and learning about my body. Although I felt empty and unable to respond to the attacks on the bike and run, the competition was definitely out of my league and even in top form, I don’t think I could have mustered more than a few spots up the rankings. As for the rest of the season, I want to make sure my body heals as successfully as possible so I can jump back into some more intensive training to focus on several more sprints and one more ½ Ironman. Happy and safe training!
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