MVT Triathlon and the dolphins

April 3, 2011 I competed in the MVT Triathlon in Las Cruces, NM and couldn’t believe how many people came out to race! Counting men, women, and relays there was over 200 competitors. For an early season race this was a great turnout and some of the fastest racers in the area were there. Of course, my new friends Cody, Rob, and Gretchen were there as well as my Human Performance Center trainer Frank. I hadn’t seen Frank in about 6 months so it was good to catch up. The race itself was a 5k run, 25k bike, and 500 meter swim in the NMSU outdoor 50m pool. I still was using Bobby’s training bike so I was just hoping that the previous week in Alpine wasn’t a fluke and I could still turn in a pretty fast bike time. I also knew the run course would be pretty flat so I wanted to see if I could pick up my run time.

The race started out fast and I had a really quick first 400 meters and settled into a nice pace for the rest of the run. As the run continued I was slowly losing ground and just couldn’t get my legs to go any faster. I didn’t panic, but was not happy with how the run was going. I started to get passed by several racers and couldn’t wait for the run to be over. I ended up finishing the run in 21:43 I believe, but really wanted to hit the 20:00 minute mark. My transition to the bike was fine and I headed off on the bike course looking to make up some ground.

Before every race I make sure my bike is in the proper gear to start out and not geared so tight that I can’t get the pedals going and fall over. This race I had done a quick warm up ride and had everything in place…..or at least I thought. As the bike portion entered around the 13 minute mark I felt I wasn’t making up enough ground. I looked down and discovered the problem I didn’t have the bike on the big gear and instead had it on the inside smaller gear. Once I shifted into the right gear I started to catch up to a few of the riders that had beaten me in the run portion. Overall I was happy with the bike ride and was ready to finish the race strong in the pool.

The previous race I had issues with my goggles and was hoping that these problems wouldn’t return. I jumped into the pool and started my swim. I had no issues with my goggles, but for some reason I had the worst swim of my life. I couldn’t get my breathing right, my legs were dragging behind me and at times I swear my arms didn’t break the surface. After 100 meters I was toast, but no one had entered the pool behind me yet so I felt that at the very least I would finish in the same position as I entered the pool. Well, that didn’t last long, before I knew it several racers (or dolphins I can’t remember they were so fast) started to catch up and over take me. With whatever energy I could muster I made one final push and finished the race not knowing exactly how I did.

It turns out I finished second in my age group, which I was very happy with, but the individual who won my age group passed me in the swim!!! Not only did he pass me, but I had a 3 ½ minute lead on him going into the pool!! I was pretty disappointed with myself over the swim and will be putting extra hours into improving my swim time.

All my friends did great during the race and Rob finished second in the Clydesdale division despite a nasty accident on the bike, Gretchen finish 3^rd overall in the women’s division and Cody placed 5^th in his age group. Hopefully by the next race I will have my new bike and within a month I hope I am able to see the benefits of that purchase. I have begun increasing my run workouts to prepare for the Half Ironman in Lubbock in June and know that I have a long way to go before I’m in the shape I need to be in. My next race will be the Holloman duathlon April 17^th.