This morning I competed for the second year in the Rocky Mountain State Games Triathlon in Colorado Springs at Memorial Park/Prospect Lake. The sprint distance triathlon is a USAT National Talent ID race for junior elites and qualifies athletes for other elite developmental races. However, for an old hat like me, it is a chance to race close to home and also a lot shorter than I'm used to. There was great talent at the race but my two friends who took 1st and 2nd last year (to my 3rd place) are focusing on upcoming Pro races which definitely heightened my chances. This year the support of sponsors was extensive and I hope it can continue to grow for this important local event. Thanks to Pikes Peak Acura, Colorado Running Company, Peak Multisport, Marriott, COS Racing, Rudy Project, Road ID, SL3S, Criterium Bicycles, the volunteers, and to everyone else who was out there today to support the event.
Race Report:
I started in the second wave of the sprint race due to my age group and had a lot of fast younger athletes starting 3 minutes ahead of me to provide some inspiration to keep up my speed. Since swimming is my weakest discipline I enjoyed being in less traffic than usual as I was out of the water in 3rd place from my start wave. With a short bike ride, I knew it was guns blazing the whole way and went for it from the start. Unfortunately, that caused a large increase in heart rate and breathing which led to some pain occurring in my anterior chest in the lower right. I knew the pain from last year's short sprint races as my intercostals and obliques locking up and I could only hope for the best from there. The fun up/down/left/right criterium-like course for the bike took away some speed regularly due to the room available around other athletes on the 3 loop short course but I came out of the bike strong and ready to run. The run, usually my strongest discipline, couldn't be covered after the checks I cashed on the bike overdrew my account. I had immediate chest tightening/spasming making even the shortest breath painful and impossible feeling. I struggled to run at all and my heart sunk as my 5:30 pace expectation went out the window. I struggled for about 10 minutes, then, luckily, I was able to get a quick on-ground adjustment to my thoracic spine from Jess about a mile in and the slight release allowed me to breath again as my split times went from 10:20 per mile to 6:10 per mile, both below my normal capability but enough to hold onto the overall win in the end. It was a fun competition and the course is different than my normal race which made it exciting as you passed the homestretch crowd 9 times total during all of the legs.
Jess provided me with some action shots!:
Thanks! See you in Milwaukee for Age Group National Championships!
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