Griskus Olympic-2013

I came into my 9th participation of the Pat Griskus Olympic triathlon feeling fantastic. I took the week leading into the race a little easier as I was recovering from 70.3 Eagleman 6 days earlier. I finally started to notice my fitness coming into form during the week. It was such an awakening to feel good and fresh again. I had not felt like that since before the Ironman World Championships in October. I was actually really looking forward to racing. Swim: 25:00 I had a great warm up before the swim start. I was able to work in some high end efforts. This really helped me once the race started. My swim wave consisted of all male athletes age 44 and under. I knew there would be some really fast swimmers. I focused on trying to get out as fast as I could. I had some decent contact during the first 200 meters, but I was able to settle in after that. I was able to push my effort right to my hypoxic limit without going over it. My Blueseventy Helix felt fantastic. I was really happy with my effort for the entire swim as I was actually able to bridge up to a group of swimmers in front of me on the 2nd half of the swim. I came out of the water and made my way to my Quintana Roo Illicito. Bike: 1:03:57 I headed out onto the bike and I was surprised that I was able to get the lead vehicle within the first 2 miles. Once I had the lead motorcycle, I focused on dialing into my effort. There was a course change this year during the first 5 miles that made things a bit more technical and slower. The roads were still wet in places from the heavy rains the night before. I was a bit more cautious as I approached each turn. Once I was back on the original course, I focused on staying steady on my pedals. I was pleased with how steady I raced the bike segment. My variability index(normalized power/average power) was only 1.02. This steady effort allowed for fresh legs coming off of the bike. Run: 34:21 My legs felt very fresh heading out onto the run. I usually have some cramping in my hamstrings as I dismount the bike. However, I have been using a product called Trace Minerals B12. I have found that this supplement has really helped me with many issues I would chronically experience during races. Once I got onto the run course, I settled into my rhythm. As the run course is a double out and back, I knew I would see where I stood shortly after the turnaround. My goal was to stay steady until I saw my first competitor. I used my Timex Run Trainer 2.0 to monitor my pace. As I was approaching the 2 mile marker, I saw the first 2 competitors coming the other direction. I figured that I had about a 6 minute lead, so I focused on my form for the remainder of the run. I tried to push the 2nd lap a little harder to bring my heart rate into zone 4. Final Time: 2:04:59 1st Overall This race is so well run. The race director, Tom Wilkas, and all of the volunteers do an exceptional job putting on a first class event.