Prologue
Heading to Aurora Reservoir, I see a long line of red tail lights. The early morning fishermen must be wondering who all these people are. It’s time for Harvest Moon the longest running iron distance race in Colorado and the last big triathlon of the Colorado season. This year it’s sold out and it’s being held in conjunction with a duathlon and a new sprint triathlon which add even more competitors. Bruce and Holly are racing the sprint and come out early to cheer me on.
ACT 1 – The Swim – 1.2 Miles – 31:16, 1:43/100
At Boulder Peak I learned not to line up in the middle so this morning I decided to line up in front on the right. I’ve been working on my stroke but today that’s not going to matter, today I’m going to push it and try to make time. The swim at Harvest Moon starts straight at the sun which always makes spotting the buoys fun. I find the first one pretty easily but the next couple I have to rely on my fellow swimmers.
Right from the start I push it and get towards the front of my wave. I pass a couple people from the first wave on the way out and then I’m at the turn and heading back to the beach. The sighting on the return is easier since you can see the watch tower. By keeping my head and staying in the game, I keep moving up through the crowd and only see a couple people from the next wave pass me. Hitting the beach I run towards T1 and there’s Bruce and Holly cheering me on.
T1 – 1:33 including run from swim beach
ACT 2 – The Bike – 56 Miles – 2:26:43, 22.9 mph
As I exit T1, there’s Bruce and Holly again. It’s great having your own cheering section. I pull on my shoes and start out of the reservoir. There was construction on one of the bridges which forced to road to one lane. Fortunately there were sheriffs there to control the traffic and it didn’t have a real impact on the race. When I turn north to Watkins, I pass Kestrel man for the first time. Over the next twenty miles, we trade positions a few times. I’m faster than him up the hills and he’s a little faster going down. As we roll through mile twenty I take a glance at my computer. We’re under an hour so I’m right on target.
After the Bennett turn, I pass Kestrel for the last time on a small uphill. There are four of us strung out and I keep expecting one of them to set tempo up it never happens. At the turn onto Quincy, I take a quick glance back and I don’t see anyone for a good mile. I guess the small rollers finally got to Kestrel. At mile forty-five I take another computer look and I’m just over two hours. The bike is looking good. The final turn occurs and it’s into T2. As I come into T2, someone is counting out the bike finishers and says I’m number 22. I hope the nutrition plan on the bike was right because the temperature is always warm at Harvest Moon.
There’s a new course this year at Harvest Moon. They removed the I-70 stretch to Bennett and now we ride clockwise to Watkins, Bennett, south to Quincy and then back to T2. The new portion on Quincy has some pretty good rollers and after forty miles, they seem even bigger. Although the old bike course was good, I think the changes are good ones and I like the new course.
T2 – 1:19
ACT 3 – The Run – 13.1 Miles – 1:42:38. 7:51/mile
The transition area was moved this year so you don’t have to start the run going up hill which was very nice. As I head out of T2, I glance at my watch. My time so far is three hours which makes the chance of breaking five hours really good. I only need to run a two hour half marathon and I know I can do that. Last year here I ran a 1:37 so sub-2 is a real possibility.
The run was also routed a couple times onto dirt trails which made the run a little more bearable since the rest of the run is concrete. Of course since it is Aurora, there are plenty of rolling hills on the course. A lot of the sprint competitors share the first part of the run course and a lot of them are still on course. I look for Holly and Bruce but I don’t find them. They should have finished a while ago so I’m not surprised that I don’t see them. It’s not until the sprint turn around that I know how lonely four hundred person race can be. I can see one runner ahead but that’s it.
When I pass him, he tells me that there is only one person in my AG ahead of me. After a few more minutes, I see a group of three ahead and focus on catching them. A mile or two later I’ve pulled them in and one of them is in my AG. Could he be the leader in my AG? A few seconds later I see someone going the other way with a bid only one number below mine so I think that must be the AG leader.
As I near the turn around, my right hamstring seizes up and I stop for second to stretch. I’m guessing my sodium is low so I grab for my sport beans and start munching. The whole way back is a battle trying to get the hydration up and keeping moving. As I check my watch at mile ten, I have over forty minutes to finish under five hours. Running aid station to aid station has gotten me this far and it’s the strategy to getting to finish. As I approach the finish line, I hear my name announced and there’s Holly and Bruce cheering again.
Total Time: 4:43:27, 19th overall, 2nd AG M40-44
Epilogue
Wow, thirty minutes off of last year’s time. I picked up time everywhere except the run where I gave up five minutes. I think everything clicked for this race and it all came together. The training, the nutrition, the rest, everything went good. Going into the race, my goal was sub-five. To do that I wanted finish the swim in thirty-five, the bike in 2:40 and the run in 1:40. I gave myself five minutes for both transitions. The swim was under, the bike was way under, the two transitions were under and only the run was over. Overall it was a great effort and a wonderful way to end the season.
Heading to Aurora Reservoir, I see a long line of red tail lights. The early morning fishermen must be wondering who all these people are. It’s time for Harvest Moon the longest running iron distance race in Colorado and the last big triathlon of the Colorado season. This year it’s sold out and it’s being held in conjunction with a duathlon and a new sprint triathlon which add even more competitors. Bruce and Holly are racing the sprint and come out early to cheer me on.
ACT 1 – The Swim – 1.2 Miles – 31:16, 1:43/100
At Boulder Peak I learned not to line up in the middle so this morning I decided to line up in front on the right. I’ve been working on my stroke but today that’s not going to matter, today I’m going to push it and try to make time. The swim at Harvest Moon starts straight at the sun which always makes spotting the buoys fun. I find the first one pretty easily but the next couple I have to rely on my fellow swimmers.
Right from the start I push it and get towards the front of my wave. I pass a couple people from the first wave on the way out and then I’m at the turn and heading back to the beach. The sighting on the return is easier since you can see the watch tower. By keeping my head and staying in the game, I keep moving up through the crowd and only see a couple people from the next wave pass me. Hitting the beach I run towards T1 and there’s Bruce and Holly cheering me on.
T1 – 1:33 including run from swim beach
ACT 2 – The Bike – 56 Miles – 2:26:43, 22.9 mph
As I exit T1, there’s Bruce and Holly again. It’s great having your own cheering section. I pull on my shoes and start out of the reservoir. There was construction on one of the bridges which forced to road to one lane. Fortunately there were sheriffs there to control the traffic and it didn’t have a real impact on the race. When I turn north to Watkins, I pass Kestrel man for the first time. Over the next twenty miles, we trade positions a few times. I’m faster than him up the hills and he’s a little faster going down. As we roll through mile twenty I take a glance at my computer. We’re under an hour so I’m right on target.
After the Bennett turn, I pass Kestrel for the last time on a small uphill. There are four of us strung out and I keep expecting one of them to set tempo up it never happens. At the turn onto Quincy, I take a quick glance back and I don’t see anyone for a good mile. I guess the small rollers finally got to Kestrel. At mile forty-five I take another computer look and I’m just over two hours. The bike is looking good. The final turn occurs and it’s into T2. As I come into T2, someone is counting out the bike finishers and says I’m number 22. I hope the nutrition plan on the bike was right because the temperature is always warm at Harvest Moon.
There’s a new course this year at Harvest Moon. They removed the I-70 stretch to Bennett and now we ride clockwise to Watkins, Bennett, south to Quincy and then back to T2. The new portion on Quincy has some pretty good rollers and after forty miles, they seem even bigger. Although the old bike course was good, I think the changes are good ones and I like the new course.
T2 – 1:19
ACT 3 – The Run – 13.1 Miles – 1:42:38. 7:51/mile
The transition area was moved this year so you don’t have to start the run going up hill which was very nice. As I head out of T2, I glance at my watch. My time so far is three hours which makes the chance of breaking five hours really good. I only need to run a two hour half marathon and I know I can do that. Last year here I ran a 1:37 so sub-2 is a real possibility.
The run was also routed a couple times onto dirt trails which made the run a little more bearable since the rest of the run is concrete. Of course since it is Aurora, there are plenty of rolling hills on the course. A lot of the sprint competitors share the first part of the run course and a lot of them are still on course. I look for Holly and Bruce but I don’t find them. They should have finished a while ago so I’m not surprised that I don’t see them. It’s not until the sprint turn around that I know how lonely four hundred person race can be. I can see one runner ahead but that’s it.
When I pass him, he tells me that there is only one person in my AG ahead of me. After a few more minutes, I see a group of three ahead and focus on catching them. A mile or two later I’ve pulled them in and one of them is in my AG. Could he be the leader in my AG? A few seconds later I see someone going the other way with a bid only one number below mine so I think that must be the AG leader.
As I near the turn around, my right hamstring seizes up and I stop for second to stretch. I’m guessing my sodium is low so I grab for my sport beans and start munching. The whole way back is a battle trying to get the hydration up and keeping moving. As I check my watch at mile ten, I have over forty minutes to finish under five hours. Running aid station to aid station has gotten me this far and it’s the strategy to getting to finish. As I approach the finish line, I hear my name announced and there’s Holly and Bruce cheering again.
Total Time: 4:43:27, 19th overall, 2nd AG M40-44
Epilogue
Wow, thirty minutes off of last year’s time. I picked up time everywhere except the run where I gave up five minutes. I think everything clicked for this race and it all came together. The training, the nutrition, the rest, everything went good. Going into the race, my goal was sub-five. To do that I wanted finish the swim in thirty-five, the bike in 2:40 and the run in 1:40. I gave myself five minutes for both transitions. The swim was under, the bike was way under, the two transitions were under and only the run was over. Overall it was a great effort and a wonderful way to end the season.
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