Despite having done the race last year, I headed down the day before anyway to ride the course and get the packet situation sorted. Fall’s late sunrises mean a very cold and dark start and I didn’t want to have to fool around with extra details the morning of. Despite a super early departue, I still managed to get lost trying to find the park entrance (everything looked different in the early morning dark!) Fortunately – as I was quietly cursing my poor sense of direction and imploring the Garmin to help me find my way - I stumbled across the road in to the park entrance. It turns out my horrific navigational skills ended up being a blessing in disguise, as entering the park from the ‘wrong’ side put me ahead of a HUGE line of cars. (This year they put both the half and sprint distance races on the same, increasing the congestion at the entrance.)
Even with having to park a few miles away from the transition area in a campsite the RD had rented out I was still way ahead of the game timing-wise. Besides, the quick ride to the race start made for a nice warm up!
Unfortunately, the traffic situation didn’t ever seem to improve and with the race scheduled to begin at 7, a lot of people were wondering if we would actually begin on time with only half the registered competitors present. There were a few announcements made, theoretically concerning the race start, but the PA was of ‘roller rink’ quality and it was tough to hear much beyond distortion. I kept waiting for the guy to announce that the next song would be a couples skate!
The other fly in the ointment was the buoy situation. The race was marked out for a half iron swim and the sprint course was supposed to incorporate some these as markers. But which ones?! It was tough to discern as the buoys were the same color and there didn’t seem to be any obvious path for us. The rumors flying around amongst chilled athletes waiting to start, however, were rampant! Eventually, around 7:40, the RD came down to announce the start and finally end the suspense with regard to the course we were to swim. It certainly wasn’t the most straightforward one, going from shore to random buoy #1, then on to random buoy #2, then back in.
We finally waded out to the start line and were off. I was grateful that the water was a touch warmer than last year, but less grateful that there were also a few faster swimmers. It didn’t take too long to get clear of the bunch, but at the first buoy I was surprised to see two guys hanging on my feet. Granted, I haven’t been swimming too much as of late, but I still hoped for a little cushion going into the bike. Made the turn and tried to spot the next correct buoy (there were three to choose from!), hoped I had the right line and headed back. Fortunately, I had chosen wisely and was soon heading back in to shore, all while trying to avoid the half iron swimmers who were starting to warm up for their swim start!
Managed to exit with the fastest swim of the day but just barely. This year, to accommodate the two races, the transition area was actually on the beach, which made for more room but also a LOT of sand. I hoped this might give me an advantage over my pursuer as the 300 yard run from the racks to the road was also through sand and definitely made faster by having my shoes already on the bike. (But also made for a long bike cleaning when I got home…)
A little half-mile driveway wound through the park before dumping us onto the main road that started the course but as we exited second place was still only about 50 yards back. Fortunately, my legs felt good and I’d ridden the course twice the day before and knew that it started with a shallow uphill grade for the first two miles before leveling off. If there was ever a place to push the pace, this was it. Hitting the bike hard was key. With the course only 14 miles long, I’d have to ride fast to put in enough time to stay away on the run.
All was going well as I approached the first big intersection where the course made a hard left to begin the long loop that comprised the bulk of the ride. And yet, as I slowed to turn, the policeman stationed there indicated I should go straight. This exchange followed:
Cop: "Straight ahead"
Me: "Are you sure? The course map says left"
Cop: "Nope, straight ahead"
Me: (In my head) "I hope so..."
As it turns out, he was correct, the course map was not. Unlike last year, this year the course ran counter clockwise. And was also two miles shorter! Information that would have been good to know pre-race! Still, kept my head down and made the best of it, hoping I didn’t lose too much time slowing down for this conversation. At the first hard turn I did manage to steal a look back and couldn’t see anyone following, but I doubted I was too far ahead.
Made the turn into the park 30 minutes later and was soon being flagged to the dismount line by a familiar face. While I was out on the course my dad had been convinced to volunteer as ‘bicycle traffic director.’ That was pretty cool, but I had other things to think about as I ran back through the sand and readied myself for a ‘lightning fast transition.’
I hooked my bike the rack, pulled on my shoes and was…wait a minute…something feels REALLY wrong in my left shoe! Pulled it off to discover a roll of electrical tape jammed into the toe! Super pro move there, Will… For all my normal attention to detail, I don’t think I’ve ever actually looked into my shoes before a race. Oh well, guess that will become a part of my pre-race routine from now on.
The run course started in a fashion that has become sadly familiar to me this summer, with me coming to an intersection shouting ‘Which way?!’ It seems this part of the course was also part of the bike out, so at the intersection there was one arrow pointing straight and another pointing left, but no indication about which was which! A few confused seconds later and I was one my down the right running path, but it seems the directional gods were really not on my side at all!
However, after all the long races this summer a 5K is no longer so daunting and I felt confident enough that I was actually put up a pretty good pace to start. With this being my last race until Clearwater and as the ‘defending champion’ from last year, I really wanted to stay at the front until the end. The nerve wracking thing about the Bassman course, though, is that it runs through campground loops, meaning that you get a very good view of how far back the other runners are about halfway through the run. As someone who still has a healthy dose of fear with regard to all foot races, this can be a bit intimidating.
Sure enough, at the turnaround, I saw that second wasn’t far back at all. Actually, 3, 4 and 5 were pretty close, too! Not much to do but keep heading down the road…as fast I could. It was nice to be cheered on by fellow competitors who were just heading out onto the run course, which a cool feature of out-and-backs. I did at least manage to resist the urge to check over my shoulder until there was a quarter mile to go and when I did I was pleased to see that there was no one on my heels. I hit the finish chute just 19 seconds ahead of second place for the overall win. Very satisfying, especially my parents had again made the early drive down to see me race.
So, that’s that. Hard to believe I’ve done 17 races this season with only one more to go. Thanks to those of who’ve been reading these epically long reports. It’s been a great summer. It’s kind of hard to believe it went as well as it did, especially when I look back to my first race at Pinchot last May, when the only thing I could think during the run was that I was NEVER doing another triathlon again.
Oops.
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