So my season plan was altered with my unfortunate results
from the Calgary 70.3. I had planned on using the Ironman 70.3 World
Championships in Las Vegas as my final tune-up before Kona however I didn’t get
a qualifying spot from Calgary…as a result of my tire issue. So instead I signed
up for the Leadman Tri Epic 125 in Bend, Oregon. I had done the Leadman Epic
125 in Las Vegas earlier in the year and was thoroughly impressed with the event.
Seeing as the military rate for the Bend race was $0 I figured it was a steal.
My wife being the amazingly supportive wife she is gave me the green light to
race!
On Thursday, 20 Sep 12, I travelled to Bend, OR. I opted to
fly to Portland and then drive a rental car to Bend instead of driving the
18-20hrs from Cold Lake. I knew it would be a long trip either way but this
method afforded me to the opportunity to race on Saturday, attend the post race
awards on Sunday morning, and still make
it home for work on Monday (I'll admit I didn't get home until after 0200hrs). The travel to Bend was thankfully uneventful. I
started the day at 0730hrs from home and was checked into the Super 8 in Bend
shortly after 2200hrs that night.
Friday morning I did my final prerace brick(bike then run)
of approximately 1hr duration. I completed package pick-up, which was a mere
5minutes…unbelievable! Checkout the free swag…a jersey, long sleeve tech tee,
visor, a lanyard, and a light bag.
I then made the drive out to Cultus Lake to complete a light
swim with several accels and then check my bike and T1 bag into transition. I enjoyed my light swim
in the beautiful Cultus Lake. The scenery was amazing, the water temperature
was perfect and almost crystal clear. Then it was back into town to T2 to drop
off my T2 bag and attend the prerace athlete briefing.
Race morning came quickly, but thankfully I had a great
sleep. I woke at 0400hrs and had my usual prerace meal : coffee, oatmeal, and a
banana. I headed out the door shortly before five and then grabbed the bus to
Cultus Lake. What should have been an hour drive turned into an hour and a
half. The bus drivers were not from the local area and somehow managed to take
the extra long way to the race start…subsequently the 250 race was delayed in
starting. I checked over my bike dropped off my nutrition and got set for the
race start at 0800hrs.
I swam out to the first buoy as my warm-up and then awaited
the start. It was a small field of a couple hundred athletes spread out among 4
waves so the swim start was quite tame. I was in the first wave and quickly found
a pair of feet to sit on for the first couple hundred meters and then decided
to up the pace. I settled into a good rhythm and then just tried my best to
focus on a long stroke with a strong pull. The swim went by rather quickly and
I was surprised to see 32:XX on my watch as I excited to the swim. I figured
the course must have been really short or something (Aside: Swim was supposed
to be 2.5km my Garmin 910xt had the course as 2kms).
T1 was quite slow as I took the opportunity to put on a dry
top, arm warmers, and socks. Seeing as the temperature was about 8C I did not
want to freeze in the first hour. I was very thankful for the warm clothes, but
my legs definitely did not appreciate the soaking wet and cold Compressport Calf Sleeves and
Tri shorts. (Aside - if you are looking for a sweet pair of tri shorts you should be seriously considering these) The first hour on the bike I tried to force myself into a strong
pace, generate some heat, and settle into my nutrition plan. My legs felt great
while my hands were freezing (I wish I had stuffed my light gloves into my T1
bag at this point). By the time I
started the climb up Mount Bachelor I was feeling great so tried to up my
power output knowing that the last 30kms of the race was mostly free speed. The descent down the backside of Bachelor was
fast, wicked fast. I had a top speed of 75km/hr. (If you think that is crazy
fast…think again! Jordan Rapp the Male Pro who won the race had a top speed of
60mph ~96km/hr). As I weaved into town
and towards transition my quads started to tighten up. I backed off the pace
and eased into transition hoping the legs would loosen once I started to run.
(Bike 106.5km – 2:56:xx)
As I ran through transition I quickly counted 4 or 5 bikes
already there. So I figured I was near the front of the race, but likewise knew
there were fast athletes in the later waves probably chasing me down. I knew
the run was only 16.5kms so I figured I would just run by feel. The legs were definitely
a little sore and stiff as I slipped on my new Brooks Pure Connects (yes the
new Blue ones Brian at Brainsport had sent me - they are now broken in for Kona!). I was out of transition rather
quickly and settled into a strong pace on the run. The run was a mixture of
trail and road with a few short steep hills and one rather long climb. I just
kept pushing my pace, but despite my best efforts I saw no other athletes. It
was a very scenic run with awesome volunteers at the aid stations. I made the
final turn over the bridge and through the finishing shoot…5th
Overall. (Run more like 15.5kms - 1:02:xx)
After it was all said and done I remained in fifth place overall
and first in the M25-29 division with a time of 4:37:15. (I was actually the 2nd
athlete in M25-29 but the top athlete was 3rd Overall so didn’t get
counted in the division). This race was a tune-up and I was very happy with the
results. I had an excellent swim for me, a very strong bike, and a solid run
(the fastest run of the day).
The Leadman Bend race put on by the folks at LifeTime Fitness
was truly an Epic race. A special thanks to Dominic Guinto for his superb work
as the race director! You can be sure that I’ll be trying to squeeze the Tempe
and Bend races into my schedule for next year.
Next up...Kona! I can’t wait!
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| Jordan Rapp - aka Rapstar coming down the finishing shoot to take the win at the Leadman Epic 250 Bend! |
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