Iron-Chaz's Chesapeakeman Aqua Velo Report

here is chaz's report of how he kicked chesapeakeman aqua velo's butt over the weekend. way to go, chaz!
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In training for my first Ironman, I couldn't have picked a better warmup race than the Chesapeakeman Aqua Velo, which comprised the first two legs of the Chesapeakeman Iron-dstance triathlon. I got the 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike race distances under my belt, experienced the different transition style in Iron races from other triathlons, and gained confidence through a strong performance.

It was a small race - about 300 signed up for the full race and the Aqua Velo, combined, and only 224 toed the starting line. So there was an intimate feel as the bus dropped us off at the swim start in Cambridge, Md., the T1 changing tents and bike racks illuminated out of the surrounding blackness of the Choptank River by a couple of floodlights. There wasn't much point to arriving 90 minutes early, so other than using the facilities and checking the bike, sodden from overnight rain, I mostly sat and obsessed over what the race would be like.

I pulled on my wetsuit (right side out this time) at 6:30, just as the rain started to fall. By the time I entered the water at 6:45, the rain was steady - when the gun went off at 7, it was a downpour. On the other hand, there was light, if no sun, so we could see the buoys stretching into the distance for the two-loop swim around a bay that empties into the Choptank.

I took my usual approach, starting near the back and setting a deliberate pace. I kept up with the pack better than I have in the past, which made sighting less of a challenge. I was kicked in the head once. On the final turn of the first loop, into the river on the straight shot back into the start/finish, there was significant chop, making frequent sighting a necessity. Upon completing the first loop (in exactly 800 breaths), I checked my watch and was delighted to see 41:52, matching the fastest I've ever done 1.2 miles in a race (three weeks prior at Diamondman, it took me an awful 47 minutes). Thus inspired, I stroked through the second lap, shaking off at one point a persistent draftee (by the hundredth time his hand hit my foot, I was seriously considering kicking him in the head. Instead, I moved over). I managed the second loop in 795 breaths, and crossed the mat into T1 at 1:24:52. That's only three minutes slower than I do in the pool. Could the course have been short? No - when I got into the changing tent, it was FULL. I was in the main group!

(My swim ranked 49th of 89 Aqua Veloers, and 125th of 224 including the tri competitors. Add in the swim-only competitors, and I was 139th of 248.)

T1 was a new experience. Grab the bag containing bike gear, head into the tent, strip down and change clothes with dozens of other competitors and not enough chairs. I took my time, as usual, feeling a bit dizzy from the swim and not having packed my bag properly - next time, items will be ordered so I can rake things out as I need them, rather than dump the contents out and root around. A final complicating factor was that I was breaking in a Garmin Forerunner 405, upgrading from ny dead 305, which died Thursday evening, meaning I bought the 405 Friday. Not ideal. I took 14:30 to get through transition, which ranked 10th from slowest among tri and Aqua Velo competitors!

The rain had slackened during the swim, but started again in earnest as I began the bike. I took it easy to start, navigating the first few turns carefully to gauge the slickness of the roads, and generally stretching out. By mile 4, my aggregate pace was better than 20 mph, where it would stay for the duration.

I confronted an equipment problem right away. I'd changed the armrests on my aerobars a few days ago, because I'd broken the plastic armrests in training. The metal armrests I installed were curved, and forced my shoulders to hunch much more. That would prevent me from staying in the aerobars for more than five miles at a tim, and I needed to take more frequent breaks from the aerobars as the race progressed. Two days later, my shoulders remain a bit sore.

Fueling went well. I ate half a Clif bar every half hour, then interspersed a banana on the next half hour. I drank with abandon, even though the near-constant, frequently downpouring rain made it impossible to tell how much I was weating. (The temp was low 70s and humid.) So I drank six 24-ounce bottles of Gatorade High Endurance and three 24-ounce bottles of water, and ate four Clif bars and three bananas.

The course involved a 14-mile sojourn to a 48-mile loop that we did twice. The loop went through Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and was utterly flat - even the few bridges involved inclines of literally two or three feet. That made regular stretching a necessity, and coasting an impossibility - perfect training for Florida. The rain varied throughout the ride - no rain for maybe a quarter, light to steady rain for half, and pounding, slap-hard-against-your-helmet rain for the remaining quarter.

That, and the previous three days of rain, led to a singular road condition I've never experienced before. A one-mile stretch of road about 12 miles from the end of the loop was completely submerged in up to - no joke - six inches of water. At certain points, feet and pedals went underwater with each pedal stroke, making for gym-like biking resistance. It wasn't hard to get through - even when cars coming the other direction caused wakes onto my side of the road - but it was a new one.

My strategy was the same as usual - see a cyclist ahead of me, pick him or her off, don't get passed - but I had to be more patient given the longer distance. I learned that early. In mile 11, I passed three cyclists at once, one of whom was passing the other two. He passed me back within a mile. I kept him in my sights and re-passed two miles later. He passed me again within a mile, and eventually disappeared up the road.

I passed him for a third time in mile 60, and he stayed passed.

I was passed by three other cyclists, all in the first half. I'm sure I eventually passed two of them back; the other I'm not sure of. Otherwise, it was the usual pass-fest, only wetter and more deliberate - I tailed some cyclists for five, eight, 10 miles before reeling them in.

I felt my pace flag near the halfway mark, so after getting through the submerged road for the first time, I figured I'd air it out for the last 12 miles of the loop, before picking up the special-needs bag. That went well, and after stopping to reload my Clif bar and banana stash, I was strong for the second loop.

I stayed in the small chainring for most of the first 64 miles - which I had the confidence to do thanks to a century ride I did last week almost entirely in the small ring because the cable controlling the ring was badly frayed. I had it replaced this week, so when I felt strong late, I put it in the big ring for the last 14 miles and let it rip.

I finished the bike leg in 5:28:45, for a 20.4 mph pace. That ranked 10th of 89 in the Aqua Velo, and 21st of 224 including the triathletes. Given the conditions and my relative lack of taper, that seems like a replicable result in five weeks' time.

My overall time of 7:07:48 ranked 21st of 89 in the Aqua Velo, and 46th of 224 including the triathletes. Most pleasantly surprising of all, I carded a second-place finish (of 12 Aqua Veloers) in the 35-39 age group (the AG winner beat me by plenty, so my ridiculous transition didn't cost me unduly). I see no evidence on the event Web site that there were age group awards for the AV, but this still qualifies as easily my best race result.

Apparently, swim-bike-done suits me better than swim-bike-run. Nevertheless, on to Ironman Florida!