Have you ever wanted to see how you stack up against the top short course athletes in the United States? If so, USAT Age Group Nationals is the event for you! I know, I know there are some of you who think that it is "just" an Olympic and/or Sprint. It may just be an Olympic and Sprint, but you can't show up to this race and lay down a 2:10-2:15 Oly or a 1:07-1:10 Sprint and think you will be near the top of most of the men's age groups. This was especially true for the 35-39 age group.
One of the great things I love about Nationals is you have to be a well rounded triathlete to earn a spot on Team USA. This year was even more competitive with the ITU Grand Finale being hosted in Chicago next year. I came into the Olympic distance knowing I would need to blow my Oly PR away if I had any shot at the top 25 in my age group. In 2013 you had to go a 2:05 or faster to earn a spot so, that was the time I had in my head going into the race. My goal was to swim a sub 23, bike an hour or under, and run like I was being chased by a cheetah.
Throw in 3-4 minutes of total transitions and that left me running a sub 40:00 10k.
This year I got lucky and the 35-39 wave was the first wave of the day so, I would know exactly where I was in the field throughout the race. When I came out of the water the volunteers were yelling out positions and I was 63rd out of the water with a time of 22:52. Goal of sub 23 checked off in my head. That still left me with a lot of work to do on the bike and run. Once on the bike I didn't feel quite like myself and my power #s showed that, but I wasn't going to let that get to me mentally. I worked my way up to 33rd on the bike with a time of 1:00. Now it was time to see what the legs had for the run. I ran myself from 33rd in my age group to 53rd with a time of 42:40. The cheetah definitely got me! I did end up with an Olympic distance PR and am very happy with that!
Now back to how FAST this event is and how well rounded you have to be. 1st in my age group went a 1:51:44 and 8th went 1:59:46. That left 12 spots for us mortals over the 2:00 mark. This year those twelve spots were separated by two minutes and 42 seconds! As you can see there is very little room for error. Even if I hit my goal of 2:05 I would have missed out on a Team USA slot in the Olympic, but I know no matter what I got my ass kicked by some of the best.
With the Olympic done it was time to focus on the Sprint. In my eight years of racing I have only raced on back to back days once, but there was not much on the line the second day of that double. Sunday was a different story! I had one goal in the Sprint and that was to go top 25. Last year I went a 1:07 and was 11th in my age group. Again with Worlds being in the United States I knew I would need to do better than that.
My wave was the eighth of the day, but there was a 20 minute gap from the previous wave. The gun went off and to my surprise I felt really good in the water. I came out of the water in 11:47, but had no idea where I was in the field. I got on the bike and again felt pretty good given that I raced the day before. My 30:14 bike moved me from 33rd to 11th in my AG, but had no idea at the time. I threw my running shoes on and was hell bent on not getting passed. I ended up running a 19:53. Got passed by two guys, but passed one at the half way point and held him and a few others off for 12th in my age group! I ended up with a 1:05:24 and a 2:00 PR from the previous year. Thankfully I had that PR in me since my time from last year would have left me outside of the top 25.
I had four goals coming into the weekend: Qualify for Team USA, PR the Olympic, run a sub 40 10k, and PR the Sprint. With three of the goals reached; the weekend was successful, but I am not satisfied! I still have a lot of work to do on my run. I am ready for the challenge and can't wait to work my ass off to get there.
One of the great things I love about Nationals is you have to be a well rounded triathlete to earn a spot on Team USA. This year was even more competitive with the ITU Grand Finale being hosted in Chicago next year. I came into the Olympic distance knowing I would need to blow my Oly PR away if I had any shot at the top 25 in my age group. In 2013 you had to go a 2:05 or faster to earn a spot so, that was the time I had in my head going into the race. My goal was to swim a sub 23, bike an hour or under, and run like I was being chased by a cheetah.
This year I got lucky and the 35-39 wave was the first wave of the day so, I would know exactly where I was in the field throughout the race. When I came out of the water the volunteers were yelling out positions and I was 63rd out of the water with a time of 22:52. Goal of sub 23 checked off in my head. That still left me with a lot of work to do on the bike and run. Once on the bike I didn't feel quite like myself and my power #s showed that, but I wasn't going to let that get to me mentally. I worked my way up to 33rd on the bike with a time of 1:00. Now it was time to see what the legs had for the run. I ran myself from 33rd in my age group to 53rd with a time of 42:40. The cheetah definitely got me! I did end up with an Olympic distance PR and am very happy with that!
With the Olympic done it was time to focus on the Sprint. In my eight years of racing I have only raced on back to back days once, but there was not much on the line the second day of that double. Sunday was a different story! I had one goal in the Sprint and that was to go top 25. Last year I went a 1:07 and was 11th in my age group. Again with Worlds being in the United States I knew I would need to do better than that.
My wave was the eighth of the day, but there was a 20 minute gap from the previous wave. The gun went off and to my surprise I felt really good in the water. I came out of the water in 11:47, but had no idea where I was in the field. I got on the bike and again felt pretty good given that I raced the day before. My 30:14 bike moved me from 33rd to 11th in my AG, but had no idea at the time. I threw my running shoes on and was hell bent on not getting passed. I ended up running a 19:53. Got passed by two guys, but passed one at the half way point and held him and a few others off for 12th in my age group! I ended up with a 1:05:24 and a 2:00 PR from the previous year. Thankfully I had that PR in me since my time from last year would have left me outside of the top 25.
I had four goals coming into the weekend: Qualify for Team USA, PR the Olympic, run a sub 40 10k, and PR the Sprint. With three of the goals reached; the weekend was successful, but I am not satisfied! I still have a lot of work to do on my run. I am ready for the challenge and can't wait to work my ass off to get there.
