HyVee Race Report

Warning... this is a VERY LONG post.


Oh my gosh, I don't know where to begin. What a weekend.



This was a VERY well done race with a few very minor exceptions. I have to remind myself that this was the first year they have done this and to put on a race this size is a huge undertaking.


I left for Des Moines on Saturday. I went by myself as everyone was either busy or coming up to watch the pros later on Sunday.

The athletes had to go to the convention center to pick up their packets but there were so many streets that were blocked off that getting through downtown Des Moines was interesting. I went to the mandatory race briefing that they were holding every hour on the hour. There, the race director managed to scare the pants off of every rookie athlete in the room. He talked about position and drafting penalties, littering penalties, DQs and how at one race he gave out over 200 penalties. I think that I answered at least 6 or 7 questions later in the day and on race morning about all the penalties. I picked up my packet and sweet swag and then it was time to go drop off my bike in transition. I had to drive a ways to get to the lake and the transition area and the traffic was horrible! I ended up rerouting myself around the back way and finally got into the athlete parking. I dropped my bike off and met some really awesome people from a tri club in West Des Moines. They were super fun and had lots of good tips about the course. After I finally got my gear straightened out I headed over to JD's house. JD is a buddy of mine from high school. I had a great time with he and his wife and their two year old son. They were so hospitable, feeding me and letting me sleep in their extra room. I went to bed later than I would have like because I was catching up with them. At 10:30 pm I had to excuse myself and go to bed because 3:45 am was coming early!

I got up and left the house by 4:10 am. The traffic was UNBELIEVABLE. I am sure that the natives knew how to sneak in the back way but I didn't dare try it in the dark. I sat in traffic for an hour but I managed to get my stuff ready mostly in the car. I mixed my drink bottle, put my race belt together, and ate a PB&J sandwich. My heart went out to the guy who went by me a few lanes over. He happened to be leaning out the passenger side window up to his waist throwing up. Poor guy. It took me back to the feelings I had before my first race and how I still get the butterflies but they are contained. =0) Today was different for me though, I was using the race as a training day trying to get my nutrition figured out was my number one goal.

I finally got parked and hiked into transition about 5:25 am. Transition closed at 5:45 and the race was set to start at 6 am. I was all ready to go. The race was delayed about 10 minutes because of the trouble racers were having getting through the traffic. I was in the fourth wave which was supposed to start at 6:12. Just like in most other large races, each wave had a different color swim cap. White, light blue, yellow, navy... etc. Here is where my second beef with the race director comes in... The swim course was one 1500 m loop. Right turn at the yellow buoy, then three or four left turns at buoys, then right turn at the last yellow buoy. I was wearing a navy swim cap and what color might you guess the wave in front of me was? You got it, yellow, the same yellow as the buoys. When I looked up to spot, all I could see were bobbing yellow objects. Not ideal. Disregarding that, I felt really comfortable during the swim. There was quite the traffic jam at several of the turns but I managed to pass quite a few yellow caps, several light blue caps, and a couple of white caps even. Not bad.
Swim: 31:41

Transition was smooth. Very long transition area due to the huge number of racers. It was maybe 250-300 yds long so that added to the time that I managed to shave off with more organization.
T1: 2:34

My main goal for the bike course was to get calories in (and to keep them there of course). I wanted to stay at 70-80% of my max effort through out the race and so this was going to involve spinning up hills and trying not to go into 02 deprevation. I took an Enervit gel on mile one and drank some water. I felt alright until about mile 15 and then got a wave of yuckiness. It passed and I continued to drink water and a little bit of my drink mix. I was getting passed by dudes and occassionally a female but I tried to keep it under wraps and not just take off. I felt like I had quite a bit left in my legs which was a good feeling. My plan had been to take the second gel about 10 or 15 minutes before I got off the bike. I had to really talk myself into sticking with the plan because I was a little afraid of stomach implications. I decided to go for it, this was the prime time, I was riding like I would any other day (maybe a smidge harder) so I took in my second gel. Just as I was stuffing it back in my jersey, I looked up to see a ginormous hill. Oh yeah, that one I hit 40 mph on on the way out was starring me in the face. "I see you hill." (Thanks Brett.) I shifted down and then spun up it as best I could. I am sure that my heart rate spiked and my quads were definitely protesting but it was not as bad as I would have thought. There was a small plateau and then another decent hill. At the top of the second one there were three women in red boas. They were chanting, "no more hills, no more hills." I laughed and gave them a fist pump in the air.
Bike: 1:22:44 (18.03 avg mph)

T2: 2:08 - Uneventful. Used my Yankz and LOVED them.

Run: We ran from the transition area to downtown Des Moines and did two loops around. There were no mile markers. I was frustrated by this, so later I checked into this on the website. Come to find out, the aid stations were at each mile. I didn't even look to see what the aid stations would have because I only take water. That was my lession learned. The other problem on the run was the loop issue. At the finish line I heard people talking about not doing a second loop either on purpose or on accident. When I ran by, the man with the megaphone yelled at me twice to ask if I had been around twice. I mean really, isn't there a way to monitor that with the championchip? Anywho, I am sure they though of that but who knows. The run was better this race. I felt better and tried to keep an even pace. I had to walk through the aid stations and I managed to drink a little water at each one. The finish line was the same one the pros were going to use later. That was super cool. After you ran up the big hill and turned the corner you were inthe finish line chute. The problem was... it was probably 1/2 mile (estimate) of blue carpet. It didn't look that far and I started the sprint way too early. I made it, but it hurt. I managed to pass someone in my age group in that last stretch which kind of made me laugh as I had been trying so hard not to worry about times and places. I was still slow, still want to be faster but overall not bad for 75% effort.
Run: 57:18 (9:12 min/mile)

Overall time: 2:56:24

This is about 2 seconds different than my last race and I went 70%. I never had a headache all weekend and I was in the sun for the rest of the day watching the pros. (That is a story for the next post.) The nutrition is on the right track. I ate a lot after the race and tried to rehydrate all day. Yes! Mission accomplished. Now, I am ready to really RACE!!! Sign me up.