Lake Stevens 70.3 race report

Well, another race is in the bag. I have to admit, this race was a TON of fun!! I went into this having two goals:

1) To race all out - leave nothing out there

2) To have fun

Well, I was successful in accomplishing both goals!!

I tried an entirely new concept going into the race; I did no homework. I mean none. I didn't want to think or stress about the race. Actually, I went too far :) After finding the race site (had no idea where it was when we left Portland except that it was North of Seattle), I asked the dude I parked next to where I was supposed to get my packet from. He looked at me like I was an idiot and told me I had to go to the high school to get it. OK, whatever dude, where is the high school? haha So after some time I got my packet picked up, racked my bike, and Meg and I met up with my coach. At this point I actually confirmed the swim course, bike course, and run course...LOL!!

Race day: wake up way too early...4am. Race starts at 6:30. Pull into the small town of Lake Stevens and there are parking lots everywhere marked with letters. What the hell? Pulled into one and asked the dude parked next to me what the story was. "You have to pay $20 to park here. See the guy down at the bottom of the hill." WHAT? Guess I should have researched that as well!! haha, it was the same dude as yesterday as well! This guy must think I'm a total moron. haha!! So anyway, got transition set up, hit the porta and made my way down to the lake.

Our wave went off at 6:41am. Hugged Meg, and then walked to the lake with coach. He looked me right in the eye and said, "Go like hell son. This is your redemption from Ironman Coeur d'Alene." I was so pumped at this point. Gun went off and I was off. Quickly in second place and catching some draft off the guy leading. After about 500 meters and passing people from waves in front of me I struggled to keep him in sight and eventually lost his feet. I came out of the water in 4th. Not exactly what I wanted, but I felt good about it. Quickly into transition and I was off onto the hilly bike course.

Now my back has been giving me serious issues for some time. CDA was a disaster. Unfortunately, we still have not fixed all the issues and this bike was almost as bad. I maintained my position for the first 10-15 miles and then slowly got passed by competitors. I had to take advil to help. But in reality it really didn't. The course is challenging. Reminds me a lot of CDA. Lots of hills. Good descents, but too many turns at the bottom of some of them that slows your momentum. After 40 miles I realized I wasn't going to have a great ride in terms of time, so started to focus on hydration, nutrition and preparing for a strong run.

I bolted out of transition. Despite a locked up back and my asthma starting to act up, my legs felt great! Got my garmin going and tried to control my breathing to keep asthma at bay. The first two miles were tough. After that, my asthma subsided and I picked up the pace. I got into a 7-7:15 pace and it felt pretty good. There is a decent hill you hit twice (two loops). You roll by the finish line half way through each loop and at the end of the first loop. It was awesome seeing Meghan and the Ironhead supporters! I was having a good run and felt like sub 1:40 was going to happen. About 8 miles in I hit a little bit of a rough patch and just concentrated on foot speed and not allowing my pace to show 8, I wanted only 7s. I knew this would past. It did. I got up the final hill, turned around for home and kept running as hard as I could. I can say that I was pretty much red lined for most of the run.

The finish chute was great. I felt really happy with my finish time and my run time (both pr's) despite having the back issues again. Most of all, I was happy to do it as planned...without one :) Thanks to my awesome support team, especially my wife, family and my coach. The rest of the season is up in the air as I will continue to focus on the back, but plan to race at least once more before fall arrives. Thanks for taking the time to check in. Cheers!

-T

Trevor Yates

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1107	33	Wilsonville OR USA	Management

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
28:20	2:42:21	1:39:22	4:54:04	99	14

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	1.2 mi. (28:20)	1:29/100m	30	5
TOTAL BIKE	56 mi. (2:42:21)	20.70 mph	83	12
RUN SPLIT 1: 6.61 mi	6.61 mi (49:06)	7:25/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 13.1 mi	6.49 mi (50:16)	7:44/mi
TOTAL RUN	13.1 mi (1:39:22)	7:35/mi	99	14
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				2:06
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				1:55

Lake Stevens!!

Well, Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 is just around the corner. I'm getting pretty excited for the race! As I mentioned last post, I've been concentrating on the fun factor of triathlon as of late. So, what is my goal going into the race? Go ahead, ask me. I won't have an answer for you other than to go until there is nothing left. In fact, I guess I do have one goal. Shoot, I really have two. 1) Swim. First pack. I have been afraid to race to my potential in the swim like I used to.

2) Bike. Race. Hard. Again, bike is a strength, but you wouldn't know from recent race results.

Shit, OK...I have 3 goals.

3) Run. As Macca would say...embrace the suck. I plan on going out fast and maintaining. Will the wheels fall off? I hope not. But I'm pushing my chips in. I'm fit and ready.

Time to rock. And have fun. Gonna enjoy every minute of it! Feel free to follow online at Ironman.com if you want. I have no idea what my bib number is...haven't bothered to check. Part of the having fun part. Thanks for taking the time to read!!

-T

Fun

Post Ironman Coeur d'Alene has been about having fun. That race was disappointing, but what I realized after I had time to really reflect on it was that I needed to make sure I was having fun. Lost in focus on qualifying for Kona was the "fun factor." Let's face it, I don't race for any other reason than to get my "fix." Triathlon is my escape from reality. My "happy place." I let myself get too caught up in chasing after numbers and lost sight to some degree of why I get out there and challenge myself.

So this past weekend helped to serve my mission of having fun. My good friend turned 30 and so we headed over to Bend where he lives to celebrate. The celebration included us taking part in Cycle Pub (not us below). Cycle pub is in one word...awesome. You load up the machine with all the beer and wine you want and then pedal your way around town to make stops at local bars. What a blast!

And so...now that my "fun battery" is fully charged...we are off to Lake Stevens 70.3 this weekend to kick some serious ass. As far as having fun for this race? Well, I'm going to attack it from the gun. I guess that could either be "fun" or tragic. I hope for the former :) Thanks for taking the time to read!

-T