Rumpus International Race Report

Training: I wasn’t training for this race specifically as everything I’m doing is preparing me for IMLP. Rumpus is most peoples first race of the season and after an entire off-season and 3 months of pre-season training everyone is ready to drop the reins and cut loose. I know felt this way. With all of the work I’ve put in I knew I was in much better shape than I’ve ever been and was ready to see what kind of race I could put together. Baldwin always says “its all about the bike.” I’m really starting to believe this as prior to this race I hadn’t done any brick workouts but have done plenty of multiple hour workouts so my legs should have been able to handle a harder effort for less time. This turned out to be correct. Other workouts that really benefitted me were my FTP based interval spins and improving my ability to work longer at harder efforts. Lots of swimming also.

Pre-Race: I’ve noted before how I usually make really stupid decision on the nights before races, which lead to me being tired and surely impacting my performance. There is too much riding on this year to continue that trend not to mention nobody on the team would actually let me do it. This meant securing a place in the team house and heading down to the venue the night before. Everyone had a little fun but went to bed at a decent hour. I actually woke up Saturday morning before my alarm, which was a nice feeling. Got my normal morning coffee and bagel and got the rest of the stuff ready to go. Everyone headed out and made the 5-minute drive to the race site with 1.5 hours to go before race start. There are always last minute things that you remember to do and that was taken care of but the best part of the morning never feeling rushed or stressed out. Of course, being able to chill out under the team tent with everyone else who is racing always helps. Finally we all decided to head down to the race start.

Swim: (28:40 / 38 of 70) To be completely honest, I was a little nervous before the swim. I know my swim volume is ridiculously higher than it’s ever been so I wasn’t worried about the distance but more so about wearing my full sleeve wetsuit. I’ve done 2 races in it and each has been miserable. My arms got tired very early on and I always felt like I was struggling. Besides getting in the water a little late I felt comfortable the minute I got in the water. There was a minute or two when the suit filled with 62 degree water where I held my breath but that quickly went away and I was ready to go. I made it to the line and made sure to position myself in the middle of the wave. I’ve always avoided the mass of people and never wanted to get hit or fight with people. Since I’ll have no choice at the mass swim start in Placid I knew I needed to start getting used to it now so it’s not a shock to me in a few months. The gun goes off and I head out. I immediately felt like I was moving at a pretty good clip without using too much energy. Instead of fighting with trying to breathe every 3rd stroke and feeling uncomfortable I went straight to every other breath and was able to settle in almost immediately. It’s the swim so there was nothing eventful till I got to the end. I looked down at my Garmin and it read 28:15!! I had absolutely destroyed my previous best time in a 1500 m swim. I was pumped up as I ran into T1.


T1: (1:30 / 4 of 70) Heading into T1 I had something new I needed to try. This was my first race with a swim and wearing my Garmin. After asking around I was told that the easiest way to get the wetsuit off was to disconnect the face from the band, hold it in my mouth, pull the sleeves down and then reconnect the face; all while running into transition. This worked rather well and I headed to my bike. I took a second and grabbed some water, ditched the wetsuit, grabbed what I needed and I was out.

Bike: (1:06:21 / 31 of 70) The bike started off well and I was interested to see what I could do on the course since I have put in so much time in the saddle. The race strategy was to go at near 100% FTP or zone 4 heart rate; basically max effort for the whole ride. I wasn’t sure if I could maintain that level of output but really wasn’t bad at all. I took free speed when I got it on downhill’s and gave some back on the handful of rollers that were out there. The best part about the bike was that I felt fast. Towards the end of the first lap I took a gel which was definitely necessary and decided to take one about half way through the second lap so I didn’t get that same “crap, I need a gel” feeling. It was also great having other FeXY’s out of the course and spectating and cheering as we came through for each lap. Overall I was pleased with the bike.

T2: (1:02 / 17 of 70) The usual; ditch the bike and helmet, grad race number and shoes and get the hell out of there. Which would have been great had I left it at that. However, I decided to eat a few shot blocks. Note to self – never again.


Run: (43:09 / 14 of 70) Trying to chew and swallow the shot blocks at the beginning of the run didn’t go well. I had a difficult time trying to chew and it was like I never fully swallowed the blocks. I tried to control my breathing and get my HR down a little at the beginning but was difficult to do so. After a few minutes I was finally able to settle into the pace I wanted. It was pretty hot out at this point and I wanted to drink some water but the shot blocks still weren’t sitting right and made me not want to drink anything. At the half way point I wanted to push the pace a little bit but my stomach just wouldn’t let me so I had to stay where I was and ride that to the end of the race. I’m not upset about the run at all considering it’s my fastest 10K in a race, but I think I could have gone a little faster had I not eaten the blocks.


What Was Good: Everything about the race was good. Getting a good nights sleep, not having to drive far the morning of, having an entire team of people to hang out with, and putting up my fastest times across the board.

What Was Bad: There really wasn’t anything bad. I know now that in a short race like that I’m not going to eat anything before the run.