First obstacle was the weather. It was horrid. 60 degrees and rain! Which just makes going 20+mph on the bike downright miserable. Here is a shot through the trees of the lake where the swim was... you can see the rain hitting the lake:
I started the swim in the second wave, four minutes behind the first. I was unsure of the lake temperature so I borrowed a wetsuit from a neighbor. The wetsuit lasted about 50 yards of warmups. It ended up that the arms were a tad to big, causing water to enter the suit each time my arm entered the water. So I dropped the wetsuit on the shore and went with the tri-suit. I ended up with a decent position at the start so when the gun went off I didn't have too many people to climb over. Sighting was a small problem as I had light blue goggles which on a rainy day didn't work so well. I finished the swim in 2!:41 earning a 2nd place in my age group and 17th overall. Not bad for only 2 practices!!! Just wait till the end of the season when I have more time in the pool.
The second obstacle was the 1/2 mile, uphill run that the organizers made us do through the woods. It crazy! Due to the rain, it literally became a mudlide. Luckily I brought some gore-tex trail running shoes. But they still didn't matter. The trail was just large boulders, tree roots, and puddles. Basically, I ran up it by stepping in the puddles.
The bike was a rolling course with small rollers and two small hills. One was 3% grade for about a mile+ and the other was 4-8% grade for about 1/2 mile. The rain made the course miserable. There were rooster tails everywhere on the first lap. Thankfully, the rain stopped for the second. I finished the 26 mile course in 1:16:10 for an average of ~20.5mph. Considering my legs felt like garbage from the first pedal stroke it wasn't a bad time. Coming off the bike, I was probably in 35th place. Here is a pic of me rolling past my cheering section after the steeper hill:
It was all downhill (performance wise) after I hopped off the bike. I just don't do very well when my feet hit pavement. For one thing, I've never run more than 3 miles in a race. So, I decided to run/walk the 6.2 miles, 8 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. Some of the hills on the course modified this, but I kept to my strategy. The run didn't hurt very much, although much of that had to do with the pace I kept. I finished in a whopping 57:30 for a split that was 137th overall. Here is my finishing shoot shot:
My final stats:
- Swim: 21:41
- T1: 5:50 (includes muddy run)
- Bike: 1:16:10
- T2: 1:32
- Run: 57:30
- Total: 2:42:44 (62nd place, 9th/21 in Age Group)
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6 comments:
(couldn't figure out how to edit a typo in my first post)
Good job man, I am proud of you. Just think back a few years when we were talking about you just starting to ride! Did you know that the girl that blitzed that course was the women's pro champion at Ironman Lake Placid (and her hubby... the race winner... is also a pro).
Here's some food for thought: "Nothing saves more time for less money than an aero helmet." You should read this review http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/aero_helmet.shtml
Thanks!!
We were talking on a group ride last week how I could barely make it up a local hill, err bump 3 years ago. Now, I'm just powering up most of them.
Yeah, I know about the helmet... there have also been studies done that prove that a road helmet works better for some folks than a aero helmet depending on position.
But in either case, a new helmet and new suit will be on order for my next race. The wife said I should get the Garneau Superleggera because she likes the dimples.
Congratulations! You've had an amazing start to your race season! Are you going to post your race schedule? It would be fun if Jeff and I could make it to one to cheer for you =)
Fantastic effort - you are out there and racing.....Would love to see a better pic of the bike, it looks great and you look very comfy in your position on the bike.....what is your favorite leg in a tri?
I'll come up with a race schedule. I have to for another friend who did the triathlon also. Right now, the end goal is FIRM Man RI which is a half-ironman on Sept13. Unfortunately that is the same day as the flattest century ride if you are doing that (plus thats a 5+ hour race)
Thanks for the support all.
I'll post a better picture of the bike when I add a review of my aero drink system (homemade).
I really enjoy the bike the most. I'm kind of a middle of the pack ability, which is good because I pass and get passed by people. When each happen, I shout words of encouragement to everyone. Some people look annoyed, others appreciate it and seem to either keep up a little more or pull away faster.
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