Post by jamesi on Aug 12, 2010 7:44:00 GMT -5
I woke up at about 4:30 with a plan to get out the door at 5:30. I started the day with a little Coffee, Oatmeal, 1/2 a Clif Bar, and some NFL Network. I was very happy to get my morning routine done without waking any of the babies, as my wife’s support of triathlons can plummet proportional to how much sleep she loses. With my bike and wetsuit in the truck since the night before, all I had to do was grab my bag that had been checked, and checked, and checked, and...You get the idea. On the road at 5:40. Not bad.
Upon arriving at the park I was happy to see that: A) I pretty much beat the major influx of racers (this would be the only time that happened) B) The volunteers at the entrance to transition were very efficient, and C) It looked like we’d get to swim!
After racking my bike and getting all set up did some milling around to say “hey” and to check out the water which was calm as could be (for now).
I was one of the few able to hear the pre-race address because my bike rack was adjacent to the transition exit. If anybody is wondering what was said, you didn’t miss anything besides “don’t draft”, “no ipods” and the other basics. Soon after came the long walk on the beach. I honestly thought for a few minutes that I would get a blister plodding through all that sand. Finally, we arrived at the swim start, and it wasn’t very long after arriving that it was time to go. After getting some help zipping up my wetsuit that’s juuuuuuuuust a bit too small I was ready. The lake had markedly more chop than it did earlier. There was a pretty steady South wind that was churning up some good waves. My plan for the day was to complete the Oly using my pacing and nutrition plan that I’ve been practicing for my September HIM. I ran into the Lake with the intent of taking it pretty easy, but this soon proved to be an inadequate plan. The natural current and waves were causing me to work a little harder than I had planned. It took about 15 minutes to completely settle in, and those poisonous thoughts of “can I really go twice as far in September” morphed into confidence and wanting to go further. I was truly a little disappointed when the swim was over. Maybe because I only enjoyed 1/2 of the swim. All in all I was out of the water in 34:09, which which pretty far off my goal of 29 minutes, but I did as well as conditions allowed me to do. I saw Mike Mayer getting out of the water a few seconds ahead of me, and that was the last time I saw him. After an uneventful and deliberate T1 I was off onto my favorite part of triathlon.
Swim: 34:09 11 out of 16 in 30-34. 92 out of 131 Over all.
The same South wind that was stirring up the lake proved to be a pretty strong head wind that we all dealt with until the course went East. I enjoyed the climbing and overtook quite a few riders. A few minutes before starting the descent, I saw a racer get run off the road by a motorcyclist. It was less of a crash than it was and unexpected deceleration and subsequent tipping, but it sucked nonetheless. As I slowed to see if the rider was okay I was glad to see that he was uninjured. He was however REALLY pissed and understandably so. Seeing the whole thing unfold, it seamed like the motorcyclist didn’t even realize what happened, which is both hard to believe, (with 2 dozen bikes in the area) and scary. Soon after began the fun descent. I traded positions a few times with someone who said “nice outfit” upon her initial pass. This turned out to be Jen Collister, who I ended seeing a lot of that day. The rest of the ride was an uneventful fast ride back into the park. I felt like I should of ate a little more, but that didn’t end up being a problem.
Bike: 1:17:55 (19.1mph) 9 out of 16 in 30-34 62 out of 131 overall.
T-2 was smooth and short. Steve and Allison had the aid station covered and were offering up some support. Thanks guys! I set out just wanting to run a very conservative race, and after my first mile that was 8:40, I realized I needed to cool it down a bit. I settled in to the pace I wanted to practice and came in pretty close to my goal. I saw a few a my fellow firefighters completing their first sprints and I was really happy that I got to shout some supportive words to them (although 1 of them responded with the words: “I’m dying, I’m absolutely dying”) I saw Tiffany for a minute before she became a dot on the horizon. I saw Jen again as well, and we chatted for a few minutes before she too disappeared out in front. The South track team was awesome, as well as all the Team in Training cheerleaders. I saw Kim on the way back and we shouted some encouragement to each other. The rest of the run was smooth and I was really happy to get back to the shade of the park.
Run: 1:01:26 (9:55) 14 out of 16 in 30-34 92 out of 131 overall
2:57:42 14 out of 16 in 30-34 88 out of 131 overall.
Thanks very much to all the CTC people who volunteered.
Upon arriving at the park I was happy to see that: A) I pretty much beat the major influx of racers (this would be the only time that happened) B) The volunteers at the entrance to transition were very efficient, and C) It looked like we’d get to swim!
After racking my bike and getting all set up did some milling around to say “hey” and to check out the water which was calm as could be (for now).
I was one of the few able to hear the pre-race address because my bike rack was adjacent to the transition exit. If anybody is wondering what was said, you didn’t miss anything besides “don’t draft”, “no ipods” and the other basics. Soon after came the long walk on the beach. I honestly thought for a few minutes that I would get a blister plodding through all that sand. Finally, we arrived at the swim start, and it wasn’t very long after arriving that it was time to go. After getting some help zipping up my wetsuit that’s juuuuuuuuust a bit too small I was ready. The lake had markedly more chop than it did earlier. There was a pretty steady South wind that was churning up some good waves. My plan for the day was to complete the Oly using my pacing and nutrition plan that I’ve been practicing for my September HIM. I ran into the Lake with the intent of taking it pretty easy, but this soon proved to be an inadequate plan. The natural current and waves were causing me to work a little harder than I had planned. It took about 15 minutes to completely settle in, and those poisonous thoughts of “can I really go twice as far in September” morphed into confidence and wanting to go further. I was truly a little disappointed when the swim was over. Maybe because I only enjoyed 1/2 of the swim. All in all I was out of the water in 34:09, which which pretty far off my goal of 29 minutes, but I did as well as conditions allowed me to do. I saw Mike Mayer getting out of the water a few seconds ahead of me, and that was the last time I saw him. After an uneventful and deliberate T1 I was off onto my favorite part of triathlon.
Swim: 34:09 11 out of 16 in 30-34. 92 out of 131 Over all.
The same South wind that was stirring up the lake proved to be a pretty strong head wind that we all dealt with until the course went East. I enjoyed the climbing and overtook quite a few riders. A few minutes before starting the descent, I saw a racer get run off the road by a motorcyclist. It was less of a crash than it was and unexpected deceleration and subsequent tipping, but it sucked nonetheless. As I slowed to see if the rider was okay I was glad to see that he was uninjured. He was however REALLY pissed and understandably so. Seeing the whole thing unfold, it seamed like the motorcyclist didn’t even realize what happened, which is both hard to believe, (with 2 dozen bikes in the area) and scary. Soon after began the fun descent. I traded positions a few times with someone who said “nice outfit” upon her initial pass. This turned out to be Jen Collister, who I ended seeing a lot of that day. The rest of the ride was an uneventful fast ride back into the park. I felt like I should of ate a little more, but that didn’t end up being a problem.
Bike: 1:17:55 (19.1mph) 9 out of 16 in 30-34 62 out of 131 overall.
T-2 was smooth and short. Steve and Allison had the aid station covered and were offering up some support. Thanks guys! I set out just wanting to run a very conservative race, and after my first mile that was 8:40, I realized I needed to cool it down a bit. I settled in to the pace I wanted to practice and came in pretty close to my goal. I saw a few a my fellow firefighters completing their first sprints and I was really happy that I got to shout some supportive words to them (although 1 of them responded with the words: “I’m dying, I’m absolutely dying”) I saw Tiffany for a minute before she became a dot on the horizon. I saw Jen again as well, and we chatted for a few minutes before she too disappeared out in front. The South track team was awesome, as well as all the Team in Training cheerleaders. I saw Kim on the way back and we shouted some encouragement to each other. The rest of the run was smooth and I was really happy to get back to the shade of the park.
Run: 1:01:26 (9:55) 14 out of 16 in 30-34 92 out of 131 overall
2:57:42 14 out of 16 in 30-34 88 out of 131 overall.
Thanks very much to all the CTC people who volunteered.
