Given the weather, I woke up unsure if this thing was going to fly at all. But, there was only a mild drizzle as I rolled out of bed at 4:45, so I geared up and hit the road sans coffee by 5 AM. Drive up to Bethel was quiet and uneventful, and I was in the lot across from Gould Academy by 6 for check-in. One of the bizarre traditions of this race is that you have to mark yourself, and after making one backwards 4, the offered to do my other arm (did I mention no coffee?), and then I was all set. Took a quick look at the run start/finish, racked my running stuff in T2, and headed down to the swim start/T1 rack 4 miles away. Got a great rack spot for T1, chilled with the locals, chatted up a Czeck guy who had a sweet Cervelo P3, and then did an easy swim warm-up in the gorgeous Songo Pond (lake). Still no rain, but the area was pretty well saturated. Waiting for the pre-race meeting, bumped into a couple of jokers I sat with last year, and we picked up right where we left off (jokes about banana hammocks, Maine small town charm, and the like). A great diversion before we went in wave one (all men). The race was smaller this year in numbers, but there was some serious club uniforms and bike bling. Bing-bang-book-racetime!
Swim: Decided to take it easy, pace myself, grove in the wetsuit for the 1K swim. Stayed outside on the start, clean water the whole time, easy sighting, good pace, and the water was beautiful in clarity and purity.
Time: 17.41, 31st OA, (17:51 last year- a good start)
T1: Quick exit of the rubber, grabbed the helmet, bike, and zipped out. The only fumble was on the flying mount, when I tried to get my feet in, I pulled out the 2nd straps on both shoes, so I had to fiddle with them to re-insert them as I rode, which was clunky and not smooth- oh well.
Ride: Felt good to start, motored along well. The pavement was fairly dry, and thought there was some road crack from the frost heaves, it wasn't bad. About 2 miles before the turnaround, I saw our car coming from the opposite direction, and there was the family cheering me on! A huge boost as I gave them my best Lance Armstrong 7th tour victory arm pump (no one around to give "the look" to)! At the turnaround, I scarfed down a Powerbar Gel and started pushing it. Got passed by a few guys, a few of the very fast womenfolk, but mostly held my own and cruised in on the hilly 25K course.
Time: 47:11, 28th OA, (last year- 50:49)
T2: Fast in and out, no worries- saw my wife and kids and gave them the high sign as they cheered me out of the chute. Another great lift to have them come and watch...!
Run: Feeling alittle slow as I headed down the hill to the XC course and the 5K run, but I knew last year's run was bad, so I just got my heart rate down and ran. Hit a huge puddle that was knee deep and about 30 yards long, and that was the precursor for the wild run. There was mud. There were rocks. There were uphills with streams of water, and downhills with wet rocks. It was an adventure! But, I maintained good HR and paced myself. By the end, I had been flirting with the red line too long and had no kick and got passed by another guy in my AG, but other than that, I felt good.
Time: 27:24, 67 OA (Last year- 32:18 in good conditions!)
Final: 1:32:11, 26th OA, 6th AG, and almost 10 minutes faster than last years race!
More to come as I mull over the race!
1 comment:
Nice work! You really improved over your previous time. So when you say XC run do you mean like a trail run? That sounds like an interesting hybrid of traditional tri and Xterra.
When's the next race? I just did my last tri of the season and am going to start training for a December marathon in the next couple of weeks.
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