For a change, got a full 6 hours’ sleep. After finishing the Toughman Half three weeks ago, and about to do my 7th triathlon in two years, I at least knew that I would complete this one in a reasonable time – so jitters were relatively minimal.
Other than a lousy arrival (forgot my sippy cup so turned around 10 minutes from house; then daydreamed past highway exit – so arrived with 1 hr before transition closed instead of 1 1/2 hrs.), and a lousy T1 (didn’t practice actually going out of SWIM IN to bike, and forgot/didn’t believe I was in first row – “where the !@#$% is my bike?”), pleased with the results.
Swim felt strong, not panicked about running out of strength. Crowded, probably because of all the turns on this course (an odd geometric shape rather than a good old-fashioned triangle). Got kicked a little; need to learn how to draft. Hard to see buoys, but gratifying to catch up to other-colored swim caps (meaning, I’m passing folks who started 3 to 6 minutes ahead of me)!
On the bike, mostly kept up the 90 RPM cadence. Also glad to have two guys to chase/leap frog on the bike – one in my age group (who I had to pass), the other younger but who made nasty comment (who I wanted to pass). (“On your left,” I say; “You’ve got to be kidding” he says, and zooms ahead. Ooh, that made me mad.) Hills not too bad, but huffed and puffed most of the way – not the plan, but, oh well, it worked.
Key to run at end: “you don’t have to run harder, just pick up the RPM. Short rapid steps are fine. They’ll add up.” Wore flats. Walked at the drink stops. Passed the only guy who passed me while I drank. Passed a LOT of people.
The official results are encouraging: 0:29 on the swim (which my gps says was closer to 1.1 miles rather than 0.9 mile), 1:12 on the bike (avg 20.5 mph), 45:50 run (including a negative split – 7:38 for first 4 miles, 6:56 for the last 2), total time of 2:32:59. I guess I can say “2:32 and change….” but that’s a LOT of change.
13/68 for age group, 130/844 overall. Would have liked to podium, but I guess that’s for another day. (First place was a good 19 minutes faster – but 2nd and third were only 12 minutes ahead….) Meanwhile: 10:50 faster than last year (and would have been better if I hadn’t taken 4:30 at the swim-to-bike transition), including around 10 min faster on the bike and 3 minutes faster on the run.
I briefly ran with a guy in his 40s, who said he wanted to pace his run with me. I said, fine, you’re not in my age group. He said, “I’m only trying to beat the guy who has the same last name as me and did this race last year.” Now, THAT’S a good attitude. That particular runner left me in the dust, but I did beat the SOB he was talking about: myself. By a long shot.