Ah, August 8, 2021 in Webster, Mass. was a long time ago, but failing to take time to grieve prevents one from letting go. Among the good, bad and the ugly, this was bad and ugly. So it will be short!
Great to travel with Kevin Carlsten. Highlight of the weekend was dinner (outdoors on a beach) and my sitting in with a guitar player (since I had my sax with me, having gotten it repaired on the way to the race site).
The 1.2 mile swim was solid. Seeded myself for 40 minutes, finished faster. Legs cramped on the way out of the water, but didn’t fall. Improvement!
Bike started strong, but a cop directed me to take a wrong turn, so I rode 2 miles extra including a thrilling downhill until turning around only when I got to a 5-way intersection with no signs and no volunteers — and there was my downfall: I thought if I pushed hard, i could make up for that 6 minute difference (no, dummy, it’s 12 minutes). I should have given up on “THE PODIUM” and just stuck with Coach Steve’s plan of averaging 190 watts. So tried to go fast and ultimately tanked on the bike; Kevin (doing the Olympic distance and starting 20 minutes after me) passes before I finish the first loop; I get off the bike and I’m toast before starting the run.
And the run! The course consists of out and back, but ducking into three or four neighborhoods off the side, in and out EACH TIME you pass the entrance. I am starting okay, but by mile 4 have slowed down, and towards the end a volunteer says “only 1 mile to go!” And my Garmin says I’ve only run 9.5 on a 13.1 mile run. I am about to give up, but I’ve sacrificed a week of vacation with Rachel for this race, I am not going to get a DNF (did not finish). So I turn around, go in and out of the nearest loop, and finish (and because I didn’t pass all the timing mats, the race director asked me to confirm that my Garmin said “13 miles” for the run).
Swim: 38:40 (2:00 min/100m); T1: 2:43; Bike: 3:21 (16.7 mph); T2: 2:10; Run: 2:18:02 (10:33 min/mile), final time: 6:22:35. Oy, vey. 5 out of 8 for AG, 63/ __ male, 84/138 OA.
So, this was just a terrible experience all around, with terrible results and painful, as well. But the weather was wonderful! What’s not to like?