Stayed at the in-laws the night before which was about an hour and a half away from the event. Woke up that morning around 4AM and it was raining pretty good, uggggg. I had to battle the demons in my head that were telling me how easy it would be to go back to bed and forget it. Woke ann up and we got ready for the drive in the rain and dark. Brought oatmeal with us to eat in the car since the race didn't start until 8:45 for myself and a little after 9 for Ann. Left the house at a little after 5:30.
Got to the As we got closer, the rain ended....Horray! Got to the site and registered, got our numbers and proceeded to try and find a spot for our bikes. People were using way too much space to rack their bikes bt we were able to find a spot across from each other. We proceeded to get ready first me helping Ann get into her wetsuit and then vise verse. AsI put my suit tore around my forearm! NOT GOOD! It was about a 2 inch tear. I hoped it would last through the race. I haven't been too happy with this suit but I'll save that report for another time. We walked about 1/4 mile down to the start and did some warmups in the water.
Race start:
Swim - There was about 68 entries for the long course and 3 waves. I was in wave 2. The horn went off and I was off! I had a game plan this time.....don't go too hard out, stay a little to the outside to avoid contact. I had very little contact, maybe one or two people at first. The first buoy came up pretty fast. As I rounded the buoy my siting was off because the next buoy was at the next corner. They REALLY needed more buoys! I started to go too wide and at one point I stopped to see where I was and I went off course a good 75 feet or so too wide which wasted time. Got back on track,rounded the second buoy and sited for shore. they did have one of those huge, tall yellow blown men with arms at shore which made it much easier to site. I got seemed like I was making time and the next thing I knew my hand hit sand. As I stood up I looked at the watch, a tad over 20 min. Damn! If I didn't go off course I could have came in under 20 which for me would have been good! The run up to T1 was muddy and slippery. Time: 20:26
T1 - Had what I thought was a decent T1 time. Got a little fuzzy with getting the helmet on but overall went well. Time 1:48
Bike - Here's where I thought I would do quite well. The Bike is my strongest of the three events ( again, not saying much...LOL!) The game plan was to go easy the first 8 miles or so because there was a good headwind out of the NorthEast. I took off and for whatever reason couldn't get my dang foot into the shoe! At one point I started to slow down and I had to peddle only to have the shoe hit the pavement. I almost had to stop but recovered and went on. I was right....STRONG headwind. I hunkered down and when I looked at the speedo it read 17MPH a lot. I had some people pass me but not many. As I rounded pass mile 8 I felt it change to a cross wind. Around mile 11 I got the tail wind and took off! Over the next 5 to 8 miles I was well over 20MPH and often in the 24 to 26 range. Hydration was going well taking in fluids when needed. Around mile 22 the roads turned to complete CRAP! Potholes, seems with tar coming out, even a dead porcupine in one of the potholes! I thought I flatted twice during this 4 mile stretch but thankfully I didn't. As I got closer to town the traffic got bad. About a 1/2 mile to 1 mile out the police had traffic stopped and you had to ride i the bike lane and couldn't pass anyone. Came into transition and looked at the speedo. I think it read about 18.5 average. Time per event said like 17.9. Total bike time 1:30:12
T2 - Pretty good T2. Racked the bike, at down to put shoes on. Had a little problem loading gels in the back pocket. Time 1:51
Run - I was hoping I didn't go too hard on the bike and blow my run up. Starting out I felt pretty good but quickly notices my lower quads were cramping up a bit. I had a goal of keeping my pace at about a 9:30 mile or less. Around mile 1 I met up with Ann. I stopped for a couple seconds to wish herluck and ask how her IT band was feeling. We kisses and as I strted to run off someone from behind joked "None of that on the course now!" We laughed and I yelled back "I have no clue who she is, I just met her!" That got some laughs.....The quad cramps were holding in check but I still needed to be careful. The course was motly paved but there was a small stretch of city sidewalk with recessed driveways and curb you had to watch out for. Seemed like the turnaround took forever! Trying to be proactive I sucked down a gel packet at the turnaround to prevent a bonk. Around mile 5.5 my heel started to feel "hot" or maybe like I had a blister forming. I stopped and took my how off which helped. Finally saw the finish line and there was Ann video taping me as I came in! Time: 59:41, pace 9:37
I had two sets of goals.....My pie in the sky time (around 2:35 and the "I really suck" time that I wanted to be under 2:58). I finished in 2:53:55 so no, not great but stil 4+ minutes under my bottom threshold. For my first long course race I will take it! Ann had a good race too finishing in 2:01:16! I NEEDED this race badly. I had 2 so-so sprint races this year and one good one. I needed to do a long course to see where I am and to know what I need to do for next year as I shoot for a HIM. I NEEDED to have agood race to finish off the year on a high note and I think I accomplished that.
Chris
