|
|
MastrBrewr
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
|
|
|
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
Posts: 6974
Location: outside
|
| Back to top
|
|
 Posted: 10/08/06 - 21:25 Post subject: Pinehurst Triathlon
Swim: 1.5 K
Bike: 40 K
Run: 10 K
This was my motivator for getting into shape after many, many weeks of no activity for work-related reasons. I wanted to do at least one tri this year. My goal was to finish and have fun and try to remember why I like tris in the first place. If I could do it in under 3 hours, then cool beans.
Fri: Left home after work w/ Ang and drove the 1 hour south to Southern Pines to the motel. Found a sixer of my favorite beer and had my ceremonial 2 beers with my Subway sub. By the way, I'm a nervous wreck because I barely rode on the last 2 weeks, I barely swam the last month or so, but I felt good about my running. Real good.
Race day
5:45 AM - Wake up, get dresssed, try not to puke from nervousness.
6:00 AM - Get Ang up, pack up the truck. Try not to puke.
6:15 AM - Head out to the race site. 2 bites of a Powerbar. Try not to puke.
6:30 AM - Park, unload, 1 more bite of Powerbar. Throw up in my mouth a little, wash it down with some water. 
6:45 AM - Begin setting up transition, pick up my race packet, get marked, strap on my chip, yadda, yadda, yadda.
-- Oh yeah, it's in the upper 40s, rain is forecast all day with highs in the 50s. This is gonna be one real uncomfortable day. --
I make sure to visit the "transition zero" area (port-o-john) and then go for a nice little 1 mile warm up.
8:00 AM - The elite wave goes. I'm in wave 5 (~8:15 AM start). I get into the water. 72 degree lake temp. A few brave sould race without wetsuits. The swim is actually the warmest part of the day.
8:15 - We go. It's a running start on the beach. I just walk in and start swimming. Nothing eventful about the swim. It's always the reason I'm almost sick before a race. The last time I did this one, I had a good swim for me. Today would turn out no different. I really didn't try to force anything, just tried to go out and have an enjoyable swim. I even got to pay attention to some of the shoreline. Even passed a few to the guys in my wave and the really slow dudes in the previous wave. Came out of the water in 34 minutes and wasn't really worn out, so I'm real happy with that.
T1 - Peeled of the wetsuit, put on my cycling shoes, long sleeve jersey and quick shot of gel, I'm off.
Bike - Took a long, long time to get my cycling legs. And I had to pee again. I knew my bike training wasn't good, but I figured I'd at least feel better, but no deal. I figured I'd try and push it as mush as I can without straining anything. At mile 20 my bladder was causing me some serious pain so I pulled over and watered some of the local flora. Man, that's a lot better. Back on the bike I actually was able to hammer a little bit and started picking people of on the hills the last 8 miles. (I live where there's a lot of hills, so I actually like climbing now).
T2 - shoes off, jersey off, short-sleeve shirt on, running socks & shoes on. More gel.
Run - Holy crap my shins were tight as hell at first. But I was real happy with my running lately, so I knew if I just kept going, then I'd get my legs in another mile or so. Mile 2 was better, a few hills, which I like. Mile 3 - Oh I'm feeling it now, even passing people that were starting to cramp. (Side note - A LOT of people cramped up. I think they might've not drank as much because of the weather. I was really spot on in my nutrition strategy this race.) Mile 4 was easily my quickest mile, probably in the low 8 minute range. Miles 5 - 6 went by pretty good. I was looking foward to the signature red beans and rice at the finish line and reflected back at how much I LOVE running tri. Crossed the finish line and gave Ang a hug and made a bee-line for the food. As soon as I started streching, my hammys cramped up something fierce, so I guess I pushed as hard as I could given my fitness.
Stats w/ times from the first race here in 2004 in parentheses
Swim: 35:12, 30th of 38 (30:57 in 2004)
T1: 2:44 (2:39)
Bike: 1:25:39, 30th of 38 (1:18:41)
T2: 2:13 (1:11)
Run: 53:22, 30th of 38 (57:21)
Overall: 2:59:07 (2:50:46)
Wow. Knocked almost 4 minutes of my run time. I guess hill repeats work afterall. I didn't set the world on fire, but I had fun and got the tri bug again. I'm thinking I'll work on my base for the next couple of months, then get ready for the White Lake Half Ironman in May (or Powerman in April).
|
