Triple T Race #1

This ended up being a much longer day than it needed to be. We left Nashville around 8-8:30 that morning en route to BFE Ohio. But first, I received the scenic tour of Kentucky bluegrass. Well that was about all there was to look at because there was NOTHING out there until we hit Lexington. A few wrong turns later, we entered Ohio. It was even more depressing. I think reality began to set in around 2 pm because Jess suddenly found me quiet.

We finally rolled into the race site around 3 pm and began to look at the weekend ahead. I got registered and found my rack. The vibe was definitely different than most races. I didn't detect the nervous tension in the air and people were just chillin. So I was set. #145 for the weekend. We actually parked next to Martin Cole #144 so we instantly became friends.

The weather was overcast upon arrival, temperatures were a modest 70 degrees. About an hour before the start, I started moving around only to find that my glutes had a deep cramp from sitting in the car all day. I tried to work it out but nothing seemed to work. Fortunately the race was going to be short. To make matters worse, it began to rain about 15 minutes before the race start.

I had to make 2 key decisions before the race. 1) Should I wear a wetsuit. The water was COLD. The race director announced 56 degrees. But I knew it was only a 250m swim that would take me less than 5 minutes. Thats hard to justify wearing a wetsuit. Regardless, I wore it. 2) Should I wear socks on the run? Was one mile going to bother my feet? Tough to say but I erred on the side of caution. So I grabbed my wetsuit, popped a gel and made my way to the swim start.

All the race starts were time trial. You lined up according to your race number and participants started every three seconds.

Swim:
250m. Not much to say here. The water wasn't deep so the first 10-20m were spent trying wade to deeper water. Only I plunge my face in the water I was off. The only problem was that my right goggle never sealed so I had that constant irritation. Due to the short swim and a time trial start, the whole swim was one big draft. I instantly passed about 10 people. My goal was to swim nearly as hard as I could. I could go all out for a few minutes. The final 10m were spent wading too. As you exited the water you had about a 100 foot run into transition.

T1:
I got out of the wetsuit relatively quickly. I found my gear and got moving. I didn't rush it but kept things moving.

Bike:
Ugh. 5 mile gut buster. The first turn took you downhill to a quick turnaround before heading back past transition. Due to the wet roads and crowded nature, I wasn't going to push it on the bike. The climb started at mile 2. It was enough to get you out of your saddle. You hit a cul de sac at the top of the hill and came back down. The downhill was enough to make you feel a bit squirrelly with the conditions. I kindly let people pass me. I managed to get my feet out of the shoes and had a good run with my bike back into the transition.

T2:
I took an extra moment to put on my socks and get myself situated.

Run:
My goal was to not kill it. Half a mile out on a grassy field and dirt road and back. I kept a comfortable pace and was amazed at how strong some of the runners were. Maybe I should have picked it up a bit but I couldn't rationalize saving 20s over the course of the weekend.

Post race: I grabbed a bottle of water and just chilled. I wasn't winded but felt like I did a solid 30 minutes worth of intensity training. First one in the books!!









Freaking Gordo!!!!

	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
Average Time	0:05:59	1:25:08	0:13:17	0:49:24	0:07:11	0:28:38
Best Time	0:04:13	0:00:29	0:10:01	0:00:21	0:05:25	0:20:56
My Time	0:05:46	1:05	0:13:22	0:53	0:07:30	0:28:36
Rank	131	94	160	190	204	149