Even though I set the alarm for 5:15am, I didn't need it. I was pretty excited. I had gotten to bed about 10:00pm the night before so I had a good seven hours sleep when I awoke at 5:00am. I know to many this seems quite early but since I get up at 4:50am most weekday mornings, this is like sleeping in! I had packed most of my stuff the night before so I was able to calmly get everything together without waking up anyone else in my family.
I arrived at ACAC around 6:50 so I had plenty of time to get a good spot in transition, lay out my stuff and do the last minute checks. There was a lot of excitement in the air since nearly a third of the participants were doing a triathlon for the first time. The air was chilly, about 50F, but it looked clear and should warm up quickly, but probably not quickly enough! I knew the bike was going to be cold, especially since I was going to be in a wet tri-suit.
Next, I went to the pool to get a warm-up lap or two. I started to put my goggles on and then the strap broke! Just what I didn't need. Luckily, I had another pair in my bag, which was next to the bike, out in the cold and warm-ups were ending in five minutes. I grabbed my spare pair of goggles and returned just in time to hear the start of the race. Since this was a pool swim with individual staggered start with a swimmer leaving every fifteen seconds, I still had a little over ten minutes before my start. Finally it was my turn. For all the previous swimmers before me, the starter counted down "3-2-1 GO!", however, for my turn she just said "Go!" I didn't hear her clearly and asked, "Do I go now!" and she said "Yes!". Not a way to start the race.
I started out relatively fast but then got into a good groove and by the second lap, I had caught the person in front of me. I touched their feet, the signal to move over at the end of the lane, but he didn't! By the end of the third lap, the person behind me had caught up with me, and here I was stuck behind this guy. Note to self: Put in a faster swim seed time! Finally I got around him on the last length and let the person behind me go in front and stayed right behind her. I think my swim time was around 6:30, but I don't know for sure. I will need to check the results. Overall, I thought I had a pretty good swim.
I ran to the transition, which was a loooong way! and it was cold! I got to my bike and started to put my sunglasses on only to find that they had fogged up! Just what I needed, something else to slow me down! I wiped them off, put my helmet and cycling shoes on and then debated on whether or not to put on my cycling jacket. It was still cold (about 54F now) and I was wet but I decided not to. I ran the bike to the mount area got on and yes it was cold but not too bad. I got into a good rhythm since the first part of the course is relatively flat and then hit the downhill on Rt 711. Once I hit the small turnaround at Robius landing park and started to go uphill, I slowed much more than I expected. And this was only a small prelude of what was to come later! Finally, I took the left turn onto Winterfield Rd and the real hill hit. Unfortunately, my power to weight ratio is not that good. I'm pretty good on flats and can keep up with most but hills are hard on someone who weighs over 215lbs! However, I was able to keep spinning and even pass a few folks on the hill (and to be passed by those slim guys and gals who make it all look easy!) Also, I was no longer cold! I crested the hill, turned onto Salisbury and was able to maintain a pretty good tuck and average speed the rest of the way. I don't know what my time was but I think my average was just under 20mph.
T2 was somewhat quick. I was able to changed into my running gear with no major delays. As always, the start of the run is the hardest, both physically and mentally! To me it's more mental. On the bike you are going pretty fast, say around 18-24 mph and then you get to the run, where, if you are good, you are going 10mph! For me, it's closer to 6.5mph. I was really dreading the run, especially after what happened at the Sandman Tri. However, after about a half-mile, I was feeling pretty good. I even started to push it some. Yes, I had a lot of people pass me but these folks were often much younger and thinner. I did have someone in my age bracket pass me around the one-mile marker. I met him at the Tavern tri where I passed him on the bike only to be passed by him on the run. Here, he started the race about 1:30 before me so I knew if I could keep him in sight, I would still be ahead. This was my motivation! Also, I was feeling pretty strong. So I let him get about fifteen seconds ahead of me and then I just tried to stay at his paced for as long as I could. I knew he was generally a faster runner then me but I figured it was worth the effort. After about another half-mile, he hadn't pulled away that much. At the two-mile mark, he was maybe twenty to twenty-five seconds ahead. I finally turned into the finished line and was able to finish strong, about thirty seconds behind the other guy, which meant my time was about a minute faster. I finished in just under 1hr16min!
This was, by far, my best triathlon this year and a fitting end to the start of my return to triathlons. I'm excited about next year with the hope of competing in more international (Olympic) distance triathlons. Eventually, I would like to compete in a half-ironman in 2010 or 2011.
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