Run
Comments: I went out rather good, but after about a 1/2 mile into it I could tell I hadn't had any warm up. Overall though I was feeling pretty good and felt like I had a pretty good pace going. After the turn around I do a sprint up the hill along with two other pick up runs after that before I get to the transition area. My first race in my new Zoot running shoes and so far I like them a lot. After seeing my 7:21 pace I'm quite happy with those results. What would you do differently?: Would have liked to have my legs a bit more ready to go, but considering the weather condtions, it just wasn't going to happen. Transition 1
Comments: I had thoughts before hand of having shoes clipped into my pedals like the big shots do, but after experimenting with it some on a practice day I scratched that idea. Maybe with a bit more practice I'll get the hang of it, but for now I'll run some with my cycling shoes on. What would you do differently?: nothing Bike
Comments: The rain is starting to pick up again once out on the bike. As we head out from transition and make our way through town we are met with a strong SE wind. Makes it a bit rough on the out especially when throwing in the rolling hills. I finally get a nice tailwind as I'm about a mile out from the turn around. The bad part is the rain has picked up quite a bit. I make the turn and head back and am met with pelting rain. For the next 3-4 miles the rain does not let up. Fortunately, I get a tail wind quickly, but it made for some hard times trying to see and some very slick road conditions. The long course was to be a 19 mile ride and I was hoping to be around the 18.5-19.0 mph mark, so considering the extra hills and the wind and rain I was very happy with a 19.6 average. What would you do differently?: nothing Transition 2
Comments: Everything was so heavy and wet it made things difficult. Had a bit of a time dismounting off the bike as I my legs were feeling a bit wobbly. I clopped my way with my bike to my spot with not much problem. I slung off my wet gloves and my shoes and slipped into the running shoes. Though I've always run with Yank's elastic laces the Zoots really impressed me with the ease of entry. I really like these shoes. Run
Comments: Took nearly a mile for me to feel my feet once again. Socks I was wearing kept in a lot of cold water that I had collected on the bike. The initial up climb wasn't too bad overall and it was nice bringing it home on the downhill. When I saw the results following and the 7:03 I was very pleased. I think the best I've ever run in a multisport event before was a 7:09. I tried to catch a guy ahead of me with a final sprint, but came up a second short. What would you do differently?: Would have started my kick earlier to try and catch the guy ahead of me. Post race
Warm down: Took off my wet clothes and put on some dry ones so I could do my best to warm up. What limited your ability to perform faster: Weather. Event comments: With my 'A' race of the season being the Big Creek Tri in Des Moines, IA I wanted to get a good gauge of my Olympic distance conditioning. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. I was looking to be in the 18.5-19.0 mph range on the bike and under 8:30/mile on the second run, so its tough for me to gauge just exactly where I'm at, though I was quite pleased with the outcome on a short course basis. Funny thing is I was 5/12 in my age group and though any kind of hardware at a race is a bonus had the long course not had been cancelled I would have placed in the top 3 as at least two of those ahead of me were preregistered for the short course. Definitely one of the most difficult races I've had weather wise. Overall, not a bad way to start the season. Last updated: 2009-04-26 12:00 AM
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United States
45F / 7C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 22/115
Age Group = 35-39 male
Age Group Rank = 5/12
Race was about 2 miles from my house and though transition opened up at 6:30, I didn't feel a big rush to get there as I didn't really expect an early crowd. Woke up at 6 made myself some pancakes for breakfast, checked the weather and then finished up a last couple packing items and headed to the race. As I expected, not much of an early crowd. Got a nice close parking spot and a place on the end of a bike rack to set up.
About an hour before race time the flood gates from the clouds rolling in opened up big time. Had a nice rain/downpour going for a good portion of the time leading up to the race. I had been relaxing in my truck when it started with a few sprinkles. Luckily, I thought it would be a good idea to go grab my transition bag along with my shoes and socks. All the time the rains were coming, I'm debating do I really want to do this today? COLD, WET, WIND, Yuck. Rains let up with about 15 minutes to my race. I get out of my truck and head towards the transition area pretty much ready to go. As I'm walking they announce everyone will be doing the short course. A bit dissappointing as I had signed up for the long, but with the weather the way it was I wasn't going to complain.