Avalon Islandman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Started at the beginning this time, after Philly Tri weekend before...felt confident going in...had to run like 15 feet to the water, and while running to the ocean, ruptured my Planter Fasciatis...Burning sensation on my heel...Was going to pull out of race and turned for a second, and all I saw was white caps flying towards me...decided to swim...

Water was cold- couldn't imagine without a wetsuit...cold water actually numbed my left heel....never did an ocean swim- schuylill much cleaner...tough fighting the waves...did pretty well up until the first buoy...cut that well, then was awful...didn't navigate the current, and swam way more than I had to...was probably 30 yards away when I rounded second buoy...at one point lifeguards came up to me and told me I had to swim the other way because I kept going off course...

I concentrated on just keeping pace instead of sighting...I sighted the buoy, then took 10-15 strokes, then was still off course- I had a decent stroke, but swam way longer than I had to...I have to sight much better..also got a little flustered in the water...I need to take 3 strides, and practice sighting and swimming...practice in the pool, but nothing like open water with people around you...I tried cheating past few weeks and following another swimmer, only to realize they were clueless...I only practiced breathing left- and the course went right...I have to pratice breathing to right in the pool or bilateral breathing...I had plenty of energy and endurance, I just underestimated swimming the ocean and swam an awful route..I gotta practice sighting better- and instead of just gunning- make sure I know where the heck I am at all times...

Tough part on this was I destroyed my foot-couldn't apply any pressure on my left foot- hobbled 1/4 mile in the sand to my bike...

what are you gonna do? ruptured my left foot- can't prepare for that...

In many ways this course was really tough because it was so tight...Originally I thought "12 miles in Avalon- simple, and it's all flat"..in many ways this was tougher tha Philly Tri...every turn is a 90 degree turn- so you try to get some speed up, but the turns are so damn tight, and you have some novice riders..Kept a good pace and was gonna turn it up, but on Bayberry, saw a "pro triathlon" guy who missed the turn hit the curb and had a brace on his neck and was being taken on a stretcher into an ambulance...the turns were real tight that you really ahd to navigte through traffic to pass people, and didn't feel that comfortable doing so just yet....Rather than be "first to the emergency room" I decided to bike at comfortable speeds, especially on turns, considering I already had one injury to deal with...

again, I was hurt but the bike actually made my foot feel better since it stretched it out...gotta learn how to really navigate turns and join up with a riding group...almost 18 mph- pretty good all things considering with an entry level bike and second race...

My foot was in som pain so running in running shoes didn't help, but the transition are was right there...I was a little tired, but the hammer energy gel helped...

I gotta have energy gels taped to the bike....the gels give me a shot at the end- After getting hurt, I knew my times would be awful so I just concentrated on trying to finish...

This was the most painful race I've ever done- my foot was in extreme pain after I put my shoes on, and I couldn't put any weight on my left heel...So I had to basically do a modified "skip"...Nothing like wearing spandex head to toe and skipping on the beach...The pain was pretty brutal, so I just got myself though it my making real small goals along the way, and since I was going at a snails pace, just really putting myself through mental exercises until I came close to the finish...11:36 miles is absolutely brutal...I stopped a few times and tried to stretch my foot out but the pain was easily a 10 on a 1-10 scale..but in probably one of the absolute coolest moments of my life was the finish...I was gritting my teeth and the whole finish line, filled with families and a bunch of racers who already finished were cheering me on yelling things like "Cmon 5-9- you got this far, almost there"...There were tons of people yelling my bib number and yelling encouraging things- that was really cool...what a great sport!...I was able to cross the finish, then heard a huge applause when I crossed...Still get chills thinking about it...By the reaction, you would have thought I finished 1st instead of 315/342...

Not get hurt...It was pretty stupid to try and tough out that run, but the positive I take was I really got good at the "mental" side of this sport, and the discipline it takes...All the really good guys in these races have laser focus...

after I crossed the finish line, I pretty much went right to the medics golf cart, ripped off my shoe and had to ice it down for 20 minutes...It was burning up...Still would be mad at myself if I didn't tough it out, so I guess I'm glad I did it...Great professional setup! banana's orange slices, apples, water- it was great...then at the end, they had pizza, hotdogs, chips etc...


my foot was fried...I'll be back and have a great 2010 race


Great race!! Cool activities!! ran with my friends Karl and Tara- just awesome to see them both do so well...Tara placed third in her age group!!! Tim Kerr was a class act!! Lots of great goodies...I should have stuck around longer and really enjoyed it, but with a 8 month pregnant wife and my foot, I just wanted to get in the car and get back...Next year: make arrangements to stay down and enjoy the whole day and evening...