Great Buckeye Challenge - Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Just for the record, I hate swimming. Didn't learn to swim till I was 40.

This was my 17th tri and my FIRST swimming Clockwise, so all the bouys are on my right. I breathe/look to the left, (not talented enough to do bilateral) so I wondered how it would go. Answer - not too bad. I had a fear of swimming headlong into a bouy and giving the spectators on shore a laugh. Fortunately that did not happen. Although if I had, I don't know if I would have been going fast enough for anyone to notice.

Note to self. Beware of following swimmers who resort to the breast stroke while sighting. They kick hard.

Swim time includes a long walk uphill to T1. Didn't want to waste energy or spike my heart rate running, so I walked, but I tried to have a concerned look on my face so it would seem to onlookers I was going faster than I actually was.

Still hate swimming.

Be a fish

Got out of the wetsuit pretty quickly. This use to be the bane of my T1's till I cut an inch or so of the ankles and starting using pam in addition to BG.

BTW, one silver lining of being a slow swimmer in the very last wave...it makes it very easy to find your bike in the transition area.

Zip.

Wanted to keep a medium effort or lower. No hammering allowed. Didn't want to use up my legs yet. Kept telling myself "the bike is just a warm up for the run."

Very pictuesque countryside. Made for a nice Sunday bike ride.

My goal was a negative split. I ended up at 19.3 mph 1st loop, and 19.6 mph 2nd loop, so I was pleased with that.

Not a Goal, but still fun - passing a lot of people. (This is more of a reflection of my being a slow swimmer in the last wave than my fast biking.)



Nada.

Flying dismount. (I love those).

Went one rack too far at first. Wondered why none my gear was there. Then saw the problem. Moved. Racked the bike, removed the helmet, put on shoes, bolted.

Age group rank on T2. #1 woo hoo!

Duh. Go to the correct rack first.

Legs felt pretty good coming off the bike. The nice thing about an out-and-back course is you get to see a lot more runners. Lots of friendly encouragement going on.

My run goals were (A) a sub 8-minute mile (which I achieved) and (B) a negative split, which didn't happen. (2nd lap was about 35 seconds slower than the 2nd). But I was pleased enough with my overall pace, that I'll let myself slide on the whole negative-split thing. :-)

Had a flask of Hammer Gel. 3 swigs w/ water during the race. Took a couple sips of water at every aid station.

Even though I come from a marathon background, it was still a tough mental run. The older I get, the longer 13.1 miles seems.

I never looked at my overall time until I made the final turn to the finish line. When I finally looked, my watch showed 5:26 and change. (My HIM PR was a 5:34:11 I did when I was 47.)

DANG! This geezer's not getting older, he's getting faster! That added wings to my feet the last 100 yards or so. (at least it seemed that way)

Nil

Grabbed some cold water. Went straight to my car, mixed my recovery drink and sucked it down. (My recovery drink is a secret formula of my own making - I could tell you what it is, but then I'd have to kill you.)

Loaded up my gear. Went to the outdoor showers and washed the lake cooties out of my hair, and the grit off my body. Felt a LOT better.

Already getting stiff. ("Mommy, why is that man walking crooked?") HIM's at my age are starting to hurt.

Drove home to a hero's welcome. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


The whole "untalented short old guy with bow legs and flat feet" is always on the table. But overall I was happy with my training and my race management. (As Hannibal says, "I love it when a plan comes together.")

Setting a PR at age 50 is satisfying. I just don't recover as quickly as I used to.


HFP ran another fine race.
The weather conditions were AWESOME. 60's, overcast, very little wind. low humidity...IN AUGUST!