Patriot Games - TriathlonSprint

We went hard out of the gate on the short run with a goal of just being up front with the leaders...we felt we didn't need to lead ths early. I think we got to the canoe's 5th. Minor issue getting launched as 2yrs ago (when we did the race) they would launch the canoe for you after you were in...this year you had to lauch yourself. Of course I get in and then they promptly tell us to launch ourselves. I try to hop up and down while brad pushes the canoe. No pretty but he eventually got us in.

Actually held our own position-wise in the canoes this year. Came out 8th and we promptly heard sissy telling us we were down somethign like 1:40 to the leading team...two guys (turns out brothers) from High Road Cycles.

Overall not bad since our last time in a canoe was this race 2yrs ago. We knocked off 0:55 from our previous time.

Launch canoe faster.

Time was included in the first segment. Nothing eventful except I decided to ditch my glasses as the water build-up on the lenses from the rain impaired visibility.

Also was funny how water accummulated in our helmets we essentially dumped water over our head to get them on.

Time includes T2.

2yrs ago we had a solid bike, the best bike split but certainly didn't put a TTT clinic for sure. We were a bit all over the place. We decided this year to take longer pulls in order to help establish a better rhythm and it seemed to work...we only gapped each other once. We went out steady, but hard, on the first loop. We knew the course well and we knew you always wanted to get into the trail section (~4mi into the loop) ahead of as many teams as possible as you can easily get stuck behind a team and passing is difficult in this section.

We put forth a large effort and came into this trail section in 2nd I believe. By the time we completed the first loop we were seeing glimples of the 1st place team and got the update from Sissy that we were down ~20s. This was great news as it meant we made up ~1:20 on the leaders on the first lap.

On loop two we catch the leaders right before the trail section. The trail section is slow and you can't really put in any time so we came out of it with them. They decided to attack on the hill that follows (one of two hills per loop). They got a small gap...maybe 5-10s. Brad and I chatted once at the top and decided we'd regroup for the next ~0.5mi and then attack after one technical section. Turns our the other team gassed themselves and one guy was hurting bad. We made the decision to go early and we gapped them instantly.

Just after the technical/windy section (most technical b/c it was wet), we come up on a team on loop 1. The one woman was in the middle of the road..i hesitated on which side to pass and in doing so hit a large pothole with both wheels. Instant flat on rear. I let out the largest f-bomb possible (for which I still feel guilty about). As I was slowing down and getting ready to go all NASCAR on this tire, Brad promptly reminded me that we had about 0.75mi to go and asked if I could ride it out. I gave it a shot and it was the right decision.

The uphills weren't bad but I had to brake on the downhills as it slick out and anything over 15mph and it was dicey. We got passed back quickly but the HRC team didn't have a lot left. They still managed to make up the 10-15s gap we had on them and then build a lead of ~45s out of T2.

Al in all we still managed to cut 1:32 off our bike time from 2yrs ago. Given the flat cost ~1min, we were much better this time out.

Not get a flat:)

Time included in bike split. Prob a cpl seconds slower than it had to be as we took some time to mentally regroup after the flat.

Sissy gave us a split of down ~45s as we started the run. We settled in at a solid mid/high 6 pace and closed the gap quickly...before we hit the first mile we had closed to within 5s. We gathered ourselves and then make sure we passed hard to make sure they couldn't jump on. They were cool and encouraged us as we went by. As we passed them again after the turn-around they told us to keep the effort up as last year's winner was a co-ed team who started in the 2nd wave 5min back. Good sports. Shortly thereafter we passed the co-ed team....we were 3min from the turn-around and therefore had ~6min on them. Still pressed hard as you can never be sure the waves started on time.

As we got close to the finish we actually heard sissy scream before we saw her. She's always a great jockstrapper...even when we finish MOP. It's always nice to race up front and bring her home a win. She was super excited.

Shaved 0:55 off of our time from 2yrs ago.

nada

Little bit of stretching but mostly cheering in the other teams.


Outside of the flat, I think we had a great race. I'm sure brad doing an IM two weeks earlier didn't help, but it prob didn't hurt too much either.


Super fun race. Totally chill and laid-back as its a fundrasier and you get more ppl coming out for the cause as oppose to the race. We purchased some lemonade and bought some raffle tickets before the awards ceremony. Good fun crowd...talked to a lot of other teams...everyone was super-friendly.