Cape Henlopen Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

the water was warmer than the air, but it was also very rough. our wave got lucky and had 30 seconds of calmer water to get out, but the people in the first wave were getting slammed. once we got out there, i had no problems and had one of my best swims.

nothing.

i used new bike shoes which are easier to put on, but i still felt slow.

the first few miles were into a headwind and i was pushing really hard, but only going ~13mph. the wind was bad, but not that bad. finally about mile 3 i realized that my front brake was rubbing. i knew it was an issue, but i thought i fixed it in the transition area before the race. i reached down and slid the brake over. immediately i went up to ~16mph. still nothing great, but i'll take it.
once we turned away from the headwind i settled in and finally started feeling stronger. the final few miles were in the mid 20's which makes the average look a lot better than it felt like.

i feel like i haven't been on a hard ride in a while and i'm not in sprinting shape on the bike. i'm happy with my overall speed, but i had to work pretty hard for it and in a longer race, it might have cost me.

no problems.

running has been my strong point lately and i was ready to push it. my friend tim (konichiwa) as usual was still out ahead of me and i was ready to chase him down. it has taken me longer and longer to catch him every race and i have been waiting for the day i couldn't do it. generally i can pull him back some on the bike, but today's bike cost me time and i had some real work to do.
i ate a gu and drank some water at the end of the bike so i could push the whole run without using the aid stations. i had a fast pace going, but started losing faith when i didn;t even see him at the first turn around. when i saw him eat the second turn, he told me i was 1:30 back. i kept pushing, but with only a mile to go, it would be tough. as we came around the final turn, he saw me coming and had enough to sprint it out to hold me off by :07 seconds. great race.
i like out and back courses. it's cool to get to see your friends. i got to see k and ron and they looked as good as i've ever seen them run.

move the finish line back 200 yards. haha. nothing really. had a great run and tim deserved it. he beat me in every stage of the race except the run.

had some water and cheered on k, ron, mario, and other racers as they came in.


already being in the off season mentally.


pretty good race. great location and well organized.
then again, they screwed up the transition area again. it's not rocket science. the bike entrance and exit are not supposed to be at the same end. if you put them at opposite ends, everyone has to carry their bike the same distance.
also, they closed down the transition aread half way through the poest race awards so we had to leave to get our bikes, but other than that it was fine.
not a big deal though. those are really just pet peeves of mine.