Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon Series - TriathlonSprint

The swimmers were seeded according to bib number. I was 574 out of about 650. They released the swimmers every 2 seconds. The cool thing was they said that if your ability is greater or lesser than your bib number then you can self seed. I watched the swimmers go and around bib 200 I started to notice the swimmers looked like I thought I looked. I pondered the thought of going but thought that might be a little arrogant. By the time bib 250ish were going I noticed one person breast stroking and another swimming head up with about 50 strokes per second. I said to myself, I need to go now or I'll be swimming all over people. So I lined up and went about 275-300ish. I had warmed up in the water prior which was a great idea so I knew what to expect running down the platform. So I was waved to go and off I went. I walked down the ramp and walked to the water was deep enough to swim...none of that run and fall down stuff so many people were doing. I thought I would try to be in control and pace myself and 5 extra seconds to get swimming wouldn't kill me. So I started to the left clear of people and began to freestyle. My breathing felt great, I was stretching and controlling my pace!!! I thought at that point that I mentally was doing a good job. About 100 yards into it I started to run into people... OH MY GOD, I was going to pass people!!! I was pretty excited. So I passed a few people with little problem and then came the first buoy....My sighting was excellent at this point and I narrowed in very well...But, with cutting the buoy line tight I started to run into many more people. This time 3-4 people were in front of me and I had to figure out how to get around them. I went around to the left to avoid more traffic. Here is were my mental pace started to fail some...not completely. I loved passing 3 people at once and could see only about 3 lengths ahead of me I could pass more. So I slowly picked people off and accidentally went down the middle of two and had some good ole fashion body contact...ok alot of contact. I swam through it and approached the next buoy!! Whew, rounded that baby and was looking for the shore. The sun was glaring off the water and I couldn't see the finish line... darn!!! I could see the lifeguards on the right and lots of people ahead, so I trusted that I was going in the right direction. I hit lots of traffic on the last 1/3...some of which I had to look and figure out how to best pass them. That type of activity really slowed me down. Then I'd have to attack to get around them. I finally could see shore through the glare and swam until I could feel the bottom with my hands. That worked pretty well, but lots of people were stopping and walking...kinda annoying actually....But I exited the water and looked at my watch and saw 13 minutes....YIPPY, that was right in the middle of my 12-14 expectation!! I was very happy. So I ran to T1 where I figured out I had swam much harder than I thought. I put on the Garmin and the HR was 162...oops....I didn't do that so well.

Next time I'll try to seed myself with faster swimmers. Maybe if I'd gone with the 200s I'd have a better time of swimming and not having a lot of traffic. But the experience of traffic was fun! My time would have been much better if I could have get more of a steady rhythm.

I rolled up the sox and at that point noticed my balance was a bit off and I was winded. OH NO I thought...did I screw up? I put my shoes on and had some difficulty standing on one leg...I was a little wobbly...This caught me off guard. Finally got the shoes on and then the garmin, shirt, helmet and glasses. I left the T1 a little off kilter.

I would practice more on T1. Pace myself on the swim maybe so I wan't so jacked up... dunno maybe thats just the way it's gunna be.

Wow, I had an absolute nightmare trying to get my left foot clipped in. I'll bet I went 30 seconds trying to clip that damn thing in. I was getting really frustrated. But, I think the root cause was that I was jacked up on adrenalin and maybe overdid the swim a bit - or just trying to rush too fast. Anyhow, after the clip it's uphill for a couple blocks then a right turn and through the park. The park has some nice hills where I was reduced to about 12mph. Then comes the sharp 130 degree turn that you have to be careful of because it's downhill. Lots of people crash and burn here. I managed it well, maybe a little slower than I'd liked. Got through the park and noticed I was running HR 170+, wow I thought....This isn't normal for me. So up the harder climbs towards the 1/2 way point. UGH..the last hill reduced me to 7mph....my slowest ever on that hill. It was then that I know I was pushing myself to the limit. I got passed the 1/2 way point and went as fast as I could down the downhill parts. I hit 34 mph on one. I didn't really rest my legs until the very end. I pushed hard and my reward was passing a lot of people!! That was so fun to pass people and say "on your left"!!!! I had my share of people passing me too!!! I entered the park and thought I needed to slow down and try and conserve some portion of my legs for the run. I didn't attack the park hills quite as hard and the last down hill I let the legs rest. My HR was high the entire time! I did stay on the drops most the times with the exception of the hills that nearly killed me!! haha

I will practice clipping in more consistently and quickly...need lots of this. This killed 30 seconds easy and I was pissed! I need to drink more on the bike...I didn't want to lose speed so I drank about 4 oz total. Maybe the speedflo is key???? When I rode this with my friend the week prior we somehow got the time all screwed up because I rode it at 17mph and there is no way I rode it slower during the race....so the time must have been wrong on the practice ride!!!! That really screwed with my head afterwards....I was disappointed at first...Now I'm okay with 16.8mph...given the difficulty of the course for me.

My legs felt like shit!!! The bike run was not fun and I had to run almost the furthest to the rack...the run was slow. I was really shaky at T2 and took way to freaking long. But, I did take a few moments to grab 18 long stem roses for my wife and give them to her with a kiss as I ran by!!! So, I guess that took some time.. haha. Getting my running shoes on was a real chore...I was not very balanced trying to stand.

I will learn how to use multisport feature on my garmin..no time to change things. I will also get some elastic laces so I don't have to tie my shoes...that was no fun! I also need to practice more...practice, practice, practice!!

The general theme so far is my HR is way too high...The run was on max tilt!!! The start going uphill took everything I had not to walk. I had to HTFU big time to make it...I think that was the 182 HR section. I really struggled with the run...the whole time. For me, my pace was slow, but not terrribly slow. I was passed by so so so many people... This was a disadvantage to starting the swim early..haha I think I only passed about 5 people and they were walking...that sucked!!! That was a strong dose of you must work on your run because you SUCK!!! I didn't let it discourage me too much and I just kept concentrating on running....however slow it became. I'm extremely happy to say I did NOT STOP once!!!!!! That was a proud moment for me...I was very fatigued at this point.

Train, Train, Train. Build more mileage foundation and do more bricks!! Run hills, run more hills and learn how to drink some water.

Overall 1:28:53. I am very pleased with this time overall. When I initially started training under 2 hours was my goal. As I got closer I thought it would be so cool to complete it under 1:30... So, I accomplished my goal. But, I need to train more, harder and smarter to get better.


I'M A TRIATHLETE NOW!!!! I LOTS 64 POUNDS TRAINING AND I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!