St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Wow! The wind was howling on race morning. Temps were cool and the waves on the beach were rough. Luckily, I started in wave 5 at 7:15 AM. The conditions got worse as the wind picked up later that morning. The last wave was not scheduled to leave until 9:05 AM.
I started about 3 deep on the outside of the pack. Once I got passed the shore, because of the rough surf, it was easy to find somewhat clean water. At that time, all I could do was find a rhythm with my stroke and the incoming waves all the way to the first turn bouy. Once passed the first turn, it was a staggered swim around all the orange(intermediate) bouys - they had moved around a bit since they were set the day before - to the next turn. After the last turn, the surf and wind were at my back and it was time to 'surf' to the swim exit.
It was a tough swim, not the distance, but the conditions that were present at the start. I am sure the decision to cancel the swim was one that the race director was contemplating. I wouldn't have blamed him.

Nada.

Ran into the biggest transition area I have ever seen. The day before, I walked the path I would take from the swim exit to my spot in the transition area. The plan had worked. I found my stuff right away.

Run out of transition barefoot and put on shoes before mounting the bike.

Got on the bike and headed out. The wind was stronger than I thought it was going to be like. I spent a good portion of the ride constantly shifting to compensate for the windy conditions. Also, I was not having a good saddle day. I kept fidgeting on the bike in search of the sweet spot on the saddle. I never found it.
Anyways, I got through the bike course in about the same time I did the last time I was in St. Anthony's - 2001 - sans the wind.
One observation of concern was that quite a few people on the course were taking the turns a bit to hot considering the turns were tight. I had two riders at different times wipe out right in front of me coming off a turn. Thank goodness I they didn't take me out.

I need to keep working hard on the bike. I have been riding at a higher intensity since my LT testing. I have seen improvement, but it is evident to me there is more room for improvement. Also, all the turns on the course do not suit my style. I like to dig in and get a rhythm the whole way through. The course is a bit too technical for me.

Got back to transition, found my stuff, changed into running shoes, visor, race belt and 2 fuel belt bottles of HEED.

Nada.

After the bike & T2, I felt that still had a chance to break 2:20 race time with a good run. So, I did what I could to make it happen. I planned to run at a steady pace picking up the pace every mile. Luckily, I was running with guys in my AG so the competition was happening.
As it turns out, my splits were better than I thought I would do because of the windy bike ride and the fact I did not feel like I had good legs coming off the bike. My mile splits were:
mile 1 = 7:15
mile 2 = 7:02
mile 3 = 6:57
mile 4 = 6:42
mile 5 = 6:57
mile 6 = 6:46
These times came as a huge surprise. I cannot believe that I ran a 10K PR by 15 seconds from a stand alone 10K I completed on Thanksgiving '05.

I need to tighten my shoes a little more. For the first time ever, my shoes chaffed the hell out of my feet.

Walked around looking for the family and Billy's family. I picked up some food and drank my R4 while I waited for Alfred, Billy and Kiko to come in.


The weather conditions on the swim and bike.


Great race. It's changed a little bit since the last time I was here in 2001. However, the changes were all good. The organization was awesome for the amount of athletes competing.
I will be back next year for sure.