Splash and Sprint - Aquathlon

Had some good clean water ahead of me. This meant no hassles, but it also meant no drafting. World Champ Milos Kostic was about 4 places ahead of me. He is a "messy" swimmer and bumped into me in three different lane as we we going in different directions. I felt a little awkward in the first 400 - kept hitting the rope with my arm...got my act together thereafter. Swam pretty well and efficiently but was eventually caught by Frankie who was 10 s behind me. She passed on the bulkhead saying "sorry sorry" I laughed at her and said shut up and swim :)... I passed a few swimmers along the way. I was passed by another woman about 200 m later who then slowed down so much, I had to breaststroke for 20 metres to not hit her...as soon as I passed her at the bulk head - I kicked off and I got a big cramp in my leg...I thought this is it... but I kept kicking and it worked out of my system...she of course decided to pass me again at the next bulk head. this was with 150 to go. I drafted really well behind her then at the last bulkhead where we are allowed to pass in the lane because there is not returning traffic, I passed her, sprinted to the ladder and got out. Good strong finish! Frankie blew me out of the water...I didn't see her until the run finish line where we crossed the line together! She's made an incredible improvement.

Learn to swim faster. Find some good drafting. Don't stress about Milos. Everything else went pretty smoothly. Had some trouble finding the foot place on the exit ladder. Work on that.

This transition includes from getting to transition seat to running to the track (through hallway to Fieldhouse).
Transition was deliberate and planned. Sat down. Dried my toes. Put on socks. Put asthma meds in pocket (didn't need) Big gulp of homebrew and carried it with me to track - discarding it afterwards. (SB was there and gave it back to me after finish!) Ran from seat all the way to track.

Not much. Maybe spend less time on toes, but I need that time to get my bearings. A little dizzy from the sudden horizontal posture. Remember my low blood pressure. I don't think this transition is the best place to save time. Actual time in transition - not counting running to track was about 1:16.

Everything felt good. I picked a pace that felt right and pretty much stuck to it. I had no idea what I was running but FW was timing and she said I pretty much nailed 1:05-1:07 per lap, except for one where I did 59 and the bell lap that I burned up, passed about 6 people - and caught up to Frankie and did it in about 52s.
Again I did not carry water. Bruce did - he always does. I was absolutely parched again. I probably could have done better with some water - but that would have been a distraction as well.
Ran strong and steady. didn't stress about being passed, just ran my race.
Personal best on the run.

Water...I say this every year. Parched throat.
Run faster. Keep up with those that pass me...but then would I blow up. Why would I push that hard?

Drank what was left of my homebrew. Waited for Starcorp to come in and congratulated him...and Frankie. Talked with FW and SB. So glad they were there.
Hung around, showered, ate at the afterrace, went home.
Stretching? What's that.
Got home by 10:30 pm.


This is a night race. Starts at 8 pm. I'm better mornings. I'm still running heavy, have to lose at least another 10 pounds. And my calves were still tight.
Swimming was slower than I expected, I haven't had as much pool time as I've had in previous years - keep in mind this race is two weeks early this year.


This was a pretty fast pace - probably at the top end of my range for this distance. Probably could have gone a little faster. Maybe shaved another 30 seconds...a minute? Would it be worth it?
This is a C race and the season opener. I'm a long - slow kinda guy...I'm not built for the short stuff. I do it just because I can and to wake up my body a little. This did the trick. Got me ready to introduce more training volume.
I'm pretty happy with the results. A little slower on the swim, but considerably faster on the run. A personal best overall.
It's all good!