Englewood YMCA Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Had a good start (other than getting mouthful of water just as I dove in). Out and around the first buoy and was just cruising along in the MOP. Felt smooth and relaxed; really enjoying myself. Had somebody banging on my feet occasionally and another guy swimming about 6" to the right of me, but avoided most serious contact. About halfway, I checked my sighting and seemed to be heading to the right of the second buoy. Angled left and checked again after a few strokes. Still to the right; noticed that the buoy didn't seem to line up with the point of land anymore. Now heading about 45 degrees left of my original course. Checked again; STILL to the right. About that time I heard other swimmers yelling that the buoy had broken loose. Yep, sure enough and it was heading off to the NW in the general direction of New Orleans at a pretty good clip. About that time a lifeguard on a surfboard (dragging along a resting swimmer) paddled directly in front of me and stopped. He started yelling to go around him and then straight into the beach. The swimmer who had been resting on the surfboard drafted off me the rest of the way in, then wanted to chit-chat as we ran into T1. Wasn't in the mood to talk.

Actually felt pretty good, no complaints other than the misadventure with the buoy. The deal with the buoy maybe cost me 2-3 minutes, not big deal. Stuff happens.

Glasses and helmet on. Rinsed the sand off my feet with spare water bottle. Stepped back in sand with right foot, so had to rinse off a second time. Pulled on bike shoes and then was off.

Avoid having to rinse off foot twice.

Riding easy by cadence (88-91). U-turn at turnaround was very tight with sand on the edge of the road. Had to unclip for a second as I rounded the turn. I just couldn't seem to get going; pedalling was getting harder and harder even when downshifting. Working hard to go 12 mph and getting passed like crazy. Thought at first must be wind, but it wasn't blowing that hard. Then thought it might be a dragging brake or the wheel had come loose in the dropout (that had happened to me a couple of times in the past with my Renn disc). Stopped to check and discovered my rear tire was flat. No blowout, but flat just the same. New tube, some CO2 and off again. All of a sudden I'm about 5 mph faster, but too little too late. Looked at my left hand and blood was running down over my fingers (thanks, Coumadin). Must have cut it messing with the wheel.

Ride more; more intervals, loose weight.

Stupid me. I had put a new tube and tire on the Renn disc a week ago. The wheel had rim tape on it, but a section of it was wadded up, so took it off and didn't think about replacing it. The hole in the tube was on the rim side about an inch from the valve stem. Now I remember why I had put the rim tape on in the first place a couple of years ago.

Glanced at my watch coming into T2 and got bummed out. Thought about DNFing for a brief second, but decided to press on.

Racked my bike, off with my helmet, poured some water on my head, grabbed my race belt and hat and was off.

Was OK.

Started out ok. Made through the first mile ok. Then combination of heat, sore legs and frustration over the bike got to me and I think I pretty much gave up psychologically. Just a bad head. Walked about a mile and then ran/walked the last mile or so.

Need to do more bricks. Loose weight. Acclimatize better to the heat. Be tougher mentally.

Walked around. Had some water, dropped my first banana in the sand, had a second banana and some low-fat chocolate milk.
Was no place to sit down in the shade, so slipped out and left during the awards ceremony.
Came home, took a shower and then a long nap.


Need better fitness level; need to loose weight; be tougher mentally.


Well organized race. Great volunteers. Like the course.
DFL in my age group by about 20 minutes, but probably would have been last even without the flat. Still it was embarrassing to finish over two hours. Obviously disappointed with results, but was happy with my swim up until the great buoy debacle. The run was frustrating because I couldn't reach down to get myself going. Had just read an article by Sam McGlone in Triathlete Magazine the night before about getting your mind to deal with the pain during the run, but I wasn't able to do that. Disappointed in myself over that.
Still have lots of work to do on bike and run. My training has been more consistent over the last few months than ever, so still feel good about things going forward.
Having a bad triathlon on the beach in Florida is still way better than a day on the couch.