The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Swim due to high currents and debris in the river from TS Lee

Appeal to Mother Nature to have her not rain so much

Since the swim was canceled, we lined up in our age group swim corrals and started in groups of 15 every 15 seconds. I started with my bike shoes on, but still managed to get on the wrong side of my bike and fumble getting my helmet on.

Run with helmet and remove bike from the front maybe

2009 - 1:27:14 17.1 mph
2011 - 1:14:08 20.1 mph!
(Garmin said 25.07, 20.3mph)

How did I do that? Who was that riding my bike in the Tom disguise?

July - I rode 309 miles on the road and a stand trainer
June - I rode 168 miles on the road
August - Only 144 miles, but I finally got the long desired Computrainer. I rode the 3D Honolulu Triathlon course which I thought most resembled the Nation's Tri Course. I also rode the first 25-45 miles of the Ironman Wisconsin and Ironman Australia courses in Real Course Video Mode. But, I only managed to get in 144 miles due to a lot of foot pain as the result of making bad bike adjustments)

So what made the difference? Intensity I guess. Riding the "hills" on the Computrainer, and having to pedal all the time, even downhill. No more coasting. My training rides ranged from 60-90-170 minutes starting in August. Non-stop pedaling ranging from 135-170 watts. Race day - no coasting and pedaled the downhills - I don't need to stinking coast! I can ride this thing. Higher intensity on the Computrainer made me realize I could ride 90+ minutes non-stop.

Race day - Since getting my CT in August, I had not ridden outside. My goal was to keep my cadence in the mid 80's and my heartrate from 130-150, and hope that I could average at least 18.1. Check. And with my training, I was able to keep on the big chainring, and get the extra speed.

Out of transition, I start to ride smoothly. Get the first mile out of the way, and gradually pick up speed. Shift for the hills, keep pedaling, think about making even circles with feet, picturing spin scan in my head, and ignore that my feet are hurting from the pedals again. Try to ride on the aero bars, but I'm not too confident with my bike control on the bars and with moving my seat forward. When the road conditions reguire, move to the drops. At 8.3, I feel good, cruising along, and do a pace check. Whoa! 20.1! Amazing! Drink some accelerade, get a little water, and keep going. Get to the turnaround, and I'm flying. Pace check at mile 17 - 20.3. Holy crap! I can keep this up! Unbelievable - the finish is here. Forget that I'm not on the Computrainer, and do the goofy right foot clip out, start falling to the left, barely manage to unclip my left foot and catch myself, but I start skidding on my cleat since I was still rolling, and almost lose it for a second time. Regain composure, and clip clop to the bike rack.

It's a lot different trying to get a drink on the new seat forward set-up, and going 20+mph, versus 17mph.

Get the bike fit! I wasted so much time in July changing seats, changing pedals, changing positions, trying to deal with intensely cramping foor pain. But overall, I'm really happy with my bike ride. Stunned actually. I've never ridden that fast for any appreciable distance. It's still hard for me to believe. What will next year bring after spending a focused winter training on the CT and finally getting a proper bike fit? This ride sets a new high bar for me to achieve, because next time, there will be a swim.

Muddy, stinky transition. I am slow going through transition. I don't want my HR to spike by sprinting.

Try to be a little quicker

After my unprecented ride, I wasn't sure how the run was going to go. While I felt OK, I wasn't sure that I wouldn't blow up on the run, but I needed to give it my best effort.

2009 Nation's Tri Run - 1:05:05 10:30 pace
2011 Nation's Tri Run - 1:00:38 9:47 pace
(Garmin says the course was 5.99 miles, and my pace was 10:07. I'll take it though. Makes up for the DC Tri being 1/4 mile long)

Start the course, and just wanted to run at a comfortable pace for the first mile or 2, around a 10:30 pace, and see what I could do from there. The first 2 weren't easy, but they never are. First mile was 9:58, second was 9:48 - crap, this is great I'm running this fast, but I want to finish strong. I take a course gel at mile 1. How in the heck do these open? It's not like a Gu! Oh, ick! Is this Mocha? Gross! Take my own Gu and some water mile 2. And another half cup at mile 3. Try to back off a little - Mile 3 was 10:13, and Mile 4 was a 10:12. Good, but it's a little warm around Hain's Point, and I run to the far side to keep in the shade as much as possible. I'm passing people. This is cool. Yeah, I'm used to getting passed a lot, but this is new. Starting to feel waterlogged. Decided to skip water at 4, since I know I don't need it. Starting to hurt a little mile 4 to 5 and think how nice it would be just to walk a little. Walking is not an option when you're wearing a Naval Academy jersey on 9/11 to honor your classmates. Mental toughness is the order of the day. OK - what to do so I can finish running? Decided to get water at the last station, and wish I hadn't. All the cups were empty on the left side. Don't want gatorade. Guy on the right has water. Crossing over, step in front of someone (sorry!), and get 2 cups. One to drink, and one to pour on my head. Slowest mile at 10:32. OK, here we go, last mile and a little more. Get moving, feeling better, and pick up the pace playing hopscotch with some 30 year old age groups. They don't like being old manned, let alone fat old manned. People are saying, "Go Navy! Looking good, finish is just ahead!" That's encourging. I appreciate the comments on behalf of those currently on active duty, and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. Look up, and unbelievably, there is the finish, and it seems like I didn't start that long ago. Garmin says it's only 6. Makes up for the DC Tri being 1/4 mile long.

Get the next 30-40 pounds off. Keep riding, going longer and running hills.
Put glide on my chest. Looks like I had open heart surgery from the zipper chafing my chest.

Got my medal, bottle of water, and a gatorade. I wanted to hang out a little, but I needed to get home. Grabbed a plate of Q-doba, but couldn't stomach it at all. Ate a banana, got my bike and walked/rode to my car.

Overall, felt good. Have felt worse after a couple of the 8 mile runs


Weight. I'm really surprised how my training in the last month has averaged around a 10 minute pace, given I weigh around 220. 2 years ago, I was about 15 pounds less, and running around 10:30, so I'm really encouraged to keep working at it. It sure beats last year when I ballooned back up to 250 and was running 12:30+.


I'm really encouraged by my performance this year. Had there been a swim, and if I had swam it as well as the DC Tri this spring (35 minutes), I could have had my first ever Olympic Tri under 3 hours! With placing 134 in my age group out of 188 guys, I'm beginning to move from the back of the pack, to the back of the middle pack! Yay! Last tri for the year, but I'll be back at the DC and Nation's Tri's again, plus definitely doing a half iron, and maybe even a full. Good motivation to keep working through this winter, and getting back on the weight loss path.

Thanks for reading my long missive.