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 Swim
Comments: Time includes about 25-30 seconds running to the mat. Still, it was a dreadful swim. The two people ahead of me had clearly lied horribly about their swim time. I AM SO SICK OF PEOPLE LYING ABOUT THEIR SWIM TIME. Is it really that hard to give an honest answer to the question? Why is lying (or massive self-deception, which is no better) the norm here? I caught them within 100 yards, and I was swimming poorly. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum were swimming side by side, and I could not get by them. To make matters worse, they were unable to flip turn, so I lost another couple seconds at every wall. I was already stressed from everything that had happened before, so I wasn't in the best of moods, and -- I'm ashamed to admit -- I seriously wanted to strike them. I tried a few times to get by and I swear the guy on the right felt me each time and started flailing. Well, I wasn't interested in a blow to the face so I backed off. Then I got sufficiently indignant after the turn at 350m that I forced my way by on the left. I should have tried that earlier, as the guy on the left seemed a bit more open to being passed. He kicked a bit hard when he felt me, but once I had accelerated past his kick it was clear sailing to get around. All in all, it was a terrible, and frustrating, swim. My recently found speed makes absolutely no appearance here. Very frustrating. What would you do differently?: Everything. Most especially, pass more aggressively in the pool.  Transition 1
Comments: Fine. One of the quicker T1s in the race, and I put on my shoes (because of the hill at the start).  Bike
Comments: Well, my bad luck continued. I was forced to come to a complete stop not once, not twice, but THREE times during the race (which was quickly becoming a race to get home, for me). Two of the stops happened on the first loop. The first time a ginormous SUV had managed to get into the bike lane (what the F did he think the cones were for?) and was stopped. A cop was yelling at him to get out of the lane, and the driver was just sitting there, and I was stuck behind, no way around. I ended up having to jump off the bike and run around on the sidewalk. As I ran across the crosswalk with the bike the SUV driver started a right-hand turn on red and nearly hit me (as in inches, not feet, away). Then, on the back half of the same loop, a mini-van had again managed to get into the bike lane (are bright orange cones just invisible to some people????). I was about 40 feet behind, but moving faster than the mini-van and somewhat apprehensive. I kept my eye on the situation, when suddenly the driver hit the brakes. I was going around 27mph and was just able, with the wet roads, to stop in time to avoid 'rear-ending' the mini-van. After coming to a stop and giving the driver a piece of my mind I cheated -- I admit, I cheated -- and rode around the minivan in the wrong lane. (Yes, I looked before I pulled into the lane.) On the second loop, a guy I had seen on the side of the road (yes I looked and he was being tended to) was being put into an ambulance. There was traffic coming the other way, so all I could do was stop and wait. The third loop was mercifully clear of everything except some clueless racers; I nearly had to go outside the cones to get around someone who either didn't hear or didn't understand (or want to understand) 'on your left'. On top of all that, I think I could have ridden harder. Honestly, after that first lap, most of the fight had been taken out of me. I knew any chance of a good race was gone and I let it get to me a bit. I'm not proud of my reaction, but that's what happened. What would you do differently?: Keep my head high and my foot down regardless of setbacks. Transition 2
Comments: One of the fastest T2s. Fine.  Run
Comments: By this point, it was hard to stay motivated. I knew that my race was trashed. So basically I just ran. To make matters worse, there was nobody in my vicinity. No wonder. Most of the rest of the open division was well ahead of me! The few that were behind were well behind. I had nobody to work of off. So I was left to wallow in self-pity (again not proud...) with no one to kick me in the pants and get me going. I just lacked the desire to run hard today. What would you do differently?: Be more motivated to run hard regardless of how things have gone. Honestly, running is my strength and if I cant find the motivation to go hard there, then it is truly a sad day. Post race
Warm down: I ran a few miles. It made me feel better. What limited your ability to perform faster: Bad luck, liars, cars, and my own bad attitude. I can't do anything about the rest, but I need to get my head in the right place. I should have had my focus on the nice guy who gave me his tire, and not the rest of it. I should have been racing for him, not cursing the rest. Event comments: Granted, I have a bad attitude right now, but I'm not sure I'll do this race again next year. (I haven't checked, but it might conflict with the Columbia Marathon -- that would be a convenient excuse!) I hate pool swims for exactly the reason that screwed me today, and the bike course is just scary dangerous. Harden Street especially had me spooked today. You're going 28+mph down a busy road with numerous cross-streets, and just one car not paying attention could spell disaster. I really don't think it's worth it for a small sprint. Last updated: 2011-03-27 12:00 AM
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Set Up Events
50F / 10C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 22/360
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 5/39
Well, it wasn't pretty. After we got home from Church, I set to getting my bike ready, and one thing after another went wrong. I finally got everything right, about 35 minutes before the race was to start. I quickly got dressed and got my stuff together, and hopped on the bike to ride to the race (only 2 miles away). One mile from the race, I heard a 'gun shot'. Immediately I knew that my rear tire had gone. I stopped, and yes, my brand new Specialized Mondo super-duper tire had blown out, taking with it the brand new expensive latex tube. (My other brand new latex tube had earlier turned out to have a bad valve, so recent purchases were, at this point, looking pretty poor.)
I have to say that at that moment, the thought went through my mind that I could walk it home and forget about the race. It was cold. It was rainy. I was not physically or mentally prepared for this race. I seriously considered bagging it, both at this moment, and at several moments thereafter. At many points both before and during the race, it just seemed that somebody did not want me to be racing today. The fact that I still had to cook for a big birthday party made quitting all the more tempting. Pretty much the only thing I'm proud of from today is that I didn't quit. (Yeah, that's a kind of a pathetic 'accomplishment', but you gotta find some good in a mess, right?)
I unwrapped the blown tube from the bike -- the tire had come off the rim and the tube had exploded out and was wrapped around the chainstay. Once I had it off, I worked the tire back onto the rim, swapped bike shoes for run shoes, and ran the final mile to the race site with my bike. I found the bike mechanic, only to learn that he didn't have a tire. I thought my race was over at that point, but I spoke with the RD who allowed me to pick up my packet late, and then some angel offered me a tire. OK, it was some flat-resistant knobbley thing, but it was a tire. Meanwhile, I had missed packet pick-up, so I ran probably a total of a mile just to locate my numbers and get set up. I ran to the swim start and made it there a couple of minutes before my start time.
Um, see above.