American Triple T - Race #2: Olympic AM - TriathlonOlympic

Good swim. This time I was able to get into a breathing pattern sooner because the cold wasn't quite as shocking. The cold water in my ear was still annoying, though.
Saw Amy and Tim and several other friends at the swim start again.
Surprisingly, I got out of the water before David on this swim.

nothing except wear earplugs. (See swim #3)

It's only race #2 and already I'm starting to not care much about transition times. In the grand scheme of the weekend, it's not really going to matter, so I'd rather take my time and not have a wrinkle in my sock.

I felt I did very well handling the hills, but I notice my rank relative to the field is not good. I had my road bike for ease of shifting, but it is older and quite heavy. I also don't have a great deal of power, despite training on the hills. Power is just not my forte and never has been. I was quite proud of my performance for me, but the field at Triple-T is very humbling. It seemed every other person I saw had an IM tattoo. My shifting was impeccable, and I didn't even stand up to climb very significant grades. Thompson's Hill was very steep, but it "leveled off" to a regular climbing grade and kept going for at least a half mile, so that I couldn't really catch my breath from the tougher section.
The descent was handled very well by HFP. They had flaggers yelling to slow down, and everyone was very well behaved. It was disheartening to do all that climbing and then be required to brake hard all the way down, but it would have been suicide to do anything else. I felt pretty confident with my technical skills, but I still had to really concentrate to avoid braking and turning at the same time (which can lead to a skid).
David passed me about 75% of the way through the bike. I had been worried something happened to him, but he was concentrating on riding conservatively. I should have been doing the same, but I was happy I held him off for so long.
My mental focus was very good and I never felt myself wavering or thinking about anything but the present.

Nothing.

Even though I continued to not care about my transition times, I was starting to get into a rhythm with it.

nothing

I felt good about this run.
I caught up with David, who was walking the uphills to be conservative. I told him that was a nice idea, but it could lead to a mental trap because at some point it all starts to look like an uphill, and then you are only running the descents which is not really enough.
I'm surprised I was at a sub-10 minute mile, because I know I did some walking. I was moving briskly, though, and still feeling good. David and I stuck together after I caught him. At times I felt I was taking it too easy, but I knew that was just money in the bank for later in the weekend. After all, we were hardly more than 25% finished, distance-wise.

nothing. Well, maybe go a little slower.

ice bath in the creek. Food.


Power on the bike.


By this time, people were really starting to get to know each other and enjoy socializing and seeing each other out on the course.