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 Swim
Comments: Swim: We walked northwest up the beach to the start. Kelley joined me and I did a light jog half the distance to get the blood flowing again. I was the 3rd wave to go after the red and yellow caps. I’ve learned that most people, even though they’re good swimmers, don’t like to bust out in front right away on the swim. In the past I have been starting in the middle to back of the pack. I suffered big time in the last triathlon cause of it. I felt so good today I decided I was going out front. Horn goes off……wham. I sprinting into the Gulf of Mexico like a gazelle. Today there is a breeze and some waves. Most people down here aren’t used to swimming in large swells with waves. Being from the Jersey Shore, this is heaven to me. I know I’m going to do well. I’m in the swim and I’m breathing every stroke to make up for the wave action. Breathing every other stroke, like in the pool, isn’t going to work here. I’m catching some red caps and yellow caps, the two waves that started in front. But then I noticed something isn't quit right. I look to shore. Me and a group of swimmers are WAY out into the Gulf. I mean way out there. There was one heck of a tide or current pulling us out. So I start to swim at a 45 degree angle to shore. Another 10 mins goes by and I notice I'm not any closer to shore and the guy to my right is really far out. So now I just swim straight at shore. By the time I make it to where I need to be, the current as carried me so far south that I just keep swimming straight ahead towards shore for the finish. If I had corrected early, I probably could have shaved 3 mins off my swim but I still felt really good coming out of the water. At this point it was still going to be just a training day. What would you do differently?: Navigate better.  Transition 1
Comments: Transition 1: It's about a 200 yard run from shoreline to the transition area. The transition area was all grass and I pounded my feet along the way to get the sand off. A little light toweling of the feet and I was ready. Helmet, glasses, socks, shoes…..GO. 2mins:45seconds. Had to take time to pose for picture. :-)  Bike
Comments: Bike: The bike course was the best I have been on to date after 6 Tri’s. It was flat, police monitoring traffic, the road was smooth as glass. It was a two loop course of 12.4 miles. I started out going strong and then and planned to back off around halfway and just cruise. I really had planned to do this whole thing in just over 3 hours. When I finished with the first loop I looked down and noticed that my hear rate monitor wasn’t working. Ugh. No big deal. On the course there was a blatant pack of riders of about 7-8 forming a paceline. I couldn’t believe it. At first, a group of 3 to 4 riders past me and then right in front of my eyes I watched it grow. Nobody was making an effort to back off. Except me. I wanted no part of it. At my last race the judges were out on motorcycles giving out penalties left and right. Besides, that’s just plain cheating and shows no respect for yourself as a triathlete. I backed off from 21 to 18mph and let them get way out front. Then I noticed in the last half of the bike course nobody was passing me and I felt really really good. I mean really good. So I decided the heck with training, kick it up a notch. Bamm! I finished off my two water bottles and a couple of gels and was doing great! (By my standards). I average 21 mph over the whole course and finished in 1hr:7mins. I also had been practicing my high rpm pedaling for a mile before Transition and unstrapping my bike shoes, leaving them clipped on the bike and running in socks to transition. What would you do differently?: Yell at those cheaters in the pack! Transition 2
Comments: Transition 2: So I’m off the bike and running, holding my bike by one hand, flying through transition. It’s right here I can say is when I have totally ditched the training day mentality. I am now in total race mode. I'm in the zone. No time for pictures for Kelleyt. I’m not even thinking about the Half Ironman at this point. Rack the bike, helmet off, running cap on, shoes on,….go. A 61 second transition. I think my best, I have to check.  Run
Comments: Run: A very unique run through a wooded area. First through trails, over little wooded bridges, streams, trees and had lots of shade. I really liked this type of run. Then we got to the street. The same street we rode on. I finished the 1st 5k run in 27:33. I couldn’t believe it. After 30 mins of swimming and an hour hard on the bike, I was running a sub 10 min mile. I’m drinking every two miles with a gel pack. Then the last half mile we turn from the road to the beach. This is a heart rate killer but my heart rate monitor still isn’t working so I’m just going off of feel. There was about a 100 yards on the soft sand til I got to the water line and it becomes wet hard packed. I notice my Garmin 305 is telling me I’m running an 8 min mile. Can’t be! But near the finish line I see the master time and know it’s true. I’m in utter disbelief that I just ran a sub 9 min mile on a 10k. :53 Mins. 6.2 Miles. Finish: Kelley is there snapping pics and I get a medal. Well, everybody got a medal. A really nice touch by the organizers. I keep walking and drinking, Kelley and I chatted, listened to the DJ play music and enjoyed the food. I overheard some people talking about the riding pack and how they couldn’t believe it. I think the pack was caught and got into arguements with the officials. What did they expect. They had great food and a nice awards ceremony. Post race
Warm down: Kept walking and drinking. Didn't over eat. Small portion of a bagel with peanut butter, hanful of pasta salad and half banana. What limited your ability to perform faster: Umm....Friction! Event comments: Summary: This was their first year running this event and they did a spectacular job. The goodie bag was worth the entrance price, the course was excellent, the transition area was set up nice, well organized, good food, medals, awards and music. Good day! After I got the results I was really happy with my over place and then quickly realized the competition gets a lot tougher when you go from Sprint to an Olympic triathlon. Even with my personal best performance, I only finished 17th out of 27th. However, I did finish in the top half overall and I'm very pleased with my performance. Now back to the business of my first 70.3 in 8 days. Whew. Profile Album Last updated: 2006-04-17 12:00 AM
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United States
Sarasota Sharks Tri Club
78F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 91/218
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 17/27
Intro:
This is/was my first Olympic Triathlon. My Disney 70.3 is only 8 days after this and the plan was to use this race as a training day. Things turned out a little different as you'll find out. Kelley, a close friend from Saint Pete, was the only person that came with me. It was really nice to have her there and not go alone. She also served as the official photographer of this momentous occasion.
Warm up:
Awoke at 4am. Did a light stretch and made my self and pb&j sandwich, half banana, half a cliff bar and drank half a can of red bull. The night before I put the bike on the stationary and all I planned to do was get into my tri gear and spin for 20 mins at a uber light pace to get the blood flowing. This seemed to work out great. I noticed I felt particularly good this morning so early. Kelley and I then packed the car and headed out for the hour drive south to Sarasota from Saint Pete. On the way down I finished a whole bottle of water.
Setup:
Arrived, got body marked, got my chip and setup my gear. I had a great spot on the rack and there were very few bikes on my rack so I knew this was going to go well. I hate crowded racks. I like to hang my bike facing forward on the brake handles. I saw a lot of people that hang then from the seat with half the bike sitting under the rack. I don’t get this. I tried this once and my bike kept pivoting on the seat and was unstable. I put my towel under the bike, helmet on seat., biking shoes left of rear tires, running stuff on right of rear tire. Simple no mess stuff. I don’t lay out gels or anything like that. I swim with them in the pockets of my tri-suit. Saves me time in transition and it’s just more stuff to forget when I’m busting through there at warp 9. I’ve also been practicing getting into my bike shoes with the strap on but just at one click.