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 Swim
Comments: HONK! The starting horn blasted and the lake erupted into a whitewater frenzy. Wow! This was the most crowded and aggressive swim start for me to date! Because I started at the back of the pack I was really in the washing machine. Sighting at every stroke it was very hard to make headway in the thick crowd of swimmers around me. Because I was so hasty getting my goggles on, I couldn't get a nice seal on one side and it started to fill with water. After few minutes, I'd had ENOUGH of this cage match and decided to go full throttle. GET the @$#* OUT OF MY WAY! I managed to start clawing my way over teams of eager collegiate triathletes. Eventually, I found myself near the front of the pack again and was just going to start getting my heart rate back under control when, with a sickening crunch, I received a wicked kick to my solar plexus. I suddenly had no air in my lungs and could not breathe....at all. Panicking and gasping for air, I rolled over on my back and tried to recover. That's when all those kids that I mercilessly climbed over decided to get their revenge! I was pushed under and climbed over and found myself, sputtering and choking, near the back of the pack...again. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the sheer frustration but I surprised myself with the level of angry determination I felt. There is NO WAY I am going to let this ruin my day! I took a few seconds to collect my self and I started swimming again - favoring my right side because I got a sharp pain every time I pulled with that arm. It felt like a cracked rib. I decided to give the buoy line a wider birth so I could avoid the denser packs of swimmers. This turned out to be a good decision because I was able to make back significant ground - passing quite a few of them. I just wanted to get this swim over with and start the next leg of the race. What would you do differently?: Considering the events that unfolded, I am pretty happy with my performance. I was able to make up some ground. PSA: Always bring a spare pare of goggles to the race! It turns out that I didn't crack or break anything. Just some major tenderness and bruising.  Transition 1
Comments: No, that's not a typo. Four minutes. Four. Minutes. After running to what felt like New Jersey, I finally reached my bike and remembered the big mess I left after dumping out my bag before the race. I had to stuff my pre-race shoes and clothes, my wetsuit, my towel and my cap/goggles into a too small bag before grabbing my bike and heading out. What would you do differently?: Not much I could do differently.  Bike
Comments: Once on the bike, I quickly put my swimming misfortunes behind me and focused on the rest of the race. I had no idea how many people were out of the water ahead of me and the course was littered with racers from all the distances so I had no way to know my position in the race. I decided to get back to my plan. Steady building effort on the bike. 10 miles in and I had passed quite a few people and hadn't been passed by anyone. That's always a good sign. This race shared quite a bit of the same course as the Las Vegas Tri that I flatted on 3 weeks ago. I was looking forward to a good bike leg to erase the bad memories from the previous race. In fact, I just noticed that I was riding over the exact same part of the course where I - "pop, hissssssssssss"..... Are you @#$*ING kidding me? A flat? REALLY? AGAIN?!?!?!? I threw my head back and started laughing psychotically at the triathlon gods in the sky. IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, BITCHES? A FLAT? YOU THINK THAT'S GONNA STOP ME?! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!! I leaped off my bike and pulled my rear (yes the REAR..AGAIN) tire off all while insanely mumbling and giggling to myself. Hordes of cyclists passed me, slowing down to ask if I needed help and then quickly speeding up again when they saw the deranged look in my eyes. 10 minutes later, with the flat fixed, I vaulted back onto my steed and hammered like Chuck Norris himself was chasing me! I was snorting flames. This was no longer a race - it was a WAR. I had snapped. I wanted to devour the souls of baby unicorns and stomp on rainbows. God have mercy the person who tries to stop me from reaching T2!!! What would you do differently?: HULK SMASH!!! Transition 2
Comments: I don't remember much more than a red haze. I hope I didn't hurt anyone. What would you do differently?: Keep sharp objects away from myself.  Run
Comments: I had spent pretty much all my fuel on the raging bike leg. It was starting to feel really hot out. At this point I was going to just steamroller on through to the end. I managed to average 7:30min miles on the flats and 8:20 on the hills. By mile five, my psychotic episode was finally starting to fade and I was back to my normal happy-go-lucky self. Crossing the finish line felt good. What would you do differently?: Not start the run in a murderous rage. Post race
Warm down: Convincing a few fellow athletes that I encountered in the race not to file restraining orders against me. What limited your ability to perform faster: The triathlon gods. One day I will have my revenge. Event comments: I've done a few races now (10 triathlons just in 2011) so I am experienced enough to know that rarely does everything go your way on race day. Today - nothing went my way. My string of terrible luck approached absurdity. Still - it is my opinion that all races are good races as long as you can learn and grow as an athlete from the experience. I was especially humbled when talking to a fellow racer on the bus ride back to T1 who was ecstatic at his 4 hour finish time. I need to remember not to get so wrapped up in results and just enjoy the day. Last updated: 2011-09-19 12:00 AM
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United States
BBSC Endurance Sports
95F / 35C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 99/723
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 5/27
This race was the USAT Southwest regional championships so the participant list was huge! The olympic distance alone had 375 racers mostly college teams. The transition area in the morning truly felt like an Ironman event. As I walked up to T1 my eyes boggled at the size of it! It must have been at least a quarter mile long. It turns out that my rack was towards the end farthest from the lake so it was going to be a heck of a jog out of the water to my bike. Because t1 and t2 are in separate places for this race, I had to make sure all my t1 gear (wetsuit, goggles, towel and any other small things) would be all packed up in a bag before I started the bike leg. This bag would then be transported to t2 at the end of the race.
Got the bike set up and put on my wetsuit. I put on my cap and goggles and got into the water about 10min before my wave was off to do some warmup swimming. Feeling good and warmed up, I swam over to the start area. I heard the director call out "4 minutes to start!" I was looking forwards to another strong swim when the unthinkable happened. With a crisp "pop" my goggles broke apart and fell off my face. My NEW goggles - I couldn't believe it! I quickly looked at my watch - do I have time to swim back to shore and run all the way back up the quarter mile transition to get to my spare goggles in my gear bag? This was a huge starting wave full of testosterone pumped college kids! I can't do this wrestling match without my goggles! I decided to risk going back for the spares. I swam hard for the shore and started to sprint up the asphalt boat ramp in my bare feet. "3 minutes!", yelled the race director. Running up through transition, I had to dodge and pirouette through scores of sprint distance racers still getting ready and half-iron distance racers coming in from the swim. I finally made it to my neatly stowed bag and dumped everything out to get to my goggles. I'd have to reorganize everything after the swim.
"One minute to start" boomed the voice on the bullhorn. Crap! I sprung down T1 like a gazelle, my body starting to feel pretty uncomfortable in a full sleeve wetsuit. By the time my feet hit the water the crowd was counting down from 20. I had no time to spit in my goggles and threw them and my swim cap on - all while run/swimming out to the start wave. I just got to the back of the pack when I heard "5, 4, 3, 2...."