North Carolina Triathlon Series Race #9 - Triangle - TriathlonSprint

Another good swim. Knocked a few seconds off of last year. Got front and center at the start. Last couple of swims, I've been a little less aggressive in the swim taking the first 200y at a moderate to heavy pace. This time, I went for it and hit the pacing hard to get some distance from the rest of the pack. Found some feet on the way out to the buoy. Started running into the wave that went off in front of us. I swam over one person (sorry to whoever that was)

This lake was NASTY. In every sense of the word. A week or so before the race, they had heavy rains and sewage backups. The lake water was tested right after that and the results came back ok, but somehow I wonder about all that. It was like swimming in iced tea (warm iced tea). There was about a 3 inch visibility. lol. So I'm on my way out to the turn buoy and I'm really concentrating on my breathing and not getting a drop of water in my mouth. 5 mins in, I turn and inhale a HUGE ASS mouthful of water. So, My next thought is that I just drank some shit. I start cursing to myself under the water and coughing on my exhales to clear the little bit of water in my windpipe. Then, a brilliant thought came to me - right in the middle of the swim. I thought to myself - the doctors office always swabs your skin with alcohol to kill any germs right before they inject you with something. I'm going to use the alcohol method to clean up the system after the race. Muah ha ha.

Got a few more passes in at the end of the swim - though someone actually passed me with about 100y to go.

My only other strong memory of the swim end was as I was exiting the water, I literally heard someone say - look - that guy actually looks happy - he's smiling. And yes. I was having fun. Right before I crossed the mats, I saw the family there and got a high five from Sammy! I had a great cheering section!!!!!

Hey - its a new personal best for the swim segment. Gotta be happy with that. Came out of the water running and feeling good.

My rotation on the breathing stroke was awkward feeling. Especially when I was breathing every 2. I need to work on this in the pool a little more - especially on the speed sets.

This is one of the biggest NCTS races with around 1100 people. I had a pretty decent spot in the middle of the TA. My T1 time absolutely kicks ass. I still need to learn how to tie up my shoes with bands and leap onto the bike. But, that's it - I've got the rest down. I figure the bands would save me about 10-15 more seconds perhaps. Personally, I need to work on other parts of my game before this becomes a pressing issue.

As I was exiting T1, there was the clan cheering me on again. They're sooo awesome.

Tie up the shoes - mount on the fly.

BTW - the bike course cannot be 15 miles. Mandy had it at 13 and some change. Last year the Garmin had around 14. Its so damn hilly, there's no way I did anything close to 20 mph.

I have such a sweet setup on the bike, yet I suck soooooo bad. I'm not doing my wheels and bike any justice. The bike was grueling this year for some reason. I burnt up the legs going up the hills. It truly was a brutal experience for me.

I was determined to have fun - said hi to a couple of cops and thanked them for their help.

I keep trying to figure out what is different this year than last year. I'm on the same frame, but have a disc on the back and a 50mm rim on the front. I keep coming back to the extra weight I'm carrying this year (171 lbs vs. 163) and the lack of consistent saddle time from all my travelling. Is that realistic? Or is there something else?

Well, I can do something about the weight, but the saddle time is kind of screwed right now with the travelling. Get back to my 163 lb prime. lol.

Awesome T2. Not often that my T2 is actually longer than my T1. Had feet out of shoes earlier this year - last year I got screwed up and was running to T2 barefoot on one foot, shoe on the other. Approached the dismount line standing on one pedal and took off running without coming to a full stop. The crowd could actually hear my thighs screaming. I didn't overhear anyone saying - wow-that guy looks happy. He's actually smiling. ROFL!

The family was there cheering me as I got back. I was too busy avoiding stepping on rocks in my bare feet to look up. Undid the helmet strap during the run to the bike rack. Put the bike in the rack, helmet off, shoes on in the same motion. I've learned that you can save a few seconds by staying bent over when you're putting your shoes on instead of standing up in between shoes. I can now go sockless for up to 10k, so threw on the shoes and grabbed a hat and race belt and put them on while running out the exit. Got some more Sammy high-fives and cheers from the rest of the family.

Great T2. Wouldn't change a thing.

I was so happy to be off my bike. Felt pretty good until mile 2 when the right quads were gradually complaining more and more. The walk demons were closing in fast - that's when this guy passed me. He had that runners build and stride. Real smooth looking and he calls my name out as he goes by me. The brain wasn't really firing on all cylinders at that moment and it took a few steps to realize that NickinNC (Nick) passed me....and he was looking STRONG! He got me thinking about my own form and I tried to hang with him as long as I could. It was enough of a distraction and motivation that I stopped thinking about how bad the legs felt. I reached a point where I was on the last uphill before the finish and started my kick right in the middle of that hill. The family cheered me in at the finish, but Nick got me from mile 2 to mile 3.1. Thanks bro.

From an age group standpoint, I'm surprised at my ranking. I'm normally right in the middle of the pack. This was a nice finish from my perspective. I'm worried about my legs though. It seems like whenever I run, my legs really hurt bad the first 2 miles. I'm not sure if its scarring or knots in there, but it seems like its taking an awful long time for the legs to settle down - not just in racing, but in every training run I do. Maybe I should look into some massage therapy or ART? Don't know, but last year, I could run 10+ miles with no problem. Now, I'm lucky if I can get in 6.

Figure out the muscular issues. Get the legs right. They just feel downright trashed.

First priority after every race is to get hugs from the family. :) They were awesome out there and helped me get through the race. Gave the lake water/alcohol cleanout some additional though. We hung out with fit and Stake. Got to see Chippy come into T2!!! I don't remember her exact words, but it went something like - "What the fuck are you doing done?". LOL! She's awesome. I then got to see Chippy and Stake play Hide the water bottle. Heh heh.

We chatted some more and met TriinginNC - not sure if I spelled that right or not. He volunteer out on the swim course in a rescue canoe. You rock bro! Thanks for your help out there. I can't wait to see you crank it out in Tanglewood! Saw a bunch of other BT'ers before we packed it up and headed over to Fit's house for some attorney grilled burgers and dogs, and THE BEST FREAKING COBBLER EVER.

Got to see Stake's Mdot tattoo. Very nice!

What a day. Thanks for all the hospitality guys.

P.S. The alcohol theory seems to be working. :)




My legs...my legs...my legs are on fire...we don't need no water....

I seriously need to figure out what is up with the legs and get it right. Considering daily stretching exercises, massage or ART, the stick. Anyone else have ideas?


Next stop - Mission Man.