Alligator's Creek Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Ready... Set....
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/Super_Suby/83008335.jpg
Not in the top 1/3rd of swimmers in my age group. There's so much time there to be had if I would just practice and perhaps get some coaching.
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/Super_Suby/?action=view&curr...
You can see in the video that I'm fairly relaxed to begin with (except for sighting to see if I'm going to be able to pass on the next length). I'm glad there's no video of the last 50m. I doubt it would have been too pretty.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/Super_Suby/90f7d3dc.jpg
I just missed my goal time for this swim, but only by 3 seconds. So no biggie, I guess.

Relax! I was a bit frantic, to say the least. The first hundred or two were fine, but then I felt a little spastic, and very UNsmooth.

Fairly long run from the pool to the racks. And it's a long flight of stairs and then more uphill.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/Super_Suby/696e22fb.jpg
I was really winded from the swim, so I didn't feel like I got a good sprint through the TA like I normall try to do. But I think that all in all, I took off pretty quickly. It was nice to have a spot in transition in the very front rack right next to Run Joe Run and a bunch of kick-ass carbon tri bikes.

Nothing.

I think I had a very solid ride, and it went like this:
I rode hard out of transition because I knew I'd be able to pick off a few people with the tough climb early on. Within a couple minutes, I had caught up to a carbon-laden tri-spoke-havin' fancy bike. We both pushed it hard in and out of turns, taking turns passing eachother up. I walked away from him up the tough hill I mentioned, but he caught me on the next stretch of flat a couple miles into the race. I passed him back on a good descent and flew up the next rolling hill, determined to escape this game. No such luck. We both pressed on and passed several people during this early battle. At this point we were on a nice stretch of lightly rolling smooth roads, and we continued to play cat and mouse, each time thinking that I could drop him for good... but he would claw back. I appreciated the race intensity and the opportunity to "head to head" race, so I encouraged him each time he passed me. I would say, "Keep pushing!" or "Go get 'em, nice job." He never did the same for me during that time.
Eventually, we get to the first major climb. One that brought serveral bikers to the point of getting off their bikes. I made a charge at it and at last dropped my unfriendly foe. I would not see him again on the bike course.
The last half of the race was fairly lonely, except for seeing Soozey at one point. We were both cruizing along very nicely. It was good to see a friend out there. By then, I could see that I was having a really nice bike leg, and I needed to keep that up, but it was tough going for a bit towards the end.
The fun downhill sections on the way out were now the long inclines on the homestretch. It pained my to see my current speed hovering in the low teens during what seemed like an MPH-killing eternity. But I kept telling myself that it would all be over in a matter of minutes, and it was okay to do some spinning before the end of the bike leg anyway. When it flattened out in the last couple miles, I finished strong and increased my effort to take advantage.

Nothing. I'm pretty happy about this!

Again, a long TA. The dismount line seemed like a football field away from my rack. I jogged carefully with my bike, not wanting to bite it while running in my bike shoes. When I finally got there, I felt like I fumbled a little bit getting my shoes off, but it was probably neglibible. I slipped into to my racing shoes, snagged my race number, and I was off like a herd of turtles.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/Super_Suby/f4da0bdd.jpg

At some point, maybe learn to get my feet out of my shoes while riding in. I dunno...

Mile 1 - 7:16
Pretty standard start to a race. Legs felt weird, heart rate was going crazy I'm sure. I wanted to hold sub 7's as a goal, so I wasn't too disappointed with my time here given the nature of the course. Hills.
Mile 2 - 7:33
Just after the first mile marker I heard footsteps behind me and I had flashbacks to the Wood River Tri finish. "Oh no," I thought. "Here we go again." This guy was closing on me pretty quickly, and as he got next to me, I could see it was my good buddy from the bike course, back to haunt me. But I was in a good mood, so I told him, "Nice race. Keep it up." Still nothing in response. He didn't look over. He didn't nod. Inappropriate. If he won't accept my encouragement, I'll take it back. So after thinking about it for just a moment, out loud I said, "Just kidding."
That was it. I had enough of this guy. I decided to put him back in the rearview mirror and picked up my pace nicely.
Mile 3.1 - 6:55
He probably didn't know what hit him, and I went on to have a great last mile, when my legs FINALLY starting to accept the fact that I was asking them to run.
Didn't exchange any pleasantries with the guy, as he came in a bit after me. He was the opposite of all the other racers out there: negative.

Muster up some better speed in the beginning. A few seconds here and there was the difference between 1st and 3rd place.

I stretched and even jogged around for several minutes. Met up with KTriathlete and Soozey as she came in. Met Run Joe Run, and Carree too, after the race.



Just overall fitness level. I feel like I had a peak race again. The rest is paying off. I'm beginning to reap what I've sown of the past many months.


Decent food at the end. Nice green commemorative t-shirts. Nifty little medals. Good race. Lots of volunteer support. They make it all happen.