Mooseman Triathlon Festival - International Distance - TriathlonOlympic

My swim came back to me. I was in the 4th wave. I was pushed to the front at the start and I wasn't that fast. Many people swam over me to pass. Didn't bother me. I am good at regaining my breathe rhythm under the water. I knew that and didn't panic. Concentrated on rotating my body and occassionally add some kicks. Swam off course a little and quickly corrected it. Between the 2nd and 3rd bouys the pack spreaded out. Saw a green cap (2nd wave) guy hung on to dear life by the kayak. Rounding the bouys nicely closely beside my left shoulder. After the turn around, saw a couple silver caps (3rd wave) and a green cap (not sure if it was the same person who hung onto the kayak). Then all of a sudden the purple caps (5th wave) started apearing. Mind my own business and swam at my own pace. One of the silver cap was right beside me most of the time. We were about the same pace. Tried to draft off him but he seemed to be always parallel to me. Saw some blue caps (6th wave) and started to freak out. From my Cranberry experience, I continue to mind my own business and did not let the cap colors distract me. Finished not feeling tired, not grasping for breath, no wheezing.

May be pushed a bit harder? I'd like to finish within 30 min.

We had wetsuit strippers! I had no problem unzipping but the sleeves usually get stuck on my wrists. Great to have some help. Ran with wetsuit half off. Washed feet in my tub of water, shaked dry and put on socks/bike shoes. Left calf cramped up a little when putting on socks - probably due to not hydrating enough in the morning. Streched out and went away. Put on helmet. Was overcast but decided to wear sunglasses anyway, to prevent the wind/things got blown into eyes (good idea). Drank more of that horrible Perpeteum. Put on race belt with BIB on the back. Did not wear bike gloves as per KathyG's advice - more on that later. ;) ;) :)

Drink something else. Whatever. NOT that vanilla flavored perpetrum.

Monentum is my friend. Sun came out and sunglasses was useful.

Ran out to mount area and saw a guy in black shirt haning onto a pair of crutches. "JORGE!!" I yelled. Amiine cheered me back. Was too excited to see him there that it took me 3 tries to clip in my left foot.

Mile 1: Cops directing traffic and told us to STOP so that a fire truck can pass. We slowed down but not to a stop, then started up again.
Mile 2: Gentle ups and downs.
Mile 2.5: BT aid station!!! Marmadaddy (plus "ma"), TAGP, Huskyboy, Ontherun, Dexter and a few more BTers were there. I pumped my right fist yelling over to them. Then I realized I was *capable* of steering stably with one hand! Wow. This encouraged me to drink more and ate jelly beans and stuffs on the bike.
Mile 4.5: steep hill that requires the granny gear. But not the Devil Hill. Not Yet. Slight side pain and reminded myself to keep drinking.
Mile 5: steep down hill. Did not touch the break, as I know momentum is my friend. I needed momentum.
Mile 5.5: The start of the 0.5 mile climb. At some point it was ~17% incline. Saw the red Devil lady danicing around. Cursed under my breath. :p Started dropping gear when momentum was wearing away. Saw 50% of the people walking their bikes. "I AM NOT WALKING" I told myself. Bike computer showed my speed at 4.5 mph. Slower than that I'd fall (more on that later).
Mile 6: Lots of down hill.
Miles 7-10: uneventfully flat.
Miles 10-12: rolling ups and down, some steeper than the others, relatively short. Still cursing at the hills.
Mile 13-15: down hill. Not steep but good enough to rest up my legs. Then an up hill hit again.
Mile 16: still going up hill, on a wide road. What's that by the right hand sidet? Another BT aid station? Ron didn't mention that. The first guy I saw wearing a BT t-shirt was our own CptnJackSparrow! And some of the CT gang whom I didn't see clearly. Didn't expect them to be there. "ROB!!!" I yelled. Their cheers lifted my spirit.
Mile 17-19: More up hills.
Mile 19: Still freaking uphills. Then slow down for a 90 degree right turn. And, you got it, more uphill. Going at some 7 mph at that time. Had to drop to the granny gear again. Shifted. Why so slow? Am I even moving? What's that sound? Oh... the chain dropped and my bike had come to a complete stop. Fell on my right. Scratched my knee, hit on my right hip and hit hard on my right palm. Palm swelled and scratched. Why scratched? Coz I didn't wear gloves (refer to T1 ;) ;)). Shit! Other bikers freaked and asked if I was ok. "Yeah, I guess" I replied. Hurt but I could still go on. Put the chain back on and finished climbing that "little" hill.
Mile 19.5: down hill. Phew! Put on my big chain ring and try to get the monentum.
Mile 20: Damn steep up hill again. How many are there? I was getting tired and started to lose patience. Down-shifted and had to get lower to the mid chain ring. No respose. Pushed on the shifter again. Chain still stuck on the big ring. WTF?? Speed quickly dropped to 4.5 mph. If drop lower, I would fall again. I gotta keep moving. It was so hard to push on an up hill on the big chain ring. At every down stroke on my right leg I tried to unclip but wasn't successful. Swirled left and right to maintain balance and said out load "Not again!". I meant I wasn't going to fall again. The girl who passed me said "yeah, it's uphill again". Managed to get to the top almost exploding my quads. It was painful, holding on to the cowhorn so tightly with a bruised palm and pushing hard while my knee was bleeding. Made it without falling.
Mile 20-25: down hills. Finally gear responded, jumping from big rain to small ring, skipping the middle. Up shifted and got chain back to middle ring. Did not touch the front shift again.
Mile 26: Saw Max directing traffic saying "one mile! one mile!". Loosen up and got to dismount line.

Improve bike skill. BIG TIMES.
Don't fall.
Don't drop chain.
Get new chain and chain ring?
Get new bike?
Buy lottery?
Trip to Foxwood? Las Vegas? Day trade?

Yankz are my friends.
Threw helmet on the ground and put on my favourite Red Sox cap. While running out, adjust race belt so that BIB is faces the front.

Nothing

Very difficult run on the soft sand with jelly legs. Managed not to fall into the water.
Mile 1: strong. Surprised to clocked < 10 min. Took water at aid station and poured on scratched knee. Drank gatorade.
Mile 2: slowed down a bit due to slight side pain. The scratch on my knee was burning. Washed with more water.
Mile 2.5: Uphill to BT aid station again (same course as bike). Told them I fell off my bike, and got more water/gatorade. but had to show them I was still running strong.
Mile 3: freaking hills. Slowed waaaaayyyy down. More drinks.
Mile 4: back to BT station. More water. Lingered at station for a few more seconds. Asked TAGP where the end was.
Mile 5: Cursing again. Got a Carb Boom from another aid station, and more water. That chocolate Carb Boom tasted better than that Perpeteum thing. Felt thirsty. Told myself to hold up for another 15 min before passing out. Imitated Max's voice saying to myself "one mile! one mile!"
Mile 6 to fisish: heard music. Picked up cadence, not to "look strong" but hoping to get it over with quickly.
Finishing chute: heard KevinG called my name, did see him though.

Happy with the run. Keep up with the training.

Got a cool wet towel and a water bottle. Wiped down my bleeding knee. Cool it, and my palm, which was swollen and a bit numb


Fxcking hills


Tough course. Much worse than Cranberry. I prepared well for Cranberry last Aug. Consider Mooseman is the first major event of the season with less than enough (outside) bike rides, I did ok. Only ~15 min more than Cranberry (Moose has ~ a mile longer bike course, too). This is my first time on this course and I don't really have a time goal. My only goal was to make it up Devil Hill and I am happy to be able to do that.