New Jersey State Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Had a good amount of HS and College swimmers to deal with today. Usually not in my wave but it was ok. These guys are just swimming way too much for me to try and compete. Maybe 10+ years ago when all I was doing was swimming it would be different but not today. About 5 guys just bolted and I decided that it was not worth going anaerobic to stay with them. Let them go and drafted off another guy for a good portion of the swim. He was swimming a great line so I decided to hang on his feet and hip for a bit.

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Shoe tounges where a little bunched on my left shoe but they worked themselves into the correct position. Some how got into T1 6th and came out 1st or 2nd. Passed the lead guy about 50 yards into the ride and was out with the police car again. All too familiar territory.

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Right away I was in familiar territory. Right out in front and my legs were responding. Much better than Stone Harbor, my legs were flat and just didn't want to do anything there. Once I got my HR down I was holding 28-33 for most of the ride. Really hammering and feeling good. HR was way up but I expected it to be since I had decided to really ride hard for this ride. Great gear selection. Mixed between big and small ring when I needed it. Was pretty happy a few times on the flats to be over 30 MPH and holding it for a good bit. That is where I should be based on my training and base at this point of the year. At the turn I got a good look at who was coming on the bike. 2nd place guy was far enough back that I was ok but really decided to put it down and try and open the lead more.

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Quick T2. Bike right at the bike in like last year so I knew the deal. Stephen Del Monte was there screaming his head off at me to hurry up and get my shoes on and helmet off and get out of there. Put an extra jump in my time I guess. Off and running like crazy to get out of T2 and out of sight.

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I needed this run. Last weeks run really took a mental toll on me. Got off running good and really stayed to my own game plan. Run hard and don't look back. The rollers were taking a little bit of a toll on me but I was making sure to keep my strides nice and short and fast. That was a good sign. Helped a lot. Got to the turn around and was feeling good. The lead bike rider was pacing me good and I was feeling ok. Coming out of the long turn around section I got a look at the 2nd place guy. He was moving and I started to get a little worried. Made it back to the water station and was starting to hurt pretty badly. Grabbed a quick drink of water and dumped the rest on my head. Decided it was going to be "do or die" time pretty soon and was just waiting to figure out when was the right time. One last look over my shoulder and I could see that the 2nd place guy was coming hard but had not closed that much more on me. But he was coming for sure. He apparently was running 5 min miles as per the results. Got to the last up hill section and put my head down. Gave it everything I had and when I got to the top my lungs held up ok and I got a nice burst of energy. Took off hard and realized it was only about a .25 out to the finish line. Came around the turn, saw Steve's wife running over to the far end of the finish shoot screaming and hollering at me to hammer it out, made the right turn and saw the finish line. Glad to see Dee from the TRI team standing there holding the tape. Broke the tape and was elated that it was all over.

Nothing. Running is always going to be a mental game for me until I drop another 10-15 lbs and really get a super huge base under me. It will come with time.

Spoke to a lot of guys and just hung out. Hung out with Matt Kemple for quite a while and had a beer with him.


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Again an A+ for this race. Last year for the 1st year was a great race this year was 100 times better. From the expo to the awards, food, give always...a great time. As I said last year highly recommend this event.

Next year the OLY is on the list for me.