Buckner Mission Man Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

My wave started first as there is no elite division at these races. I wanted to be 1st out of the water. I'll have to settle for 5th. There's some bad ass mofo's out there...though the fastest guy in the wave had me by 45 secs. I went out hard as hell at the start and felt good the first 200. There was a lot of pushing and kicking in there. I caught a heel in the chin that clacked my teeth together and someone got a little fresh with my ass. *grin* (don't tell wifey).

Went hard most of the way...felt a little crappy around 400y but that went away after awhile. Finished strong and sprinted up the ramp.



This swim was not my personal best for this course, so I'm a little disappointed. There are a couple of reasons I think that I'm disappointed in my swim time.

For the past 2 months, all I've done is base building. The body is dialed into long efforts not necessarily at high effort levels. I don't think I was able to cope with the high heart rate levels.

I'm not too sure about wearing tri-tops over my chest. I swear that the little pocket in the back acts like a little drag chute. Its probably all in my head, but I think it cost me a little bit of time.

When I shave down the legs I truly believe that I'm faster. Don't know if its physical or mental, but every race that I've done shaved down, I've felt like I've had better performance than not. I didn't do it for this race.

Its a great time, but for my previous 2 races here, my personal best is a mid 12 swim. I was hoping to better that one.

Awesome transition. 34/299 overall and 5/47 ranked. I don't normally have good T1's. This one was fantastic for me. The HR was maxed all the way through transition.

Tie up the shoes.

One of the tough things about being a good swimmer but an average biker and runner is having to deal with the passing. Lost a bunch of spots here. I just can't seem to get up to the level that some of these other guys are at and I can't figure out what the trick is.

The first 3-4 miles the HR and breathing was totally maxed. I was gasping for breath for most of the first 15 mins of the ride. Once I settled in, I started feeling a little better and picked up the pace for the 2nd half of the ride.

Nothing funny or exciting on this one. I was disappointed in this leg though it was a typical performance for me. I think again, my performance was related to the type of training I have been doing over the last 2 month.

Awesome T2. 16/299 overall and 4/47 ranked. Had a difficult time right after dismount in that there was this speed bump that cause my bike to launch up in the air and my shoes were getting destroyed dragging along the pavement. But, it was hella fast. Best T2 I think I've ever had.

Went sockless for the run. I wasn't sure if the feet would pay for it later or not....

Nothing.

This run still kicks my ass. I lost about 3 seconds at the first water station because I couldn't get my breath and my heart was about to blow down through my stomach. I didn't think that I'd be sub 8 min miles, so I'm a little happier than I thought I would be.

4 blisters. I think I knew it was going to happen but didn't want to give up the time in t-1 or t-2 to get em on. Oh well.



Train for the race next year...instead of IMFL. heh heh. I just wasn't in the right kind of shape for this race. I think I figured coming into it that my base would make up for my lack of speed work...but that's not quite true. I felt like I could run a heck of a lot more, but just not at 7 min mile pace.

Amazingly enough, I felt pretty good post race after I brought the heart rate down. Not too sore after - worst was a little tenderness in the calves. Headed to T-area to see if Denise was back from her bike yet. I was happily surprised to see that she was out on the run course. I switched to some sandals and walked out to the turnaround on the run course to wait for Denise.


I'm base training for IMFL. I think the lack of speed work and intervals played a pretty big part of my slower speeds than what I felt I am capable of.


Best part of this race by far was seeing all the BT friends and local athletes that I train with. I met Ernie-ern for the first time and he looked great out there too! Grats Ernie!!!! All you BT folks rock!

Wifey kicked some ass out there. I'm soooooooooooo very proud of her. Solid swim, great bike for her (we're still working on the run aren't we sweetie?)

The only thing missing was the wild wonder twin..err...G8RSAX. *smile*

Next stop....Florida!!!!