Pleasant Prairie Triathlon - International Race - TriathlonOlympic

Well this was my first olympic distance....i've been swiming this distance at the pace listed above in the pool so i guess its not unexpected that this is the pace i posted.....of course starting in wave 2 with my age group was my first issue...its a sight i'll probably remember for many years...we get in the water..start swimming..and me and one other guy (doing the backstroke) watch the whole rest of the wave (30-34 AG) leave us as if we were treading water....that was the first time i asked myself what the h ell was i doing racing an olympic....one the plus side i did swim more freestyle on this swim than my 2 prior sprints...however my directionally challanged freestyle stroke probable added another 200 meters to my swim...i ended up breaststroking the majority of the race...its probably worth noting that my pool practices at this distance were 100% freestyle and did not post much better times so it looks like i swim equally pathetic at both strokes =)
I was originally going to rent a wetsuit but decided against it as i head the lake temps may have gotten close to 84 and i figured mentally i should be ready to swim without....although it would have to be a pretty damn good wetsuit to shave 30 mins of my time...waded in as the final wave was heading into the water...55+ minutes....HOLY CRAAP....the 2nd time i asked myself what the h ell.......

erm....learn to swim.......find a brand of wetsuit that could take 30 mins of my swim......

swimming is going to be my primary focus during the off-season already talked to my swim coach....luckily for me i have plenty of room for improvement....

After my 55 minute swim i knew my dreams of the podium were shattered =) so i just relaxed and got ready for the bike

mentally stay in the race....

I had higher hopes for the bike leg.....having done the 22mile high cliff sprint in just over 1:19 and not having THE high cliff hill on this course i was hoping for under 1:25 - BUT.....

from the get go i was having gear issues everytime i switched in to top gear the CLUNK would cause my left shoe to unclip.....around mile 9 after another CLUNK my chain came off...pulled over and fixed the chain issue but from that point forward something was wrong with the shifter and the only gear it would stay in was my top gear...cool..only 16 miles to go.....so while it wasn't as bad as i thought and thank god this was a prety flat course my legs felt trashed by the time i rolled in to T2

have a functioning set of gears

so I get to my rack past my whole AG already wrapping up and sporting their medals...the guy next to me is chatting about the race and i have to say...i'm not done yet....discussed my gear issues for a few seconds and headed over to the run out.....wasn't sure what i had left after my bike...

again mentally stay in the race...

Run was actually uneventful...ran at a slightly faster pace than a 7 miler i did last week in training.....

some how the results are missing my run segment..so this time is my guestimate

i hate to blame a gizmo but i hope to get a garmin 305 soon and i think having a better feel for my actual pace would allow me to push the pace a little more.....a little slower than what i was running earlier in the season but my base has suffered from my poor training the last month..

caught the bus back to the mud pit..managed to get my car out without getting stuck...picked up the bike and headed home - expo and any food and post race "stuff" was long since packed up and closed down...


swim.....way to slow....bike equipment hurt me here....




overall i was way undertrained for this distance - work and family had to take precedance for most of july & august - even without equipment issues i would maybe have posted 3:40....still not good enough...

I think 08 will be another year of sprints with an oly at the end