Timberman Triathlon - Short Course - TriathlonShort Course

Here's something I don't say often--I honestly wondered if I was going to be able to finish this swim. This was BY FAR the choppiest water I have ever swam in. The first 150 yards or so were a complete nightmare--3 or 4 huge gulps of water and people everywhere. The waves were huge, just huge. I nearly started to panic at one point when I inhaled a bunch of water, and then was immediately dragged under by someone. At one point I just wanted to stop and scream "Get off of me people!!!" Everyone was just flailing as best they could to get to the turn around and it was horrible, really.

I just thought to myself, "Calm down, get to the turn around, and you'll be fine." So that's what I tried to do. On the bright side, I didn't swim very far off course. I was not going to swim one extra yard in that mess if I didn't have to, so I was sighting just about every single stroke.

I made it to the turn around, got around the buoys pretty well, and then headed back in. This was much easier of course, but still no picnic. There were still people everywhere, it seemed. Very little clear water to be found and impossible to draft. I was very, very happy to get done with this swim. The best thing I can say about it is that I was very well hydrated for the rest of the race.

There wasn't a lot that could be helped here, really. This swim just generally sucked. I could have done a better job of plowing through at the beginning. I was too hestitant and ended up getting caught up in a huge mess.

This was also very unimpressive. I actually got my wetsuit off with no problem, got my bike shoes and sunglasses on, and grabbed my helmet. Then I tried to get my bike off the rack and totally lost my balance! Both me and my bike went crashing to the ground. I'm glad I didn't take down the whole rack at least. In addition to slowing me down, it was quite embarrassing. :) I finally regained compusure and trotted out of the T area, but I have a couple of new scrapes and bruises to add to my collection.

Um, remain upright...

This was better than the swim, but certainly not pleasant. The wind was not helpful, to put it mildly. It was sustained about about 20 mph or so, with gusts too of course. Fun! :P

The long climb was a chore, and I was becoming re-acquainted with my small chain ring for most of it. After it was done though, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Lots of downhills that were really pretty fun. My max speed on my computer was 40.5 mph! The fastest I saw myself was 38.5 mph and I just though, "I sure hope I don't fall!"

The course was crowded and that made passing tricky at times, but the end of the ride was good.

My computer had the ride at about 11.5 miles and my average at 16.5, but the official distance was 10.8 miles, making my average 16.0.

Not much to do about the wind and the hill, so I guess just more time in the saddle, as usual.

This actually went really well. I was in and out pretty fast. The one thing that slowed me down a bit was taking the time to put on my watch as I trotted out of the T area. I couldn't find it before the race because it was tucked in my running shoe, so when I did find it, I wanted to put it on.

Put the watch on before the race.

I didn't feel too badly here, thankfully. It took a bit for the legs to not feel like cement, but once I got going it was ok. The best thing about the relentless wind was that it was good for keeping me cool on the run (at least on the way out).

As usual, people were passing me right and left on the run, but I just keep focusing on good form, relaxed shoulders, and a quick turnover. I only passed two people on the run and they were both men, so that didn't help my age group rank at all. Oh well.

Just run more. This is actually my best run on this course of the three times I've raced it, so I was pleased with that. I'm still slow as molasses compared to everyone else, but this was not bad for me. Sub 10's, so I'm good with that.

I tried very hard to keep moving after the race and actually spent some time stretching for once. My left hip was really tight for some reason, so I concentrated on that a lot.

I drank some water and gatorade, and ate a banana and some watermelon. Yummy!


Say it with me, people: my run slowness and my weight! :) It's a familiar refrain by now. But this time I can also attribute some of it to that wind. It was just terrible. And it only got worse as the day wore on so thank goodness we started at 8 am. By the time I finished at about 10 am, I don't think they could have safely started a swim in that lake, it was that bad.


Well, for the first time ever in my 25 races, we didn't stay for the awards so I hope they didn't draw my name for the bike. We had a family reunion to get to and when it was nearing 11:00 and the awards hadn't even started yet, we knew we had to leave. I looked for kanders and leapdog to say goodbye, but didn't find either one. Sorry guys! It was nice to chat with you both.

This race is very well run and the shirt is very nice. The only complaint I had was that there weren't enough port-a-johns this year but that's pretty small potatoes in the grand scheme. Hopefully next year the bike course will be back to it's normal route (minus that hill :) ). I think this is my best time at this race (or very close to it) but since the bike course was different this year, I can't really compare or call it a PR for this race. We had a good day though and will be back!