Cardinal Harbour Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

We went off in three waves. I was in the first wave of all men, 39 and under. It was a deep water start. The first 300-400 yards were tight. There was lots of kicking and hitting other racers. Jeremy lost his Polar watch. It got kicked off his wrist. It’s sitting at the bottom of the Ohio River somewhere right now.
Once I got out of the start melee I settled down and tried to keep an even, steady pace. I didn’t want to get my HR up too high, or I was going to be in for a very long day. I popped out of the water at 39 minutes exactly and ran up to T1.


Nothing.

I'm actually surprised that this transition was only 2:45. I didn’t take my sweet time here, but didn’t rush either. I had a lot of crap to put on. My HR monitor strap, the Garmin, socks, helmet, shoes, gloves. The transition area was in high grass and I had a lot of grass sticking to my feet. I sat down and made sure to wipe it all off before putting on my socks. I talked to a few people and double checked I had everything, then-off to bike.

Nothing. I'm planning on a 10 minute transition for L'ville, so this one was just fine.

I started out with a group, we kept passing each other back and forth. A few miles into the ride we started hitting the hills. I got a nice complement from another rider. We’d have a stretch of flats and he’d pass me, then I’d pass him on the hills. While going up one hill he said I climbed really well for a big guy. I told him thanks and that I’d been doing 80-100 miles of hill work each weekend.
The RD had told us that there would be a police officer or volunteer at each turn. Well, he missed two of those turns. They were busy intersections that really needed a cop there directing traffic. I slowed way down on one of them and had to let a car pass. Jeremy and Amy said they had to come to a complete stop, unclip and put their foot down. WTF? The second turn was a few miles later. We had a stop sign and the cross traffic had the right of way. Again, no cop. There was no traffic here for me, luckily. I yelled out to the bikers behind me that it was clear.
Overall I felt good on the bike. My climbing is noticeably improved. Those long weekend hill sessions are paying off. My eating and drinking were good. I ate my "triathlete trail mix" I invented a few weeks ago. That's broken up cliff bar with pretzels, sports beans and e-tabs. Yum. I also finally figured out I could pee on the bike. I've peed off the side before with no problem but this was my first time going while clipped in. I made sure I had plenty of water to clean up afterwards.


Nothing

This was a really good T2.

Nothing

I ran the first few miles with no issues. Then my bowels started telling me that it was time to empty them. I ran the whole course and THERE WERE NO FREAKIN’ PORTA-POTTIES ANYWHERE. How do you not have johns on a run course? I’ll spare you all most of the details but let me just say I went off in the woods, pulled my cheeks apart and handled my business. The aid stations were placed at the right intervals, I thought. After about mile 8 I’d run between them. That’d be my break. I saw Amy and Jeremy several times. Jeremy had a really nice run. He made up almost 20 minutes on me of the 30 that I’d built up over the bike.
The last few miles I ran/walked with a guy named Mike. We helped each other get through those last few. The last ¾ mile was over tall grass. I didn’t know we’d be off- roading it.
After I crossed the finish line Amy caught me. She took off my chip strap for me and pointed me in the direction of some water to drink. There were no volunteers helping out the finishers and no food at the finish. There were a couple 5 gallon jugs of water that you could help yourself to.
I waited with Amy for Jeremy to cross. When he did I took his strap for him and gave him some water. He headed straight down to the river and jumped in. He told me there was no water at the last 2 aid stations. Jeremy does not do well with no water during exercise.


Nothing, this was a pretty good performance. I'm upset that the distance was incorrect.

Once Jeremy cooled down we headed up to the clubhouse to get some food. We said goodbye to Amy (who took 3rd in her AG! Way to go Amy!) and hit the road. On the way out we decided to drive the run course and look for Tammy and Jenn. We couldn't find Jenn but spotted Tammy. Jeremy and I jumped out of the van and gave her a hug each. She looked strong and seemed excited that she was going to finish soon.


Nothing.


This race was good and bad. I'll never do another race with this company again. I paid $100 to do this thing. I didn't get $100 in race support. The volunteers who were on the course were great, but not having police support at those intersections is inexcusable. And not having volunteers in the finishing chute, the mis-measured run course and the running out of water at the aid stations, well, that’s also inexcusable.
That’s all I have to say about the race company.

I had hoped the weather would be a little hotter to get me ready for L’ville. It was mild that day and it helped me set a PR, so I’m happy about that, but I had hoped for some more strenuous training.
I set a PR by 40:24, and I beat Jeremy, and that’s always a good thing. It was fun hanging out with Jenn, Amy, Tammy and their spouses. Overall, it was a good race with a bad race company.