I couldn't believe that my splits kept getting lower! I started to run harder after I passed the "5 km" sign and picked a few people that I wanted to pass.
It was an early morning and I really didn't sleep well. There were dark clouds and lots of wind before I left the house. I biked to the race site, about 6 km, as my warm up. When I got there, shortly after 7 am, the wind was howling. I couldn't lay my towel out because it just kept blowing away. I wanted to have my stuff laid out to save some time, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. So I went to check out the water. Ever heard of white caps? Not the preferred swimming conditions. I kept myself busy by walking through the transition area and getting myself familiar with my bike’s location. I really did not want any trouble finding it. By 9 am the winds had calmed down and the water was smooth, for a lake. That was reassuring--the swim wasn't going to be too bad, and the bike should be good without much wind.
The "Swim" I watched the start of the "Try-a-Tri" and noticed that most people were doing dolphin dives the whole way. Some were just running through the water; there was very little swimming going on.
My group, the blue caps, was to go after the elite athletes were away. Most of the elite were dolphining as well. Apparently, because the course went along the shore, the water never got very deep, like waist-deep at the halfway point. So my "easy going" strategy changed to "dolphining" then and there. If it's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me.
I dolphined for about 80% and swam the rest. I was able to see my wife and daughter cheering me on as I came out of the water. That was cool.
My 'swim' time: 12:29, 1:34 minutes/100 meters..
T1 (swim-bike) I ran up the beach and at the top they had little kiddy pools filled with water, to wash your feet off. I slipped and very nearly wiped out but managed to save it. That got me a couple of cheers. Having a heel blister, I took my time getting my socks and shoes on and getting myself out onto the bike course.
3:07. Too slow, but worth getting it right the first time.
The Bike Windsor (actually, all of Essex County) is flat. Completely flat. So the course is flat and fast. Without much wind I was able to push it pretty much the whole way. The volunteers were great, cheering everyone on as they went by. There were a lot of people who had spent a lot of money on their bikes. I noticed this as I passed them all. Well, I didn't pass everyone, but no one who passed me was riding a 20 year old classic. Some of the older men, who started after me, flew by me on their rockets.
My bike time: 55:27, average speed 32.46 km/hr. Fast.
T2 (bike-run)
Rack the bike and take of the helmet, start running. 53 seconds. The official race results say that my bike time was 59:27, which includes both transitions. I kept my own splits because of that.
The Run At this point I was tired, but I knew I had to fight through those first 2 km to get my legs back, just like during all those bricks. Things went really well for the run. There were plenty of water stations and each kilometer was marked. Here are my splits for the run: Km 1: 4:58 Km 2: 4:48 Km 3: 4:33 Km 4: 4:38 Km 5: 4:40 Km 6: 4:23 Total: 28:05 (right on target)
I couldn't believe that my splits kept getting lower! I started to run harder after I passed the "5 km" sign and picked a few people that I wanted to pass. When I got to the last 200 meters a guy came up behind me and yelled, "Come on, let's go!" I accepted his challenge and we sprinted for the line and I KICKED HIS BUTT! That felt awesome.
I came in 80th overall, 11/19 in my age group. My time was 1hr40m00s. A full five minutes faster than I had expected. I am totally thrilled with how things went.
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My First Tri - Windsor Triathlon
I couldn't believe that my splits kept getting lower! I started to run harder after I passed the "5 km" sign and picked a few people that I wanted to pass.
It was an early morning and I really didn't sleep well. There were dark clouds and lots of wind before I left the house. I biked to the race site, about 6 km, as my warm up. When I got there, shortly after 7 am, the wind was howling. I couldn't lay my towel out because it just kept blowing away. I wanted to have my stuff laid out to save some time, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. So I went to check out the water. Ever heard of white caps? Not the preferred swimming conditions. I kept myself busy by walking through the transition area and getting myself familiar with my bike’s location. I really did not want any trouble finding it. By 9 am the winds had calmed down and the water was smooth, for a lake. That was reassuring--the swim wasn't going to be too bad, and the bike should be good without much wind.
The "Swim"
I watched the start of the "Try-a-Tri" and noticed that most people were doing dolphin dives the whole way. Some were just running through the water; there was very little swimming going on.
My group, the blue caps, was to go after the elite athletes were away. Most of the elite were dolphining as well. Apparently, because the course went along the shore, the water never got very deep, like waist-deep at the halfway point. So my "easy going" strategy changed to "dolphining" then and there. If it's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me.
I dolphined for about 80% and swam the rest. I was able to see my wife and daughter cheering me on as I came out of the water. That was cool.
My 'swim' time: 12:29, 1:34 minutes/100 meters..
T1 (swim-bike)
I ran up the beach and at the top they had little kiddy pools filled with water, to wash your feet off. I slipped and very nearly wiped out but managed to save it. That got me a couple of cheers. Having a heel blister, I took my time getting my socks and shoes on and getting myself out onto the bike course.
3:07. Too slow, but worth getting it right the first time.
The Bike
Windsor (actually, all of Essex County) is flat. Completely flat. So the course is flat and fast. Without much wind I was able to push it pretty much the whole way. The volunteers were great, cheering everyone on as they went by. There were a lot of people who had spent a lot of money on their bikes. I noticed this as I passed them all. Well, I didn't pass everyone, but no one who passed me was riding a 20 year old classic. Some of the older men, who started after me, flew by me on their rockets.
My bike time: 55:27, average speed 32.46 km/hr. Fast.
T2 (bike-run)
Rack the bike and take of the helmet, start running. 53 seconds. The official race results say that my bike time was 59:27, which includes both transitions. I kept my own splits because of that.
The Run
At this point I was tired, but I knew I had to fight through those first 2 km to get my legs back, just like during all those bricks. Things went really well for the run. There were plenty of water stations and each kilometer was marked. Here are my splits for the run:
Km 1: 4:58
Km 2: 4:48
Km 3: 4:33
Km 4: 4:38
Km 5: 4:40
Km 6: 4:23
Total: 28:05 (right on target)
I couldn't believe that my splits kept getting lower! I started to run harder after I passed the "5 km" sign and picked a few people that I wanted to pass. When I got to the last 200 meters a guy came up behind me and yelled, "Come on, let's go!" I accepted his challenge and we sprinted for the line and I KICKED HIS BUTT! That felt awesome.
I came in 80th overall, 11/19 in my age group. My time was 1hr40m00s. A full five minutes faster than I had expected. I am totally thrilled with how things went.
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