Well damn.  I put my RR in there and when I saved/uploaded, it disappeared.  Now I can't edit.  Here is the word version:

743 Michael Rogillio 00:40:22 00:02:47 01:35:51 15.52 00:03:09 01:34:50 15:33 03:56:59 48

DFL

After 13 year of triathloning I have finally reached the nadir of my career!  Unfortunately, I got robbed of my DFL title as I was next to last so there is still room for unimprovement.  J

About a year at our 29^th HS reunion I found one of my classmates was an avid triathlete.  So we decided we’d meet up somewhere and race together.  Knee surgery, weight gain and job issues are my excuses.

I knew I was not prepared for the race but I know my body well enough to know I could finish the race.  If I had not made the commitment to my friend, I would have DNS’d.

SWIM

It was threatening rain just as I was getting in the water.  The occasional lightening strikes in the ominous western sky were rather disconcerting but I swam along from buoy to buoy.  I finished the 1.5km swim in 40:22. 

T1

It was not till I got to T1 did I realize how much it has rained as my gear was soaked.  I put my biking shoes, shirt and helmet on and headed out.  I spend 2:47 in T1.

BIKE

It was raining pretty hard as I headed out on the bike.  The rain soon let up but the wind did not!  I biked into a headwind for about 12 miles.  When I finally turned to head back in I looked at my trip computer and saw I had averaged a pitiful 13.3 mph!  Ugh!  But with the wind at my back I found a easy 20 mph pace back in.  I knew the run was gonna be slow so I hammered the second half of the bike as hard as I could.  I finished the 40 km (25 mile) biked in 1:35:51 averaging 15:52 mph. 

T2

Back in muddy transition area, I racked my bike, put on socks and running shoes and headed out.  

RUN

It’s always awkward running after biking hard for any distance but I knew almost immediately this run was gonna hurt.  The swim and the bike were slow but they did not hurt.  The run was gonna be agonizingly slow and painful.  My legs were toast at the start of run and were sorer at the start of this 10k than they were at mile 20 of my last IM and I was packing about 60 more pounds of excess baggage than I did on the IM.    As I tried to run my quads started to cramp.  I took it one mile at a time and tried to make myself run as long as could but will power will only take you so far when you body is not trained.  I eventually finished in 1:34:50 which is an embarrassing 15:33 minute/mile pace.

POST RACE

I had requested late checkout from the hotel but they only gave me to 12 noon.  One thing that kept me pushing on as much as my body would allow on the run was the desire to get back and take a shower before having to check out.  I finished at 11:40 am and was able to get a quick shower and then headed to the big tent for the post race meal.  Drove home after lunch….completely spent.

The ‘good news’ is, I have found new motivation to train and lose weight.  It ain’t over for me yet….I’m on my way back.