Tri the Pee Dee Race Results

Going into this race, I have been very nervous. I have been getting ready for a triathlon seriously for about 2 or 3 months, and I have only recently been comfortable with longer type swims. I headed out from the hotel at 6 am, and got to Emerald Lake to setup. I found my transition spot, and setup for stuff for the race. Then, I had about an hour to wait for Amy, the Boys, and my Folks to arrive and for the race to begin. I walked around the site, and made myself familiar with the layout.

Swim

Being in the novice group meant leaving last for the swim. It is not fun being as nervous as I was, and having to wait for everyone else to go ahead of you. I know it makes sense for the faster racers to go first, so us slow pokes don't get in their way. I'm just saying, it's not fun. The Open group of men and women were finishing their swim, as my group headed out. I must say overall my goal for the swim was to just get it over with. The water temp was fine, but I found the lake very murky. I had trouble seeing, and couldn't see my hands in front of me. I knew to expect to kicked and pushed a lot, but I was still not ready for it when it started. I tried staying out of people's way, but that did not good. Embarassingly, at one point I even swam back to shore, and ended up getting way off course. I stuck my head back in the water and headed back out to the buoys marking the path. My goggles were fogged up, and I had trouble seeing anything in the water. Eventually, as I turned back for home on the loop swim course, I developed a sort of technique for open water swimming. I found that swimming only freestyle was hard, and ended up mixing in breast stroke to sight my path better. I still swam very zig zag though. I felt like I was in the very back the whole way, and swam like hell just to get it over with and out of the water. As I came out of the swim and headed into T1, I looked at my watch, and saw I swam the course under 18 minutes. I was floored.

Transition 1

Not much to say other than it was a long way from the lake to the bike racks, and I was ragged out from the swim. I noticed my HR was over 180 (A new Max for me) and was awfullt shaky and not thinking straight. I wasted a lot of time and saw many other racers come and go. A bad sign.

Bike

Once I got on the bike, I felt more relaxed, and headed out on the dread dirt road. I followed a slower rider most of the way, and gained composure from the swim. My HR was still over 170 for the first mile. As I headed to the Highway paved portion of the ride, I took in some Gu, and dropped into high gear. Bang! My chain poppes off. I've had this bike since I was in high school, and never once has the chain come off. I tried back pedalling and adjusting the gears, but still no luck. I got off the bike to fix the thing, and for a few tense moments thoughts I was gonna have to give up, while other racers zoomed past. Eventually, the thing took hold and I was off. I held mostly 18 mph over the whole course with a few moments in 19 and 20!! I was happy with my pace, and kept thinking "Just keep pressing." I passed about 15 people on the bike, and felt good for the first time in the race. I caught all the riders that passed me and few more that were not even in my group. The ride was flat, and easy as advertised. I made this section under 53 minutes. Although my bike speed was averaged at 17.77 mph, I know if not for the dirt road, I would have been into 18+ zone.

T2

Not as bad. Faster. Took Gu and water then off.

Run

The run was a 3 lap loop around the lake that I swam earlier. As I headed out, I could see Amy cheering, and that got me pepped up. My legs took a bit to adjust, and I ran a medium pace the first lap. My side started to tighten up and I held back a bit to gauge the seriousness of the pain. Lap 2 was much the same as lap 1. The course was sandy with no hills. Just like running at Sesqui. As I started lap 3, the pain went away, and I pushed hard to make my 30 min goal. I felt great the last leg, and kept wondering how much I still had in the tank. The last lap Bobby and Joey surprised me with signs, too. They were cheering loudly, and I really got it going then. As lap 3 ended, I veered off to the finish line in full sprint. Some folks near the end thought it a tad strange someone in the back of the pack was running this hard, but I wanted to make my 30 minute goal. I felt it would be close, since the first 2 laps were about 10 minute miles by my watch. Ending the race, I met up with family and I felt great to be done, and share my time with them. I will always remember my boys running to hug me after the race. Especially because Joey immediately proclaimed me as too wet to touch.

Stats:
Swim - 17:12 (Yipee)
T1 - 3:57 (Too Long!)
Bike - 52:32 (Good)
T2 - 1:33 (Not bad)
Run - 29:08 (Good)
Total - 1:44:21 (Yess!
Max HR - 183
Avg HR - 160
Cals: 1540
117 out of 139 Men Racing
6 out of 10 Novices Racing (The winner was in at 1H 28 Min!!!)

Overall

I have no idea where the swim time came from. I had planned a 25 minute swim, and thought that may be a tad too much. If not for the off course suff, I could have been faster. I must say the swim terrified me, and that was the motivation to swim like I did. I must channel that next time. The bike was great. I needed a section to feel good about. I'd like to be as fast as a 20 mph average mext time, but what I did today was above my training, so I'm happy. The run was good, but boring. Not much to look at, and running 3 laps was nerve racking. I kept thinking about what lap I was on, hoping my brain was still working. If I can, I'd like to lower this to 28 minutes, too! My goal was under 2 hours, and I did that by more than 15 minutes. I'm extremely happy about that. Next time I'd like to be into 1 hour 30 minute category. I'm exhausted. My stomache is still tight from the race, but I feel good otherwise. I'm taking 2 days of rest, and then I will start focusing on my next race.

Pics of the Race: http://web.mac.com/tswick/iWeb/Site/Tri%20the%20Pee%20Dee.html