Timberman Triathlon

Finally.

I had wanted to do this race since 2007, it was now 2011. Better late then never. I would like to say that with the many years of anticipation leading up to this event that this was a perfect race. That didn't happen. Racing is about mentality, if something goes wrong in your personal life an endurance race can really tank. Triathletes of all levels, even the pros, have bad races when they are having bad days. I was having a bad day...

We don't need to go into too many details but long story short: I was in the process of being dumped, so my head wasn't in it. I was convinced that I could show up and still race at my peak level, but when you are out on the course for over two hours there is a lot of time for thinking, and when that thinking is missing some positive thoughts, your best is not what is going to happen.

I don't mean to blame my ex or make excuses for a poor race. She is a wonderful person and I respect her decision, at the same time I won't pretend it didn't effect my race. But enough of that, how about the race!!!

Timberman Triathlon, June 9th 2011: 1 mile swim; 22.9 mile bike; 6 mile run
Race plan/goals: Go out hard on the swim, do your thing! Improve on T1 from Buffalo's disaster. Steady on the bike, working too hard will screw over the whole race. Even paced run, assess level of fatigue and decide on a pace that can be held for 6 miles. Crank it up at the end! Goal time 2:28:00

Swim: Rain delay for the start, not a pretty day. I sprinted out the first couple of minutes and then settled into a long strong stroke with little kicking. I held on a guys wake for the first half and then pushed ahead of him at the turn around. Came out at 20 minutes, not great but not bad. Also I wasn't really tired so that was a good sign. 20th overall 2nd in my AG

T1: I made some improvements. I had my clothes on under the wetsuit however I still struggled getting it off, maybe removing the timing chip will be faster? Try it next year. 2:26 not bad.

Bike: Long... Slower course and my weakness. Huge 4 mile climb that is repeated as it's a two loop course, however that climb is undone by a fast 1 mile steep downhill. 2nd time around I missed the turn and ended up doing probably an extra 3/4 mile, oh well. The 2nd loop the climb killed me. Rough bike time, especially with that extra distance. 1:24 104th overall 7th in AG

T2: Smooth and fast, highest ranking of the day at 12th, counts for something. 0:51

Run: After a bad bike I really needed to make up ground. I flew for the first mile  at a 6:45 and realized it was too fast. I settled at about a 7:30 pace for the next two miles but I was getting tired. My pace dropped dramatically and I hardly had any kick. 47:30 an average of 7:55. 52nd overall and 6th in my age group.

Final time: 2:35:27 69th out of 120 and 7th out of 7 in my AG. Definitely room for improvement. These Olympic distance athletes were far better than the sprint course athletes I had encountered in buffalo. But it was a start, I had completed my first triathlon season.