The drive up was uneventful as was scoping out the bike course. I was a bit concerned about the 10 miles of climbing between miles 38 and 48 (Insert elevation profile here) but I figured if I took it easy the whole way I should be in good shape. The test run and ride later that day were also uneventful. I had taken off a couple days prior to make sure I was rested and I felt fine the day before.
Oh, what a difference a day makes. The water was a bit chilly; the official USAT measurement was 61 degrees but the day before they measured it at 54 degrees in the middle of the lake. In any event, aside from the cold water the swim was uneventful. I hopped on the bike and off I was for 56+ miles of fun. I started off feeling strong but at the same time, I was taking it easy knowing I had a long day ahead. Early on in the ride (7 miles to be exact), I hear a 'wsh-wsh-wsh' and sure enough, my front tire was flat. Not a great way to start the day. As luck would have it, the wind picked up for the second half of the ride and seemed to be pretty much a headwind the whole way. Nice. The icing on the cake is that I went down the wrong chute coming into transition. They were both side-by-side and I picked the wrong one (despite everyone yelling at me). While trying to turn around I ended up jacking up my toe which, at the time of this writing, is double its normal size and a nice shade of plum.
Let's go for a run, shall we? I took a little extra time in transition and headed out on the run. They had an aid station setup every mile so the initial plan was to run between every aid station and upon arriving, take a nice little walk sampling whatever fare they had to offer. Mile 1, the plan worked great. Miles 2-13, not so much. I ended up taking a 10 to 20-second walk-break every half-mile which ended up working out alright. I was able to maintain a faster pace and actually passed a handful people (who were shuffling along) using this method. Unfortunately as the mile wore on the breaks became more frequent... and longer. From about mile 2 and on everything hurt. It wasn't cramping or stomach issues or injuries cropping up, it was just fatigued muscles. Somehow I was able to finish but the time was A LOT slower than I had anticipated.
All in all, not the day I was hoping for. Sure, I finished, which is always the main goal (and a good thing) but a handful of things were less-than-ideal. Obviously there was the flat, the jacked up toe and I felt woefully underprepared (especially for the run). Woefully. Oh well, I'll have a chance to work on a few things before the next race (Mountain Man HIM on July 20, 2008). Until then it'll be more running, more (long) bricks and a tweak to the nutrition strategy, as I think that probably played a big role (the biggest perhaps) in the crapass run.
Anyhoo, the vital stats...
Overall Time: 6:10:38
Place (Overall): 59/117
Place (Age Group): 9/12
Swim: 35:51 (46th)
T1: 2:53 (51st)
Bike: 3:09:45 (61st)
T2: 3:02 (72nd)
Run: 2:19:05 (67th)
Sunburn:
After seeing this picture I could surely stand to drop about 10+ lbs and that'll surely help me go faster too.