Sunday, June 11, 2006

Wendy's Triathlon Race Recap.

Do you know why Wendy's restaurants make their burgers square? According to Dave, founder of Wendy's, said that, they do not cut any corners when it comes to making a great tasting burger. I would have to say that would be the same with the Wendy's International Triathlon, that I ran this past Sunday. There were no corners cut in this well run race.

The Swim was in beautiful Alum Creek State park beach. We swam in warm 72 degree water which was warmer than the 62 degree air temperature. It was a 1/2 mile swim from one end of the beach to the other end. Before the race I was debating whether to use my wet suit or not. I didn't want to lose time in transition by fiddling and fumbling with trying to get the wet suit off.
I went with wearing the wet suit. We swam in about 4 to 4 1/2 feet water which some people would stand up and walk through but I didn't want to cut any corners so I swam freestyle non stop. With the buoyancy, comfort, and confidence I gained from wearing the wet suit I was well pleased with my swim results. I managed to get the suit off in no time standing up by using my legs to step on and pull off the suit without much hands.
1/2 mile swim in 14:26 13th out of 28 in my age group.
T1 in 1:29 fastest transition time in my age group. (not too much fumbling around here.)

The Bike was a fairly flat and fast course. Although, I came upon the result of 2 crashes. One was at a sharp left corner and the other was at an intersection where we had to zig then zag around 2 short corners and around cars that were held up by patrol officers. I think 2 maybe 3 people were involved in that one. As I approached these turns I cautiously went through and found a clear open line for me to sprint about 100 yards to regain my speed.
16.8 mile bike in 48:06 (20.9 mph average) 5th out of 28 in age group.
T2 in 1:43 5th out of 28. (fiddled and fumbled with trying to unsnap chip strap with cold and numb fingers) Next time before I get near transition I will shake and squeeze my hands to get blood flow and circulation in them.

The Run was also on a flat and fast course. This was my chance to catch 4 of the remaining 5 guys in my age group. No problem, since I am a runner turned triathlete. I had the 6th fastest overall run time.
5K run in 18:53 (6:03 average pace)
Finish time 1:24:39
2nd place in 45-49
Wendy's web site results

19 comments:

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

WOW!!! Congratulations! Awesome race.

Cliff said...

Great race Papa Louie..even before finish reading this post, i know u will smoke them in the run leg :O

Eric said...

Great race Lou. You still amaze me with your running abilities. That was a smokin' 5k

Trifrog said...

Not a bad bike split for a runner!

Great to hear the water is warm; I'm going down there for FRR's race in 2 weeks. You should join me at Alum Creek again in August for an Olympic distance.

Why are the buns still round? ;)

Trisaratops said...

WOW Papa Louie! You never cease to amaze me--fantastic race! :) Holy bike split, too!

Lora said...

Awesome job! Way to show them how us 45-49ers ROCK!

psbowe said...

congratulations!! YOu're amazing.

JeffM said...

Congratulations! That's a fast bike time and of course amazing run time.

Neese said...

lol trifrog, *great* question!

Papa Louie, you rock! so glad it was a good tri all around and you placed 2nd that is fantastic!

:)

Deb said...

That is awesome! Congrats on a beautiful day!!

Kewl Nitrox said...

Good race. That was a 5K sprint!

Janet Edwards said...

Great job Lou! Even after swimming and biking, you fly through the run!

Pixie said...

Awesome job! Congrats

Iron Jayhawk said...

Awesome job!!!!!!!!!! Congrats on a fabulous race. Way to catch up to the other guys in the run. :)

Papa Louie said...

TriFrog, who doesn't like nice round buns?

qcmier said...

Nice race. Doing any mile repeats soon?

Papa Louie said...

qcmier: I'll be doing 3x1600 June 27 (in Alaska), and July 25, then Sept 12

Neese said...

hey PL, may i call ya "PL"? :)
just wanted to say i got your comment about the Iron Yoga.. that's so cool, i got mine at amazon as well (good price there although i found it a smidge cheaper via walmart online) you and I both will have to post a review about it for sure.

xo

Meredith said...

Wow! Guess I should have followed you throughout the race and I would have done so much better. :)