What a beautiful day to do a triathlon. Today was my first triathlon race for this summer season. I raced the Maumee Bay Triathlon international distance which was a 1500 meter swim, 40K bike, and a 10K run.
The swim was in a man made lake with water temperatures warm enough for me to swim in with no wet suit. We swam 2 loops in a calm lake. It was a typical swim with slapping and bumping into each other but I managed to enjoy a steady hard pace with no problems. My swim time was 32:18. Now I need to work on breaking 30 minutes for a 1500 meter swim. It may take a year before that happens but I plan to work on it.
T1 was about throwing my swim cap and goggles into my bag, slip on a jersey with race number already pined to it, put on sun glasses, helmet, un-rack bike and run with bike. My shoes were already clipped onto the pedals. T1 time 56 seconds.
The bike ride was on country roads with no hills to climb or go down. We did have some tail winds to push me at plus 22 miles per hour average but the head winds held me at 18 miles per hour average. Bike time 1:12:02.
Before T2 I slipped my feet out from my shoes and rode with them on top of the shoes for about 200 yards to the dismount line. I hopped off and ran with my bike to the racking area and racked my bike, threw my helmet into my bag, slipped on running shoes and I began to run the 10K. T2 time 49 seconds.
The run was a flat out and back course with very little shade to cover us from the brutal, blazing sun which was wearing down the runners. I was able to average a 6:30 per mile pace but felt the heat sap my strength and energy the last 2 miles. My fluid and gel intake I felt was adequate until I came to the last drink station and was disappointed that they had no water but only Exceed. I decided against drinking Exceed but later realized I should have taken at least a sip to help me mentally make it through the last mile to the finish. Run time was 41:44.
My goal with this race was to race hard and to have fun starting my triathlon season. I was hoping to finish in under 2:30:00 and managed to finish with a time of 2:27:49. I was very please with the how the race organizers put on a top quality race and would like to thank them and all the volunteers for a great season opener for me.
7 comments:
Awesome race! It was a pleasant surprise to see you out there! Maybe we can work on our swim times together!
WOW, that's an impressive race result!
You gotta teach me how to get on the bike and then put on the shoes... I hate running with the cleats on, but I have this fear of falling over while trying to get my foot in the shoe on the bike...
Coooooool!
Races sounds awesome! Keep up the awesome training!!
Great job Lou! Sounds as though things went awesome!!!
Great race and fantastic transitions!
Wow - great job! Congrats on a great race!
I KNOW this race was a long time ago...but I wanted to say congrats anyway. I grew up in Perrysburg so have many fond memories of the area! Someday I will have to venture back there and do this tri!
Post a Comment