Tri for Real - Race Report

September 19, 2010.  This would be my 7th triathlon of the year.  I was excited for the race, but admittedly was glad that this was going to be the last time of the year I'd have to get up at 5:00 a.m. (or earlier) ! ! !  In addition to getting up early, the forecast was for rain to start Saturday night and continue through Sunday.  Ugh.  I've done tri's in the rain once or twice before and it ain't fun.
Plenty dark at 5:00.  But no rain.  Got to Shadow Cliffs and got one of the prime spots.  As it got a bit lighter, the skies were actually looking pretty good.  Somewhat overcast, but no rain.  Yeah ! !!

The Tri for Real is a 700 yard swim, 16 mile bike, and 4 mile run.  In the Tri for Fun series, the benchmark is to try to break 1 hour.  But in the Tri for Real, the benchmark is to break 1:30, which I've done a couple times.

I was to be in Wave #1, along with my fellow Forward Motion Race Club members, and men 29 and under.  The gun sounds and we're off.  I was able to do more drafting in this swim than during any swim I can remember.  That was nice.  Minimal contact.  I was hoping to finish in under 12:00.  I recognized Jan's voice yelling as I exited the water but couldn't see her as I ran by her.

Swim time:  12:26.

T1:  1:13.

Bike:  This is a 2-loop course, flat with some rollers.  I was going to "work it" and was hoping to average over 20 mph.  Last year, I got a flat and was looking for some redemption.  It was fairly windy out there.  No real problems.  Stayed focused and picked off a few riders here and there during loop #1.  The second loop can be very dangerous since all the slower athletes have now started loop #1 of their ride and you have to be careful when trying to pass them.

Bike time:  46:18.  Av Speed = 21.5 ! ! !  Av Watts = 203 ! ! !

T2:  26 seconds.

Run:  At this point, I didn't know what my swim time was, but figured I was definitely flirting with going sub-1:30.  My legs felt pretty good right from the start and I was keeping a good pace and picking off a couple runners in front of me.
7:23
7:22
7:26
7:06.

Run time: 30:09.  (7:17 per/mi. pace)

Total time:  1:30:54.   8th place in Age Group (out of 39).

Although I was hoping to go sub-1:30, I think the swim may have been a skosh long, so I don't feel bad.
It was a good end to a good season !