Bling for the Big Man!

I was right - as long as I avoided too much fruit pizza on Friday, I was going to have a good day Saturday. Placed 2nd in the Clydesdale division. Won a pint glass for my efforts. Here are a couple pics of me receiving my bounty:









































Race Report:





Swim


1/3 of a mile swim counterclockwise triangle. I placed myself on the right (outside) in the front row. It's a very shallow start so there is a lot of dolphining. My goggles slid down my face on the first dolphin (or is it porpoising?). Can't stop now, I'll fix them when it's deep enough to start swimming. Finally get them adjusted and try to get in a groove. I'm breathing to the right so I don't know what's going on on my left. After a hundred yards or so I realize no one is swimming over me or anything (and I'm still on the course) - wow, this is going well. On my next head up sighting to make sure I'm heading in the right direction, I sneak a peek to my left and it doesn't seem like anyone is there. What the heck! I'm leading my wave. By the turn there are a couple of white swimcaps in front of me. All of the sudden I'm having trouble going straight. Apparently I'm not the only one as this dude in a white cap crosses directly in front of me at a 45 degree angle heading straight off the course. As I get close I remind myself to resist the urge to stand too early. Two years ago I did too much walking/running in the water and cooked my legs. Split time 9:03 for a 1:43/100 pace. 33/350 overall and 2/18 in Clydesdale.

T1


There are 3 clydes in the transition area. The first guy took off just as I got there (never saw him again either). The other guy and I head out at about the same time but I think I was just in front of him and he had a slow bike split. The Doc was volunteering at the bike/run exit so she was able to snap a pic or two. She also commented on how efficient some of the running bike starts were (compared to my standing there and getting on). Something to work on as I'm sure you lose some of the efficiency if you miss the pedal, slam on the seat and spend a moment or two on the side of the mount line writhing in pain. T1 - 2:35 (a little slow, but it was a fair distance to run - top time 1:10)

The Bike





It's only a 13 mile ride. I've decided (with no real evidence) that I can ride with a heart rate of around 150 and still have a decent run. Coming out of T1 my heart rate is over 160. It's a little windy but not nearly as bad as some of my rides/races this year. I'm moving pretty good, a little conservative to try and get my heart rate down. I'm not feeling the burn in my legs so this all seems good. The first part is into the wind and I'm averaging over 20.





The waves behind the Clydes/Athenas were all novices, and the waves in front of us were older. I must have passed 100 people and didn't get passed once. Man, that was fun. A lot of the guys looked like they could be Clydes, but none of them had a C on their calf. I did see a big guy with a bright yellow shirt but I couldn't catch him.

Final stats - 36:54, 21.1 mph, 3rd in Clydesdale, 55th overall, HR 150 bpm, Cadence 93 rpm.





T2


As I approach the dismount line I unclip from my right pedal, swing the leg over and coast in standing on my left foot. As I approach the line I realize, I've never done it this way before. I sure hope I can unclip my left foot when I stop; otherwise I'm going to end up on my ass. I have to brake hard and my rear wheel comes off the ground at the same time my left foot comes out. I'm still standing - not pretty but effective.





I check the Clydes racks - 1 bike (nice disc rear wheel - no wonder I couldn't find him). Ok, as long as I have a good run, I should finish on the podium.
T1 Time 1:17

The Run

The first time I look at my watch, I'm clocking 8:15/mi and the legs feel good. Knowing that's too fast I slow it down a touch. Long story short (well, I guess it's too late for that now), I run 3 miles at around 8:30s. Missed seeing the Clyde in front of me (waaaaay in front of me). Only got passed by a few skinny folk. The run went so much better than what I remember from 2 years ago (when I ran 9:27s). Time 25:36, 8:32/mi, 11th Clyde, 151 overall (hey that's still in the top 1/2).

Total Time:

1:15:24

Comparison to 2006


Year Swim T1 Bike T2 Run Total
2006 9:08 2:59 38:11 1:21 28:21 1:19:57
2008 9:03 2:35 36:54 1:17 25:36 1:15:24

Difference 4:33
Improvement 5.69%

At that rate, I'll be ready to go pro in 10 or 15 years!

Had a fun day. A big shout out (isn't that what the kids say on their blogs?) to Jim, Cory, Amanda and Cooper. Hope your 10 mile training goes well. Jim fill me in on Steelhead. Doc says that after "my" ironman - singular, I'm to return to 70.3 so that one might be on my calendar in 2010.

Lifetime Oly on Saturday. No podium hopes, I just want to do better than the 1:09 10k I trudged last year. Did 6 miles on the treadmill today - man I forgot how long an hour lasts on those things.

By the way - there were 2 pregnant women competing at Minneman. One was 7 months along and had a shirt that said "I'm 7 months pregnant . . . what's your excuse?" If you're not training for something what is your excuse?