LIFETIME MARQUEE SPRINT -- FIRST TRI OF 2015

Lifetime sponsors the first triathlon each Arizona season in Tempe Town Lake in April.  The venue is in the same general location as the November Ironman race.  The major difference outside of the distances, is that the bike is completely on city roads.  Also, the photo's you see here are provided free (well, not really free since you paid for the race, but they are provided at no additional charge as part of the entry fee).

I've been slowly getting back into shape, shape for a 69 year old that is, and this was a good opportunity to see how I was coming along.  I entered the sprint (750 meters, 13.9 miles, 3.08 miles) as I did not want to adjust my training for this race.  And because my knees were still limiting my ability to run train any significant miles.

I had an auspicious start.  Half way down to the start from my house I realized I forgot to bring either a watch or my garmin bike computer.  That meant I would be racing by feel and blind to technology. Glad it was only a sprint distance.

The swim was wet suit legal and my split of 15:24 was slower than my practice time trial of 13:30 (with pull buoy to simulate the wetsuit buoyancy).  Partly slower because the timing mat used for the swim split may have been at the transition entrance which was a jog from the water and after I had been stripped of my wetsuit.  However, I was first in the 65-69M by 3 seconds.

The first transition was best described as clumsy.  Struggled with the race belt. Almost left transition without the helmet chin strap clasped. Dropped the bike and had the water bottle pop out.  I was in second exiting transition.

The bike is always a challenge on this course.  Last time I counted it had almost 20 turns of which at least 3 were 180's. There are many expansion joints and occasional paver stone stretches.  But it is always fast if you survive because it is flat and crowded which gives you unintended legal draft as you catch and pass.  I quickly regained first after mounting the bike.  I averaged 25 mph.

The second transition was gratefully smoother than the first. As I started to leave the bike rack another old guy was racking his bike.  I was not sure of his age but I knew I had to be minutes clear of anyone in my age group to hold onto the lead through the run.

Into the run I was passed by this old guy going significantly faster than I knew I could hold.  Since he had compression socks on no age was visible on his calf.   Since my training runs have all been done with a run/walk routine (either 4 min/1 min or 3 min/2 min splits) and I planned to run this whole 3.08 miles, I was in no shape to chase him down. I just had to run my run. I was able to average just over 8 min miles.  It was a flat run course and a mild temp day. The old guy in front of me?  He was only 62...

So I finished first in the 65-69M category in 1:16:43, 52nd out of 370, being gaped over 16 minutes to the winning time of 1:00:17.

DESERT CLASSIC DUATHLON DUOVER

EARLY MORNING IN THE DESERT

The 2014 Desert Classic Duathlon was washed out, so TriSports out of Tucson automatically reentered everyone into the 2015 race held Sunday March 1.  Since I was reentered and the race is a mere 15 miles from my house in Scottsdale, why not?

The race is held in the McDowell Regional Park and consists of two 3.65 mile trail runs sandwiching either an on road bike or off road bike leg.  I chose the on road option of approximately 24 miles. The annual rainfall in the Phoenix metro area is about 7 inches/year, but when there is a hint of a storm the local media launch into overdrive.  In this case they were predicting that a major storm would start Saturday and rain through Monday with 100% probability.  They were wrong.  While the clouds threatened, the rain really didn't hit until Monday noon.

I had been slowly getting back into training but had worked back to only about 7 hours per week. Just enough to make such a race distance as the Desert Du feasible.  Most of those training hours were spent swimming, some biking, and a little running so I was appropriately apprehensive regarding the race, especially the run portions.  So I planned on "completing" the event not "racing" the event, something that is not natural for me.  I even chose to not wear a watch so that I would not get carried away.  I was wrong.

I started out on the run near the back and was holding my slow pace as planned until a guy with the number 68 on his calf went past me.  OK, why not try to stay in sight of him?  After a while I thought, OK why not pass him?  And that was the end of the "completing" versus "racing" strategy. Post race I found out that my split was 29:55, good enough for a 8:12 min/mile pace.  Not fast, but faster than my planned 9 min/mile pace.

FINISH LINE IN SIGHT

The on road bike leg exits the park and consists of two out and back legs with 1000 ft of elevation change.  The road is smooth and should be relatively fast.  I spent 9 minutes more than an hour on the bike, averaged 21 miles/hour, and expended an average of 191 watts doing so.  All numbers not exceptional.

Returning to the trail run my legs were ever so clumsy and with the reality setting in that I was indeed not "race" ready,  I chose to walk the rockier and steeper uphills.  My second run turned out to take 32:58, good enough to average a shade over 9 min/mile and stay ahead of the guy with 68 on his calf.

JUST THE TWO OF US

                                                                           
As an aside:  My total consumption during the race was 12 ounces of "Perform" sports drink. This is consistent with a cool and overcast day (60 degrees), and that the body muscles and blood naturally contain all the energy you need to compete for 2 hours.

Glad I did the race, knees are very sore.  Guess I have to put some more time into training as there is only 2 months until the St George Half.

2015, ANOTHER TRANSITION YEAR

TIME OFF WITH NO WITHDRAWAL

Well, I actually had no withdrawal symptoms during my 4 month sabbatical from training and racing. The exercise sabbatical was not so kind to my general energy levels or body composition, but I had much more time to enjoy and experience other aspects of living.   In addition, the lack of withdrawal gave me pause, and caused me to contemplate what I get out of triathlons.

This is not my first triathlon sabbatical.   I took 13 years off during the years before my retirement. That sabbatical was driven both by physical injuries and work obligations, and was consequently reasonably "practical". This short sabbatical, although I have been nagged by minor injuries,  was primarily due to a decline in interest.

While I have had some serious successes in multisport, I never dominated at the national level in the age-group categories like Steve Smith did (60-64, now battling cancer).  In my 60's, I have won USAT national championships in Trialthlon and Duathalon, finished 2nd in Aquabike,  3rd at the 70.3 worlds (Henderson), and finished 2nd and 5th at Ironman Worlds (Kona). So, clearly, racing just to complete events is not going to motivate me, especially to train at a level that would support the longer distances. And, as I will race at age 69 this year, I will be at a severe disadvantage to all those hungry 65 yr olds who just aged-up.  If you read my prior post on the impact of aging on performance (HERE WE GO 2014), all things equal, from 65 to 70 you will be 10% slower even if you are the dominate age-grouper in your category.

WHAT NOW FOR 2015

I haven't put together a real plan for 2015.  I'm partly posting this blog just so its readers know I'm still around.  I have registered for two WTC events, St George  70.3 and Ironman AZ, mostly because they are close to my home and easy/cheap except for the registration fee's.  I am sure to do a few other shorter races, but probably on short notice and based on what is happening in my life.  At 69 I am at a serious disadvantage to win the 65-69 age category at races.   I tinker with getting serious about turning 70 and making one more shot at earning a podium spot at Kona, but maintaining health, motivation, and luck all have to align for that to happen.  So, that's why 2015 is another transition year as I think about turning 70 in 2016.  But, to make it worth your while to have read this far, below are a few of my training learning's from nearly 60 years of training and many hundreds of races.

MY TRAINING LEARNING'S

early morning outdoor swimming in Arizona

SWIM:  As an experienced but not professionally trained swimmer, more time in the pool has only made me marginally faster and not worth the extra time.  In addition, the swim is the easiest part of most triathlons due to it being proportionally under-represented compared to either the bike or run segments, and since it is normally the first leg. Consequently, I spend only enough time in the pool to get me comfortable with the expected race distance.  Even when approaching an Ironman event, I rarely exceed 3,000 yards in a workout or 10,000 yards in a week.  And, I swim freestyle with a pull buoy 90% of the time (why practice breast stroke, back stroke, etc with a limited time resource).  In addition I feel that I'm saving my legs for the other segments. Besides, I'm slower when I kick than pull.  Obviously I love wetsuit legal races.  While these practice distances may seem silly-short, even in my serious marathon days I found I could run mid 2:30's on 60-70 mile weeks with a long run of 15 miles.  So, total weekly training of just over twice the race distance worked for me.

never too many bikes

BIKE:  I've found that weekly training at slightly over twice the expected race distance applies to all three of the legs of triathlon.  So approaching an Ironman I will try to average around 200 miles of biking per week.  Again, I do not over-emphasize the "long" bike at the expense of consistency.  4 rides of 50+/- miles gets me in great shape.  And most of it is on a road bike.  Probably just a mental thing, but if I can get fit and efficient on a roadie, then on a tri-bike I'll be about1 mph faster.  I do bring out the tri-bike and alternate road/tri bikes as I approach the race to confirm my tri-bike comfort level.

RUN:  If I wasn't so prone to running related injuries,  I would try to aim for twice the weekly training distance as the event race distance.  But, I can no longer safely absorb 50 miles/week of running approaching an Ironman.  And, for most people it's not necessary.  I averaged perhaps 25 miles/week leading up to my second place finish at Kona in 2011.  The longest run was 10 miles. And, when I did my run training, I mimicked my plan to run/walk on a pre-determined schedule that I believed I could maintain for the race.  For me that was a 4 min run followed by a 1 minute walk. Enough to hold a 10 min/mile pace and place the every-other-walk at the aid station.

lycra and tv free zone

GYM:  Usually in the "off" season I spend some time in the gym on strength and flexibility.  I do this out of guilt, or maybe its fear, because most "experts" emphasize its benefits, not because I enjoy it or even believe it is that helpful.  I believe that to become a faster more efficient runner you need to run, to swim faster you need to swim, to bike faster you need to bike.  Muscle specific exercises.  I don't think its debatable that of two equivalently talented people, if A spent all his time lifting weights and B used an equivalent time running, B would beat A in a running race. So, unless you are a PRO or an ELITE with unlimited time/resources looking to gain those incremental seconds, I wouldn't overdo the gym thing.

NUTRITION:  Like the gym, I don't overemphasize the nutrition.  No mater how "nutritionally" or "naturally" you eat, if you don't swim/bike/run you will not get better.  I try to eat balanced but feed any cravings that develop, believing that the body knows best.  I do occasionally "fast" for short periods.  This is a carryover from my marathoning days when, perhaps mistakenly, I thought that fasting while training would teach the body to easily convert from carbo to fat burning in support of long distance races.  Old habits die slowly.

YOGA/PILATES/CROSSFIT/MASSAGE/ETC:  Gym category.

HAVE A GOOD AND HEALTHY YEAR EVERYONE

NATIONAL USAT AQUABIKE CHAMPIONSHIP -- CEDAR POINT OHIO

PROLOGUE: It has been a designated "off year" for my multisport efforts due to nagging injuries as discussed previously, involvement in family activities and life events, and a reduction in motivation and focus. Consequently I've only had three triathlon races and this one Aquabike.  Aquabike races are gaining in participation on the east and west coasts, almost non-existent in the upper Midwest. For aging triathletes with aging knees, they become an attractive multisport alternative to triathlons.

The USAT Aquabike National Championship was held as part of a Rev3 race venue.  Rev3 considers itself a more modestly priced alternative to the WTC Ironman and 70.3 long distance triathlon races. They generally are weekend events with kids triathlons, sprints, olympic, half and full Ironman distances. Currently, none of the Rev3 series of races take place west of the Mississippi.

SOME OF THE 17 COASTERS

CEDAR POINT VENUE:  This race was held at the "largest amusement park in the United States", which includes 17 roller coasters, and is located in Sandusky Ohio on a spit of land that projects into Lake Erie.  With the multiple race distances, smaller entry fees and venue locations, the Rev3 organizers are obviously trying to make their events more family friendly as a point of distinction to the WTC events.

The USAT Aquabike National Championship was held concurrently with the 70.3 triathlon.  So the race distances were 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike and then finished! To separate the AB'ers from the H'ers, your calf's were marked accordingly.

LOOKS LIKE A NICE DAY FOR A SWIM

SWIM: By race day of Sunday September 7th, the prior days storm had passed through and the undertow warnings had been lifted so the swim took place in Lake Erie rather than the back-up swim venue, which was the bay on the inland side of the spit.  Even though the undertow warning was lifted, the waves still were in the one to three foot range, with the swim being basically an open box;  .4 mile out, .4 mile parallel to the beach, .4 mile back to shore.  As I was walking up the beach to the starting point, many Ironman distance entrants who started 80 minutes prior to the Half entrants, were walking back to the finish. Swim conditions were hazardous enough for them to DNS. It was the toughest swim I've ever experienced, tougher than the 6 Kona Ironman races I've competed in.  The visibility was nil due to the wave action stirring up the sand.  The waves were large enough and irregular such that you could not sight on the guide buoys.  In the first 50 yards I was so soundly kicked in the jaw, I thought it was broken as my teeth no longer matched up.  After taking some time to assess my situation, I decided to continue and if nothing else, just finish the race. I had driven two days from Minnesota and didn't want that effort to be a complete waste. It was my slowest 1.2 mile swim ever, 42 minutes. When the results were posted, I felt a bit better about my time split, the fastest split in the field was a slow 26 minutes, with only 3 entrants under 30 minutes.

BIKE:  The bike course was in the country roads surrounding Sandusky.  By-and-large, the roads were smooth and well marshaled. It was the flattest course I've ever raced in my 30+ years of multisport events, supposidly 600 ft of climbing in 56 miles.  I prefer hilly courses because it makes drafting less likely and less beneficial.  It took me almost 6 miles on the bike to regain my composure after the kick to the jaw and difficult swim.  Someplace before 10 miles I was overtaken by a group of bikers, one which had my age group and AB on his calf.   I was only clocking about 180 watts and had intended to average 200+ watts so I knew I could easily take up the challenge and not just settle for an enjoyable bike ride.  I picked up the pace, and at about 20 miles I passed the group which now included another 65-69 age group AB rider that had been caught, but noticed I was spending about 240 watts for an extended time and I had not gaped them.  But 240 watts is not something I can average for 56 miles so I had to ease up and let them go by. My strength is not sprinting, and it was beginning to look like a three-person sprint was in the making with me being the leadout. At about 30 miles I again tried to gap them in a cross-wind section knowing that drafting in a cross -wind is not as advantageous as other situations. After 4 miles at 250 watts they were still comfortably tucked in behind me. I eased but they did not pass. I kept thinking, where are the marshals? About then my power meter also crapped out. With about 10 miles to go I decided I had to break them or I'd end up third, so I pushed as hard as I felt I could and thought I had gaped everybody, but one had held on. With less than 3 miles to the finish he sprinted past, I stood on the pedals to close the gap and I cramped. Split time 2:36. Average speed 21.5mph. Second place by 10 seconds.

LEARNING'S:  First; I believe Aquabike will be a good fit for me with my uncooperative knees. Second; That may be, but I'll have to get much stronger on the bike in order to ride away from my competition.  As one of the other two riders said to me after the race,  I know we were drafting but given that we all found one another out on the course, it was going to be a Mano-to-Mano thing anyway, so drafting was OK.  Third; My swim is actually OK for my age-group.  The fastest split in my age group was only a few minutes better and he was a collegiate swimmer.  Me, self taught. Lastly; Next time I fly instead of drive.  Oh, and it takes about two weeks for a well-kicked jaw to heal, the blood bruising to go away and the teeth to realign.

CHISAGO CITY SPRINT TRIATHLON, WHAT A DEAL

EARLY MORNING ARRIVERS

Triathletes living in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St Paul had their pick of 7 different triathlon venues over the weekend of July 26/27, typical for any summer weekend in this Midwest hotbed of triathloning.  I chose the Chisago City Sprint because it would be my third year in a row at this race, it is USAT sanctioned and Chisago City is located less than one hour northeast of the Twin Cities.  It is a "home town" race that at $45 for the sprint is a super deal. You get all the usual stuff including a t-shirt, food, trophies and free coffee to help you wake up as your set-up in the dark.  Finally, with the bike segment being my strongest  leg, this sprint course was ripe for me with a 1/4 mile swim, 22 mile bike, and 5K run. The race venue also hosts a half Ironman and attracted approximately 500 to each event.

The race venue is typical for these "home town" type of races. A bit of seaweed in the primarily sandy lake, a grassy area for the transition (in this case a knoll overlooking the lake), a bit of biking over grass and through a bike tunnel under a major road, and a lot of relatively flat, smooth, and wide roads for biking.

I have been negligent in my training this year focusing on other more important stuff like family and health.  In the prior three weeks I swam a total of 12,000 yds, biked 200 miles, and ran 13 miles.  Not very impressive.  I have been struggling with knee pain due to arthritis and hence the extremely low running miles for a running based triathlete.  Two weeks ago I tried a new approach to run training in that I ellipse before running on a treadmill.  So, two to three times a week I ellipse for 25 minutes and follow that with a 25 minute treadmill run.  Boring, but my knees hurt less following the ellipse.  I am hopeful that I can gradually increase the training time but do not expect my running form to ever recover to pre-arthritis fitness.

AWARDS CEREMONY DONE BY 10:00

This year I "geezered" all but 31 of the 493 finishers in the sprint race, first in my 65-69 age group of two. Interestingly, the trophies for all age group podium places have the same inscription, "Award Winner".






More interesting is a comparison and interpretation of my three consecutive years time splits.

YEAR     Finish Time     Swim Time     Bike Time     Run Time
2012         1:30:57             8:53                 57:03            22:43
2013         1:32:50             8:11                 58:40            22:47
2014         1:30:02             7:58                 55:09            24:23

In 2012 and 2013 I wore a wetsuit for the swim, 2014 I did not.  2013 had minor road construction which caused a rerouting of the bike course and a slight increase in distance.  2014 had 20 mph winds. In 2012 and 2013 I was in far superior shape.  For example, in 2012 I won the USAT National Championship in the Duathlon while in 2013 I finished second (by 15 seconds) in the USAT National Championship in the triathlon.  By 2014 my knees had such pain I could hardly run train.  However, I still had my fastest overall time in 2014 aided by my 24 mph bike segment.
 

EARLY ENOUGH TO CATCH THE SUN RISE

Race day was partly cloudy, mild (70's), moderate winds (gusting to 20 mph), not very humid (maybe 60%-80%?); good race-day conditions for Minnesota.  All things equal, ability drops off about 1% per year as you age past 50, so, in addition to inadequate training, by all accounts I should have been materially slower this year.  On the other hand, age/experience does count for something (both my transitions were faster).  It may be as simple as that when it comes to short races, less (but focused) is more? Happily, I was rewarded for getting up at 4 am with a fun race experience.

TEMPE INTERNATIONAL SPRINT TRIATHLON 2014

What started out as an aquabike race ended up as a sprint triathlon, because when I went to packet pickup I found out I was the only aquabike entrant.  No fun that.  So the race director graciously allowed me to transfer to the sprint race.  Great fun that.

T1 AND T2 UNDER THE RED MOUNTAIN PARKWAY

I had raced the olympic distance last year, and the venue remained the same.  The swim entrance to Tempe Town Lake is on the opposite side of the lake from the Arizona Ironman venue.  It provides for a "sandy" beach that drops off quickly, so practically it's still a treading water start.  The transition is under the Red Mountain Parkway (Loop 202) which provides a congested area but is shaded.  For those used to Midwestern type parks with sandy beaches and plenty of space with shade trees, this is not it.

The sprint bike course is one loop with multiple corners and 180 degree turns and multiple bridge crossings over the lake.  Total ascent measured about 400 ft on my garmin.  The olympic distance racers take two loops.  The run course loops around the lake crossing over two bridges and finishing at the same transition under the bridge.  The olympic distance runners take two loops.

OVER THE ROCKS AND UP THE CULVERT TO T1

I had not returned to my regular training routine yet following the Saint George 70.3 Ironman race two weekends earlier and that is why I transferred to the sprint rather than the olympic distance.  For a non-swimming background triathlete, what's not to like about a 400 yd swim?  Water temp of 76 degrees so wetsuit legal, but for the 400 yard sprint swim few wore them. My wave start was not too congested and with a 3 minute spacing I was surprised to catch swimmers from the prior wave, otherwise it was uneventful.  I swam with just triathlon shorts and completed the bike and run with no top to save on transition time.  Reminded me of the early years before tri specific gear was designed and everyone biked and ran in their speedos (cringe).

The bike segment required full attention at all times due to the turns, expansion joints on the bridges, and general congestion with less-experienced triathletes.  I found myself sitting up to "wind break" when riders were leisurely passing one another and not cognizant of the courtesy and rule of riding-on-the-right when possible.  I didn't pay much attention to my power meter because with sprints I just go about as hard as I can.  After the fact power meter readings showed I averaged 240 watts (zero power - when not pedaling - not counted) and 22.6 mph.  My MPH average is usually 10%, sometimes a bit more, than my average power.   So I would have expected about 24 mph plus in this case.  I attribute the average speed falloff to the "wind breaking" and multiple tight turns, which required me to accelerate multiple times which is inefficient.  Indeed, my max power output was 500 watts, a level I don't ever remember hitting or try to achieve.

The run starts with a nice set of stairs down to the road which I took very carefully.  After two bridge crossings and almost 3 miles you get to jog down another set of stairs before the final dash to the finish. Again I took it carefully, while the guy next to me took two steps at a time.  Really?  3 seconds gained? OK, showing my age.  Otherwise just a nice jog in mild Arizona (80 ish) temperatures.

I clocked a total time of 1:08:44.  First in 65-69 age group, 47th overall out of just over 300.  The winner, Dmitry Baer, burned a 55:36.  More importantly I had a good time with this one.  I had expected to swim and bike the olympic distance and not run at all if I had raced the aquabike, but this was mucho fun.

SAINT GEORGE 70.3 IRONMAN -- A SURPRISINGLY FUN DAY

THE SETUP:  After receiving numerous emails from the race director for the St George 70.3 Ironman race scheduled for May 3rd, my curiosity was raised.  I had not registered for this race, it was not on my schedule, why was I getting athlete updates?  So I checked the web site on April 25th to see if I had a bib number.  I did!  Was it a gift due to my good finish at the 70.3 championships?  Did my tri-club, ONE multisport, hand complementary entries out last year to elite racers and I had not paid attention?Or, had I just registered so early that I had forgot all about it?  It was the latter.  OK, lets do it on short notice (10 days) and minimal training and just have fun with no expectations.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

THE VENUE:  St George, Utah, is at approximately 2600 ft elevation, desert type arid, seasonally hot, and unpredictably windy. The swim is in Sand Hollow Reservoir outside of town so an early morning bus ride to Transition 1 is required.  Transition 2 and the finish is in old town St George resulting is a point-to-point bike leg with a slight net downhill.  The race course has more hills than normal Ironman venues.  I had raced the 2010 version when it was a full Ironman and had a slow race.  I had severe Achilles Tendonapathy at the time and ended up walking the marathon in over 6 hours.  However, race day ended happily the following morning when I got a Kona slot on a rolldown allowing me to race Kona with my son that year. There are numerous sites to visit in close proximity including the Hoover Dam and Zion National Park, which my wife and I visited.

HOOVER DAM

Some Ironman venues are epic, meaning that they have all 4 of the WHHH factors (Wind, Heat, Humidity, Hills).  Kona is a prime example.  St George can have up to three of the factors, Wind, Heat, and Hills.  This year it had only two,  Hills and Heat (90+), as the wind was relatively mild. Consequently the times were considerably faster than 2013.  For example, in 2013, 12 pros broke 4 hrs, this year 25 broke 4 hrs.  I believe the official Ironman website overstates the hills somewhat as my garmin measured 3,250 ft gain for the bike and 1,200 ft gain for the run.  Still, those are pretty large numbers for a half-ironman.







MY FITNESS:  I have been managing uncooperative knees for some time.  Generally I would run only twice a week and up to 9 miles at a time using a jog/walk routine to minimize the pain.  Even biking was problematic on rides over 2 hours.  Generally, I had been averaging about 5,000 yds swimming, 90 miles biking, and 14 miles "running" per week since January.  Not half-ironman training levels.  My last 3 weeks leading up to the race were;  WEEK 3: no training (in CA having fun with grandchildren); WEEK 2: 10,000 yds swimming, 190 miles biking, 15 miles running (making up for the "off" week, and realizing I had a race in 10 days); WEEK 1: 5,500 yds swimming, 70 miles biking, no running (sore knees).  If anything I was well tapered.

MY PREPARATION:  My evening pre-race meals consist of pasta in some form.  This time Stouffers mac and cheese, out of the microwave.  For desert I ate a full bag of spice drops. I drink Gatorade or perform or whatever high sugar, high salt drinks the sponsor is giving out.  I take whatever gels and drinks the sponsor is passing out on the bike and run.  I do take salt capsules with me on hot days to balance out the mineral depletion that occurs from sweating. My feeling is that your fitness and success in a race is 90% due to preparation and 10% due to adaptability to changes in circumstances.  OK, I admit I have a soft spot for good equipment.

MY RACE:  My biggest concern was the run.  My swimming is acceptable and my biking splits have always been the fastest in my age group, but with my sore knees and limited run training I knew the run was going to be slow.  I decided that I would start the run conservatively with a 3/2, run/walk routine and at the turnaround, if feeling good, increase the run proportion.  My swim/bike/run split goals were modest:   40/2:55/2:30 with a finishing time, including transitions, in excess of 6 hours, slower than I had ever raced.  I reminded myself I was not "racing" but "participating".

As it turned out I overachieved.  The swim was unremarkable and the bike a blast, with most riders exceeding 45mph on the downhills.  I averaged just over 200 watts on the bike and 20.1 mph, consistent numbers for a hilly bike course.  My splits were 37:25/2:45:51/2:01:23,  with a total time of 5:33:28 and first place in the 65-69 age group.  I was able to run the last 3 miles, walking only the aid stations, giving me a negative split by 5 minutes.  I declined the World Championship slot as it was never my intention to go even if I qualified.

65-69 AWARD WINNERS

Some observations and funny things that happened during the race.  The water temperature was 60 degrees so I wore a neoprene cap under my swim cap to help keep me warm.  It appeared that there were an abnormal number of tire flats.  I thought the bike course was reasonably smooth and clean so I don't have an explanation.  I had the urge to relieve myself on the bike but restrained myself until I got to a portolet in the transition, after all I was not "racing".  I forgot to take my salt capsule container with me on the run but "found" 3 capsules on the road that some other racer had dropped, and consumed them without hesitation, it was hot.

JUST A BUNCH OF KIDS AT HEART

MY LEARNING'S:  I was honestly surprised with my effort and results.  I finished without any injuries, not even a blister, and feeling physically agile.  Maybe I get too stressed and intense when racing and a lighter more relaxed approach is a preferable way.  Maybe meditation and a holistic approach to life will improve my race efforts?  Maybe, but not gonna happen.