KC Triathlon….Part 2

As I finish the swim and head up the hill, I don’t have a clear of idea of how fast I swam.  With all the different waves going off at different intervals, it was hard to tell who started when and if the people nearby were from the same starting wave.  At the top of the hill, my buddy Josh tapped me on the shoulder to let me know he was right behind me.  I don’t know how I made it out of the water before he did considering my terrible start but I must have made up some time on that last leg of the swim.

Entering the transition area, the suit was nearly peeled.  I located my bike and finished stripping, careful not to lose my timing chip strapped around my ankle.  Before the race, I applied “body glide” to my legs and this really assisted in getting the suit off.   I next got on my shoes, socks, helmet, and sunglasses.  Exiting the transition, I hopped on the bike and felt pretty good.  Not a bad transition time in comparison to the rest of the field.

Once on the road, I started to get a little discouraged by all the racers that started passing me.  It took a minute to realize that most of those passing me were long course competitors.  Most of them were on high-end bicycles and looked like professional triathletes.  But they continued to zing past me at a regular rate.  My buddy had made it through the transition just ahead of me on his bike.  That was the last I would see of him for a while.  It was a windy day and I felt like I was riding at a good pace…about 16 mph.  It turns out, that isn’t a very good pace after all.  The only people I passed were the elderly and the very overweight.  Everyone’s age was listed on their left calf and I was hoping I would only get passed by younger and more serious triathletes.  If only that were the case.

By about 45 minutes into the race, I would have probably benefited from some Paleo nutrition.  I found that I didn’t have as much energy in reserve but was still capable of pulling myself through.   About halfway through cycling portion, it got pretty hilly.  The amount of cyclists passing me started to decrease.  On the longest hill of the race, I was able to keep up with everyone and even started passing other “normal” cyclists.  I finally crested the big hill and my legs were burning.  At the final directional change, the course headed north on Raytown Road….a tailwind…hallelujah!  For some reason, my legs felt emboldened and I started humming right along.  I was able to keep up with a couple of the serious racers even though I didn’t stay tucked down low over the handlebars like they did.

As I pulled down the final stretch on the bike, runners were heading in the opposite direction on the course.  My buddy Josh waved as he ran by.  Wow!  I must have lost a lot of time (five minutes as it later turned out).  Transition two was relatively simple…hang up the bike, lose the helmet, and slip on some running shoes.  As I headed out of the transition area on the run, my legs felt like they were full of lead.  Many of the spectators were lining the race course and were yelling words of encouragement.  It’s amazing what that can do for your motivation.

The run course wasn’t especially challenging other than a few minor hills.  I knew at this point that the rest of the race was just gutting it out.  I tried to maintain a steady pace but was getting kind of tired.  I had already been in the race about 75 minutes.  I still had racers passing me on the run but I was less discouraged about it.  I just wanted to finish and be done with it.  To hell was those do-gooders!  The fun was starting to wane and it started to feel more like a chore.  Arriving at mile one, I opted for gatorade instead of water.  I thought the calories might be beneficial.  Note to self…don’t drink while running.  It makes it hard to swallow and I nearly choked myself out with gatorade heading down the wrong tube.

At mile two, it started to register that I was almost done.  I only had 1 mile left and it was over.  After another dose of gatorade, I picked up the pace.  My legs were starting to recover.  Finally, I started passing some other racers.  I wanted to sing an operatic aria, “ha, ha…look at me!” I felt as though I had enough energy left over to make a decent finish after all.  As I came around the last bend, I could see the finish line.  Yes!!  A small wave of triumph passed over me as I crossed the finish.  My finish time was recorded as 1 hour and 40 minutes.

It turns out that my time was about in the middle of the pack.  I finished in the middle of my age group and about the middle of all competitors.  I suppose that’s not too bad considering I didn’t spend a lot of time doing endurance training.  Josh finished about five minutes in front of me…about the difference of the bike course.

Next up…lessons learned