Monticelloman Olympic Triathlon

On 5 May 2013 I participated in and completed the Monticelloman Olympic distance triathlon.  This was my first Olympic distance triathlon.  The distances were a .9 mile swim, 24 mile bike ride, and a 10K run.  I had completed a Sprint distance Tri the day before but didn't feel too exhausted.  I had convinced myself that I was here to finish the race.  My shoulders were more sore than I expected, due to increased resistance from swimming in a wetsuit, but nothing I couldn't overcome.

The .9 mile swim was in Lake Monticello, the "coolest" part of the swim course was that from the start line one could not see where the turn buoy was indicating the last leg back to the beach.  It was around the bend from a promontory and out of view.  Never done that before.  This start was a beach start, and I didn't care how I entered the water.  My priorities were not to get injured and not to get tired.  A couple of annoying people swam near me at the start and their flailing arms hit my legs.  No adverse effect, but it was annoying.  Lake Monticello was significantly warmer than Smith Mountain Lake.  Towards the end of the swim I could tell that the buoyancy of the wetsuit was helping to keep me afloat.  As long as I kept my arms moving I would keep skimming along the surface. Achieving a sub 30 minute time in the .9 mile is kind of a big deal.  Though I only got 29 minutes and 58 seconds, I am still proud of myself. 

No issues in T1. Another smooth exit from the wetsuit and easy transition to the bike.  I did not drag my foot across my gear and scatter it all over the place.

The bike had some big hills.  BUT, there were plenty of big hills to go DOWN and I fully took advantage of the aero bars and I burned calories going downhill and tried to conserve energy going uphill.  Somehow, in the 35-39 age group, I was 5 out of 27 after the run.

T2 was also very quick, under one minute.

I still suck at running.  I only stopped running to drink water from the aid stations, and still posted a 1 hour 2 minute time for the 10K.  That dropped me back to 17 out of 27 in the 35-39 age group. 

Overall I was 113 out of 225 males. 

Swim
Location	Arrival Time	Total Time	Split				Place
			Split Time	Course Time	Pace	Distance	Division	Overall	Gender	Wave
Swim Finish	5/5/2013 9:40:53 AM	00:29:58.540	29:59	29:59	02:04 /100m	1.45 km	10 / 27	95 / 351	74 / 225	36 / 101
Bike
Location	Arrival Time	Total Time	Split				Place
			Split Time	Course Time	Pace	Distance	Division	Overall	Gender	Wave
Bike Start	5/5/2013 9:42:34 AM	00:31:39.766	00:00	00:00	0.00 mph	0.00 mi	6 / 27	69 / 351	55 / 225	30 / 101
Bike Split	5/5/2013 10:19:14 AM	01:08:19.503	36:40	36:40	18.57 mph	11.35 mi	5 / 27	72 / 351	63 / 225	29 / 101
Bike Finish	5/5/2013 10:57:39 AM	01:46:44.950	38:25	1:15:05	19.02 mph	12.18 mi	5 / 27	79 / 351	67 / 225	29 / 101
Run
Location	Arrival Time	Total Time	Split				Place
			Split Time	Course Time	Pace	Distance	Division	Overall	Gender	Wave
Run Start	5/5/2013 10:56:59 AM	01:46:04.256	00:00	00:00	00:00 /mi	0.00 mi	5 / 27	68 / 351	60 / 225	24 / 101
Run Finish	5/5/2013 11:59:52 AM	02:48:57.783	1:02:54	1:02:54	10:09 /mi	6.20 mi	17 / 27	136 / 351	113 / 225	55 / 101

Transition(s)

Transition	Time
Swim to Bike	01:41
Bike to Run	00:41

Appalachian Power Smith Mountain Lake Triathlon

On 4 May 2013 I participated in a Sprint Distance triathlon at Smith Mountain Lake.  The temperature in April and May has been very cool lately, and even cooler in the mountains.  The water was so cold for this event that the swim distance was shortened to 400m from 750m.  This triathlon was also the first I competed in with a wetsuit.

The swim was an in-water start, I think I prefer those to the running beach starts because there are less flailing elbows.  I know from previous experience that I can tire myself out at the beginning by sprinting a little too hard.  I consciously swam at a consistent pace for the brief 400m swim, enough so that when I finished the swim and entered T1 I was not out of breath.  The transition will mostly smoothly, I did drag my bicycle shoe across the towel holding all my gear and that created a little catastrophy but nothing significant.  By applying the stick of lube to my feet prior to the race I was able to remove the wetsuit quickly.  Removing the wetsuit did not prove to be an impediment at all. 

The bicycle portion was 20K, there were more hills on it than I practice on in Hampton Roads.  I had installed my aero bars and bounced between using them and the "drop-down" bars.  I remember nothing remarkable from the bike ride.

T2 I thought went pretty quick, again no issues.

I stink at running.

I ended up 90th out of 196 men.  In the 35-39 age group (Clydesdales are now >220 pounds so I have to compete with skinny little twits) I was 14 out of 15.

Place	Bib	Age	Sex	NAME	city/state		Rank	SWIM	Rank	T1		Bike		T2	Rank	RUN	PENALTY	TIME	DQ
1.	220	39	M	Edwin Garita	Henrico VA		1	6:56	3	1:42	2	35:22	3	1:03	1	19:51		1:04:52
2.	16	35	M	John King	Christiansburg VA		8	8:18	10	2:46	3	36:04	1	0:53	2	20:11		1:08:10
3.	54	37	M	Steve Burtis	Roanoke VA		6	8:06	12	3:00	4	36:29	6	1:06	3	20:50		1:09:29
4.	76	38	M	Andres Marte-Grau	Roanoke VA		11	8:39	1	1:21	5	36:45	2	0:59	5	22:05		1:09:47
5.	262	37	M	David Sellars	Hardy VA		13	10:18	4	2:13	1	35:20	11	1:36	4	21:57		1:11:22
6.	261	39	M	James Dillon	Chesterfield VA		9	8:20	9	2:43	6	37:05	4	1:03	7	22:34		1:11:44
7.	100	38	M	Jay Bass	Blacksburg VA		3	7:47	2	1:34	8	39:33	5	1:04	6	22:27		1:12:22
8.	146	39	M	Richard Diz	Eldersburg MD		2	7:20	6	2:41	9	40:20	7	1:11	12	25:01		1:16:31
9.	279	36	M	Justin Hendrix	Fairlawn VA		12	9:11	8	2:42	7	39:07	10	1:30	10	24:23		1:16:51
10.	138	37	M	Jeff Woodford	Vinton VA		14	10:26	11	2:51	12	42:19	9	1:23	9	23:10		1:20:08
11.	156	37	M	Benjamin Eib	Fairfax VA		7	8:16	14	4:55	13	42:20	14	2:03	8	22:39		1:20:10
12.	163	39	M	Erik Anderson	Columbia MD		4	7:59	13	3:54	11	41:40	12	1:39	13	25:15		1:20:25
13.	200	37	M	Todd Melby	Durham NC		10	8:34	7	2:42	14	43:05	13	1:47	11	24:30		1:20:36
14.	211	35	M	Jacob Braun	Norfolk VA		5	8:00	5	2:31	10	40:27	8	1:13	15	28:53		1:21:02
15.	127	35	M	Andrew Mokey	Silver Spring MD		15	10:39	15	5:07	15	44:12	15	2:18	14	27:15		1:29:30