Six Seconds.... (Riverwood Sprint)

Overall Male Results and Age Group Results


Six seconds... thats how much I lost by. I was the second fastest masters. I feel good about the race, I wish my run was faster but I nailed my bike. But when you lose by six seconds, you spend your time wondering...What if.

If it was a wave start and I had lost in a stride for stride battle that would be different but with the TT start you just do not know....I mean there had to be six seconds out there: maybe I should have run faster in the transition, maybe aero wheels, what if I swum just six seconds faster. WHAT IF I HAD SHAVED!

Moving on (sort of). It was a fun race. Well run. The race was part of the development series so the competition was not so stiff. I finished 7th overall (preliminary). One highlight was that I beat Tony Kobet, who beat me by 1 second at the MAP race, by almost 3 minutes. I am interested in seeing the splits because Tony is a strong biker and I am hoping the splits show that I improved in the Bike.

I had hoped to finish between 1:02 and 1:03 and I had a 1:02:30. Little slower on the run which was hilly and a little faster on the bike (22.9 mph) then I expected.

The best part, though, was being their with my friends. There were 5 friends who did the race and 4 lived in my neighborhood. It is great to share the experience.

Overall Male Results:
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=607

Age Group Results:
http://www.setupevents.com/files/RiverwoodAGM.07.html

Addiction (Finish Strong Sprint)

Last weekend's race was great and not for the obvious reasons.

When my alarm rang at 6:45am I was determined to stay in bed. I could hear the rain thrashing the roof and I was extra tired from being woken up by the thunder through the night.

I felt that the rain and cold provided enough "justification" for me to bag the race. So I rolled over and.... just laid there. I could not go back to sleep.... and I knew why. I had to race. No matter how bad I wanted NOT to race. I had to.....I think I am additicted!

. So I got and made the 15 minute trip to Wakefield to race. The race was a small race, less then a hundred people and it was short - 200Y swim, 11M Bike and 2.7M rune. But it was well run and I had a blast. Maybe not my best performance but I finished 5th overall and won my age group. Two pros, a women and man (Stacy and Dustin) finished 1 and 2 and humbled me with their times. Dustin beat me by 7 minutes and Stacy 4 minutes which is a lot for 54 minute race.

I guess the thing that most impressed me was that Dustin and Stacy went back out on their bikes in the rain to cheer every last racer home. It made me feel good about the sport and the people who represent it.

The rain held off and I had a fun race. I did lock up the bike coming into the transition area and slide for 10 - 20 feet but I did not go down. I felt great that I got out of bed, braved the elements and gave 100%.

Results: http://www.active.com/results/viewresults.cfm?e_id=1418347

On the Podium (Azalea Sprint Triathlon)

Overall Men Results and Age Group Results

I expected big things at the Azeala race. I had my first race (MAP) under my belt and the Azalea is a short swim (300 yards). I did not feel great but I dug it and had a good time and great place. 3rd in the Age group.

On the advice of Mike Beaman (Bike fitting Guru at InsideOut sports), I tried something different. The pool was several hundred yards from the transition area and the bike was cut back to 10 miles so... "DIESEL TIP" - I rode my bike in my running sneakers (race flats) so that I could run faster from the pool to the bike and to cut down on the time for one shoe change. Mike's tip probably got me the podium but my calves felt like they were going to cramp up during the first mile of the run.

I also got to see my swim which was video taped. It is clear that I am going out too fast and suffering to bring it home. I was as impressed by how good I looked at the start, as I was with how good I did NOT look at the finish.

Even though I placed well, I think I could have had a stronger race. The award for the 3rd place was a GREAT sweatshirt. I have some fun races coming up but the next NC series race is White Lake and I will have my first open water swim of the year.

As for the standing, after Azalea I had the 8th highest average score in the age group

Check out this cool video