750 meter open water lake swim (I think it was longer because everyone's swim time was much slower than last year)
13.1 mile bike - very hilly course - almost all up or down, almost no flat - 4 loop course.
5K run - almost totally flat
Weather was in the 70s at the 7:30 am start, rising to the mid 80s later, no wind
This was kind of a last minute thing for me. I registered on Wednesday. Since the half ironman two weeks ago, I've done almost no training. I swam about 100 yards with my 10 year old son, Donnie, once and we went to the lake once where I swam about 400 yards. I ran a 5K with Donnie at his pace and ran 3 miles another time. I rode one loop of Donnie's race course - 1.5 miles.
I was in the third wave, after the 50+ women and the elites. I felt like I had a decent swim, passed several of the older women before the fist buoy even though they started 5 minutes ahead. Passed others on the back stretch and came out feeling good. Swim time was 16:02
T1 went smoothly. I was able to get out of my wetsuit easily for a change and was through the long transition area onto the bike course in 1:32
The bike was tough for me. Not doing any real hill training or even any real mileage made those hills seem even worse. The first loop I struggled, then I seemed to get into a decent groove for the remainder. I got absolutely smoked by the elites going up one hill. Those guys are fast! Bike time was 43:14, average speed was just over 18 mph.
T2 also went smoothly. I was out of my bike shoes before the dismount line and ran through fairly quickly. Time was 1:08
The run started out way too fast for me. I was going too fast coming out of transition and within a couple hundred yards I could feel my heart beating too fast. So I slowed down to get it under control. It took me until about the end of the first mile before I could start running harder again. The last couple of miles felt OK. I think my last mile may have been the fastest, but I didn't get any splits. Time was 26:18
Overall time 1:28:16 4/8 age group, 89/180 men
The overall winner of the race was Hunter Kemper in 1:00:23. The women's overall winner was Susan Williams in 1:09:11. You will likely see both of them at the next Olympics. Hunter has been ranked as the No.1 triathlete in the world.
After the adult race was over it was time for the kids races. Donnie and grandson, Oliver, would be doing their first ever triathlons. They both had to swim 100 meters, bike 3 miles and run 1/2 mile. Donnie was starting with the 9-10 year olds, and Oliver with the 7-8 group.
Donnie had decided he was going to use the backstroke to swim. Not the best choice, but it's what he felt most comfortable with. The group started and soon he was dead last. He did pick it up a little and passed a couple kids before the end. I went to watchhim in transition and missed Oliver's swim. Donnie went through transition fairly quickly and was off on the bike. We didn't see him again until the bike was over and he was coming back into transition. Again he got out fairly quickly and was running a decent pace. I went to watch him run, while the others were waiting for Oliver to finish the bike. Donnie broke out into an all out sprint the last 100 yards and finished in 31:25. I saw Oliver on the run and he was struggling a bit. He finished in 35:02. Quite amazing when it was only a couple months ago that he spent two weeks in the hospital and had surgery.
They both had lots of fun.
We stayed for the awards since some prizes were being given away. The grand prize was a set of $600 race wheels. I didn't get that, but I got the second prize, a $250 bike kit. It's clothes - shorts, jersey, and a vest. I needed some new stuff anyway and this is more than I would spend.
So everything considered we all had a great day!
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Don
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