Brian's Triathlon - 1st place in my age category.

BRIAN: Well today I did my first race in almost 2.5 years. I have to say that it was great to get back out there and be racing. I decided to do a sprint triathlon which is 750 meter swim, 20 km bike ride and a 5 km run.

I got up early this morning to have my oatmeal and coffee (power breakfast) and watch the Tour de France. Some good motivation since today was the time trial and that is what I would be doing later except that I have to actually swim before and run after.

Got to the race site this morning and set up my stuff as close to the bike exit as possible. After doing that I headed out for a loop of the lake to check out the run course and then headed out on the bike to see start/finish of the ride to get used to where everything is.

Before the start of the race Erin and Evan showed up to support Big Daddy B's first triathlon as a family man. It was actually great to have them both there as it motivates me to go fast so I do not look like a poser. Also is always nice to hear someone cheering for you when you are racing. Thanks Erin for getting up so early on a Saturday morning.



So since the water was warmer than normal we had the option to wear a wetsuit (always use one in an open water swim as the water is normally cold) but I decided with a long run from the water to the transition area that I would not use one. Also I tried it on during the week and did not know if I could get out of it fast enough. I guess not racing for so long, I put a bit of weight on. So I swam in my triathlon top and shorts with my race number (attached to my race belt) under my shirt. I had a pretty good swim and exited the water in 31st place (10:29) and a lot faster than expected. The swim course was short but still had a pretty good swim considering I only swim once a week. I tried to get out of the water but since the ramp out of the water was so slippery, I had to swim closer to get out. I think Erin has a picture of me getting back into the water to swim another 5 feet closer. I ran up the ramp and into transition. Triathlon is a 3 part sport but you can make or lose a lot of time in transition (the 4th sport that I excel in). Since I have a system for transition and having everything on already my transition was super fast as all I had to do was put my helmet on and grab by bike. I ran to the mount line and jumped on my bike, slipped my feet into my shoes that were already attached to the bike (another time saver) and away I go.

On the bike I was just flying. It was the fastest that I have gone in any race. I was so zoned that by the time I got to the turn around I did not even realize that I was that close to being done the first half of the race. I was riding behind one guy for the longest time but keeping a safe distance to not get in trouble for drafting (a big no no in triathlon). At the turn around I decided to get out of the saddle and hammered past him and the second place female (she had the fastest swim of the day) but my calf cramped and I should have known to back off a bit and drink more as well. The ride back to the transition area was faster then the way out and I never did see those two again till the run where they passed me. The ride was 20km long and my time was 35:30 total biking time with an average speed of 34 kph. The results show 36:59 as they add in your transition times as well. I had the 5th fastest bike time of the day and came into transition in 8th overall. So for you math people, both my transitions were 1:29 which is where I probably passed the 18 people as I know that I only passed 5 people on the bike. I came back to transition and slipped my feet out of my shoes and got ready to dismount my bike. This is something to see as I to this while I am doing about 20kph. I just jump off the bike in bare feet at the same time grabbing my seat and running with the bike. I racked my bike, slipped on my runners (no socks as it wastes time) and grabbed my visor.

I bolted out of transition onto the run and knew that I was in trouble after the first few steps. My calf was cramping again. I grabbed 2 cups of water at the add station and drank one and dumped one over my head. I ran another 1/2 km down the trail and stopped to stretch out my calf. I knew that this was not going to be a fun run today. I managed to get around the lake on the first loop pretty slow but still trucking along. The second loop was a bit better and I grabbed more water again and felt a bit better. The last loop around the lake was the best one and I finished the run in 26:31. My slowest ever 5km run in a triathlon and 50th fastest run on the day. I was not too happy about that but have to admit that I did not run for 3 weeks before the race as I had plantar fascitis in my right foot that I was trying to heal.

At the end of the race I was 31st in the swim, 5th on the bike and 50th on the run and tied for 16th overall. This tie would come back to haunt me as the guy that I was tied with was in my age category. Damn calf and stopping to stretch it. All I needed was one second.

My overall time for the race was 1:13:56 which put me tied for 1st place in my age category. I have never placed in the top three let alone win my age category ever. So it was pretty exciting to happen today with Evan and Erin there to see it happen. My two lucky charms. I love you guys.

After waiting for what seemed like forever and after fixing the age categories so they could do the awards, we stood around the stage and waited to see the outcome. They called me up for 2nd place and I received a very nice blue wooden picture frame with an artistic swimmer, biker and runner on the bottom. When they called the 1st place guy up, I realized that that was the guy tied with me on the first results (that were totally screwed up. I am not 40-44 age category). So I told the guy doing the awards that we had the exact same time and he said to come up and collect my first place prize. It was a nice coffee cup with a free cup of coffee included for later. I actually said to Erin that I liked the picture frame more than the cup. The guy next to us that won second in his age category later came up to me in the parking area and said that he did not need another picture frame and gave it to me. So not only do I win my age category, I walked away with the first and second place awards. Not bad for an hour and 15 minutes of hard work.