Showed up early to get the pick of bike racks and set my
self up on the end of the rack right next to the bike in/out. Got settled in and took the bike for a spin
on the run course to warm up the legs. I
had driven the course the day before but this warm-up reinforced how much fun
the rollers would be during the bike and run.
Kudos to the race director and volunteers, the transition area was well
organized and body marking was easy to find.
Another nice touch was carpet coming out of the water all the way to
your bike rack. Burning time…headed to
the FINISH line for the team picture…the one that was happening 45 minutes
before race start. (Note: Race start was
at 8:15.) Ran into Wes Johnson on the
way… yep, picture was already over. I
took a selfie. I’ll be 15 minutes early
next time. Time to don my neoprene super
hero disguise I really want a wetsuit
that looks like Spiderman or Superman.
The swim started and the best part of my race was over 15
minutes 22 seconds later. Lots of chop
for the swim, but I was able to keep a steady pace and minimized the zig-zag. I passed lots of other swimmers and ultimately
only drank a little bit of lake water.
Stumbled out of the water and up the hill to get started on the
bike.
Bike mount line was a little tight with lots of folks jammed
up right outside the timing mats. No
place for my Batman flying bike mount (superhero theme…I don’t know why). Finally got moving and began the
rollers. It felt like crosswinds or
headwinds the entire bike course, or it could be my lack of miles on the bike
in the last few weeks. Most importantly,
I held off Rick Greif until almost mile 8 on the bike. So what.. that he’s (almost) old enough to be
my dad and that he started 15 swimmers behind me. He told me to look the other way as he passed
me on the bike so as not to hurt my feeling (singular), what a nice guy. I watched him pass others as he went out of
sight singing, “Merry Mach Tenn to all and to all a good ride”. I thought maybe I’d catch him on the
run….Nope.
The run began and I could see that my knee was still recovering from whatever happened at Lake Guntersville. Not wanting to walk the last mile, I kept the pace a little slow starting off. This transitioned to just plain slow thanks to the gentle rolling Tennessee terrain. I was able to add a little go at the end and made better time on my last mile. Probably should have started off a little faster. Great support in the final turn by Rick and Dennis Mix as they provided motivation to finish strong. Either way I finished with no noticeable injuries.
Post race blackeyed peas and cornbread was outstanding. Came in 15/30 in my age group and 174/378
overall. I still enjoy this sport and I’m
looking forward to another “PR” at Monster Tri in 2 weeks!! Great work by the volunteers at all of the
intersections today on the bike course.
The water stations on the run course were frequent and very
appreciated.
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