Three down - a podium finish at my first Olympic Tri!

Sunday presented with another excellent morning to compete. The Chesapeake Bay was calm as glass and the atmosphere was electric. Jodie rolled out at 4:30am to get ready for the drive down to North East (that's the name of the town, not the direction - though it is in the northeastern part of MD) for the North East Olympic Triathlon. Thanks Jodie!
As has become the standard practice here at "Tri2 do good" I clearly articulated my goals for the event. The bottom line was that I really had no idea how my body would respond at the full Olympic distance (my first two events were Sprint distance - roughly half Olympic). So, the "prime directive" was to pace myself to make sure I finished. Everything worked out pretty close to plan.

The swim: As the swim approached my feelings included fear. The buoys extended across the Chesapeake Bay and it was quite intimidating. But, having a couple of open water swims under my belt it was relatively easy to relax and just start swimming. Got smacked around a bit (as you always do) at the start - had to empty my goggles once. Goal - 30:00 minutes | Actual - 27:32 Not bad.

The bike: Felt as good as I've ever felt on the bike. The new aerobars I added are great. Not only is my riding position more "aero" they take a LOT of stress off my shoulders. Very comfortable. Also, the bars give me a place to mount a water bottle for easy hydration without having to sit up - just sip through the straw! Sweet! Since I was out of the swim transition pretty early I got passed a lot by the youngsters I smacked down on the swim - but if I was old enough to be their father I just let 'em go! Goal - 1:18:00 hours | Actual - 1:16:36 Averaged 18.4 mph - better than I expected.
The run: Felt good coming off the bike, but it is always hard to get the legs going. Plus, I had a nutrition failure (my "gel" wouldn't come open) that raised some concern that I could run out of fuel. So, until someone my age passed me I decided to focus on the prime directive and maintain a pace I was pretty certain I could maintain to the finish. 6.2 miles seems like a long run after the swim and ride! I plodded along and took plenty of water (none of that yucky "HEED" they were peddling!) - and MAN those iced towels they handed out (it was 90 degrees running on asphalt with little to no shade!) sure felt good. Had enough energy to sprint the last 100 yards just in case those steps I heard behind me were in my age group (turns out it was another 20 something). Goal - 50:00 minutes | Actual - 52:30 Not too far off - definitely room for improvement next time!
Transitions: Goal - 4:45 minutes | Actual - 4:20 Pretty good. Thinking about getting some "sock free" shoes that might save about a minute.
Total time: Goal - 2:42:45 hours | Actual - 2:40:56 So, a bit better than expected overall.
Outcome: Good enough to place 2nd in my age group of 12 competitors between 50 and 55 years old. This was a great confidence builder for my "A" race coming up in September - The Nation's Triathlon in Washington DC. I'm really looking forward to that one - the last of the series I set out to tackle.
To all my friends and family - thanks for your support!
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AND - a big congratulations to my niece Angie who competed in the Indy Triathlon on Sunday. She brought home some hardware too with a 3rd in her group - which is a very competitive age group! If you've been following this blog from the beginning you will recall that she is the one who inspired my adventure. Thanks Angie!

Feeling positive

The long awaited leap to the Olympic distance (from Sprint) will happen early tomorrow morning. My training sessions have been good, with increased duration and intensity. So, I'm feeling positive about at least finishing and maybe even being competitive in the over 50 age group.

Goals for tomorrow:

1. Finish; Still not sure what will happen physically at the full distance. As long as I don't have an injury or major mechanical on the bike I should finish.
2. Swim; It will be a close call regarding wet suits tomorrow. If the water is over 78 degrees they won't be legal for folks that are wanting to be included in the official results. It would be nice to have the comfort of extra flotation, but I should be better off than a lot of others who aren't strong swimmers. At 1,500 meters, I am hoping to finish in about 30 minutes. Based on the results from the same event last year, that would be in the top three "out of the water" - but, since cycling is my weak suit I better capitalize on the swim. Goal: 30:00 minutes
   
3. Bike; My goal will be to maintain an average speed on 18 mph for the bike. That would be consistent with my speed at the Sprint distance, but I have worked pretty hard on the cycling. Hopefully, the work will pay off. The course is "rolling hills" which means it will be tougher than the Philly course - which was basically flat along the river. Goal: 1 hour and 18:00 minutes
   
4. Run; It's hard to say how I'll be feeling at this point. 6.2 miles after the swim and bike will be interesting. If my body is willing, I'll try to maintain a pace of around 8 minutes per mile. Goal: 50:00 minutes
   
5. Transition; If there are no wet suits, the T1 should be fairly straight forward. I'll use my actual from the Philly tri as the goal here. Goal: 4:45 minutes
6. Total Goal; 2 hours 42:45 minutes. Phew!

If I can achieve these goals the result should be a solid upper "middle of the pack" finish.
I will post an analysis of the actual results by Monday morning. In the meantime, you can check back to this blog and watch "Twitter Updates" (upper right hand corner of the page) for developments before and after the event. Or, follow me on Twitter for live updates (bradkingrec)