On Friday August 17 we had breakfast at the hotel. The restaurant was very busy and we shared a table with another couple. Tom wasn't in my age group which was good news because it sounded like Tom was very competitive and very fast. After breakfast Carol and I went to North Beach for the open water swimming. What a difference a day makes, on Thursday the lake was calm but today the lake looked like the ocean. The wind was blowing off the lake and there were waves and white caps everywhere. I pulled on my wetsuit and walked into the lake. The water wasn't cold and once I made it past the breakers I was able to swim. I could see a sailboat towards the harbor and I used the boat as a sight line. Since I only breath on the right side I had some difficult swimming towards the harbor but once I turned around and swam back it wasn't difficult to swim. I finished swimming and came on shore to speak with Carol.
Another athlete was pulling on her swim cap and asked how the water temperature was since she wasn't planning to wear a wetsuit. I answered her question about the water and we started talking about the triathlon. It turned out she lives near me and we had been at the same triathlon boot camp earlier this year. Another woman walked up and joined our conversation. She also lives near us and had been to the same boot camp. It's a small world.
Carol and I drove the bike course and went for lunch. The bike course didn't look to be very difficult except I don't like having a turn around on a two lane road that doesn't have shoulders. I hope when I make the turn there are no other athletes near me. After lunch Carol and I took my bike down to transition. The traffic was bad and so I just parked the car and rode my bike down to transition. It started to rain as I pulled the bike cover over the bike. We stopped at the local high school for the pasta dinner and we enjoyed the company of the other athletes.
I woke up at 4 AM on Saturday August 18 and made a quick breakfast of oatmeal with hot water from the coffee maker. I was hoping the hotel room had a microwave but the coffee maker worked in a pinch. I triple checked my packing list and we left the hotel. We parked in a parking garage near the lake but away from the roads that were going to be closed for the triathlon. I grabbed my gear and walked down to transition while Carol slept in the car. Transition opened at 5:30 AM and my swim wave didn't go into the water until 7:48 AM. I had lots of time to kill so I walked the transition area to learn the easiest way in and out of transition. It shouldn't be that difficult to find my bike since I'm near a fence and there is a bike mechanic tent setup next to the fence.
Carol was able to locate me in transition and she helped me get my wetsuit on as we walked to the lake. The water was choppy in the harbor; not as bad as it was on Friday at the beach but it would still be a challenging swim. The swim waves were spaced far enough apart that there was plenty of time to jump into the lake and warm up before my wave. I lined up on the inside in the last row of the swim wave. We all turned and waved at the cameras then the horn sounded for the start of our triathlon.
The water was choppy and smelled like fuel from all of the boats. I've never figured out how to continue swimming while sighting in open water. So I switch to a breaststroke when I need to get my bearings. There were two turn buoys in a row which seemed to confuse some of the swimmers but I didn't follow them and made the turns. I was happy to get out of the water and on my bike.
Carol took this photo of me after the swim, I'm the second person in the photo.
I thought I rode well on the bike it looked like I was going to have a penalty assigned to me. After we left town and started riding on the highway I was passing a rider when two other athletes tried to pass me. This was a slight upgrade and the bikes were bunching up. Just then the motorcycle rode up and stopped next to me while the official started writing down the athletes bib numbers. I didn't think I broke any rules but you never know until the race is over (I didn't receive any penalties in this triathlon). We left the highway and rode on a two lane road out into the countryside. The road didn't have any shoulders and the turn around was tricky since the road was narrow. Not long after the turn around the rider in front of me drifted off the road. The rider was lucky there wasn't any drop-off and he was able to get back on the road to continue the triathlon. There were no more "events" during the bike ride and I made it back to transition.
This is me returning from the bike ride.
My transition from bike to run wasn't very fast. I like to wear compression sleeves when I run but I had problems getting them on so I might not wear them in my future triathlons. Carol took this photo of me just outside transition before I had to run that big hill. The hill was the worst part of the run and once we made it to the top of the hill the course was flat. Eventually we left the road and ran in the shade of a tree lined trail. Some runners in my age group passed me but I couldn't keep up with them. There were mile markers setup along the course and I was feeling good so I started planning when I would sprint for the finish line.
After the race I was informed that someone in my swim wave was pulled from the water and might have died. There was a well written article on the Slowtwitch web site about Limiting Deaths in Triathlons.
My finishing time of 2:39:44 was a new personal record for me. You can watch the animated race recap on the ZumTri website after entering my bib number.
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