Well, first things first - I must say that we had ideal race conditions on Sunday. Secondly, TOMb and I had the best race suits out of everyone in the race. Now on to the race. I went to the race alone this year. My Ironwife was unable to support me because she had a meeting scheduled for her upcoming Habitat trip (I need to talk to her about her priorities :)). My kids were training for their summer vacation, which would be sleeping late in the morning. Upon my arrival, I was glad to see TOMb in the Transition area. After racking my bike TOMb and I went for a walk and scouted out the swim course. My guess was that the water would be cold and sure enough, it was. I think it was about 61 degrees. Actually, it was warmer than 2 years ago, when it dipped to about 58 degrees. Man, that was cold! I felt like a Popsicle after I got out. TOMb and I hung out together and got ready for the waves to start. We saw Becky (TOMb's wife) who was in a good mood despite the chilly air and mosquitoes the size of quarters. TOMb was saying that he felt fast before the race started and his results proved him right.
SWIM - I took a cue from TOMb after I saw him start up towards the front in the wave before me. I figured I would rather be passed by 4-5 guys than have to swim around 10-15. I had settled into a steady rhythm and around the second
buoy I noticed a guy on my right who was breathing to his left (who does that?). He was flailing around looking like he was struggling. I saw him zig zag all over the place and said to myself I got to get away from this guy. As soon as I said that one of his arms hit my goggles and knocked them off my eyes. At first I was upset but I quickly realized this is no place to lose my patience. I relaxed and made the adjustment. Once that happens you can never really see clear with the fog and water in your goggles. I continued on by following swim caps ahead of me. I hit the beach in 35 minutes. as compared to 39 minutes last year.
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BIKE - I got on the bike and started making my way around the course. Surprisingly, I didn't encounter a lot of traffic. This is one thing I like about the longer distance races. I finished the bike in about 3 hours and 1 minute while averaging 18.5 mph. Compared to an average of 17.5 last year, I was very satisfied.
RUN - I put my running shoes on and hit the road. After I got my legs under me, I got into a steady pace until a stitch hit me right under the ribs. I gutted it out for a 1/2 mile using deep breathing and it eventually went away. I saw TOMb out on the Run and I knew that he was having a good race. He was looking strong out there and I was not making any ground on him when I saw him during the 2 loops..jpg)
I felt good too and ran the first loop in 1 hour and the second loop in 49 minutes for a 1 hour 49 minutes half. I hit the finish line and saw TOMb and Becky and his mom .jpg)
and dad. Becky took a picture of us and I could see the steam coming off our bodies which was funny. We both agreed that it was a good day. TOMb finished in 5:15 and I finished in 5:31. In 2006 I finished the Moose course in 6:09. I managed to "chop" 38 minutes off last year's time. I am looking forward to continuing my training leading up to Ironman USA in Lake Placid and to test myself on the big course. This being my first IM, I will be respecting the IM distance and will try and have as much fun out there as possible.
SWIM - I took a cue from TOMb after I saw him start up towards the front in the wave before me. I figured I would rather be passed by 4-5 guys than have to swim around 10-15. I had settled into a steady rhythm and around the second
buoy I noticed a guy on my right who was breathing to his left (who does that?). He was flailing around looking like he was struggling. I saw him zig zag all over the place and said to myself I got to get away from this guy. As soon as I said that one of his arms hit my goggles and knocked them off my eyes. At first I was upset but I quickly realized this is no place to lose my patience. I relaxed and made the adjustment. Once that happens you can never really see clear with the fog and water in your goggles. I continued on by following swim caps ahead of me. I hit the beach in 35 minutes. as compared to 39 minutes last year..jpg)
BIKE - I got on the bike and started making my way around the course. Surprisingly, I didn't encounter a lot of traffic. This is one thing I like about the longer distance races. I finished the bike in about 3 hours and 1 minute while averaging 18.5 mph. Compared to an average of 17.5 last year, I was very satisfied.RUN - I put my running shoes on and hit the road. After I got my legs under me, I got into a steady pace until a stitch hit me right under the ribs. I gutted it out for a 1/2 mile using deep breathing and it eventually went away. I saw TOMb out on the Run and I knew that he was having a good race. He was looking strong out there and I was not making any ground on him when I saw him during the 2 loops.
.jpg)
I felt good too and ran the first loop in 1 hour and the second loop in 49 minutes for a 1 hour 49 minutes half. I hit the finish line and saw TOMb and Becky and his mom .jpg)
and dad. Becky took a picture of us and I could see the steam coming off our bodies which was funny. We both agreed that it was a good day. TOMb finished in 5:15 and I finished in 5:31. In 2006 I finished the Moose course in 6:09. I managed to "chop" 38 minutes off last year's time. I am looking forward to continuing my training leading up to Ironman USA in Lake Placid and to test myself on the big course. This being my first IM, I will be respecting the IM distance and will try and have as much fun out there as possible. 