Age Group Rank: 36 Oveall rank: 185 Karl Miller Number: 580 Age: 39
Swim Rank: 25 Swim Time: 27:19.10 Swim Pace: 1:49
T1:04:12.10
Bike Rank: 41 Bike Time: 1:13:26.70 Bike Rate: 20.3 mph
T2: 02:02.60
Run Rank: 47 Run Time: 54:10.05 Run Pace: 8:44
Overall Time: 2:41:10.55
I awoke at 4am and had breakfast (PowerBar, orange juice, protein smoothie, coffee, banana). Left the house at 5:25 am and arrived at the transition area around 6 am. We put our bikes in transition yesterday, so all I had to do was unpack my bag and ready my transition area. I put PureSport in the aero drink on my bike and a water bottle in the bike cage. I had two Hammer gels in my tri suit pockets for the bike and put two additional gels on my race belt for the run. After airing the tires, I got my goggles, swim cap, and wetsuit and visited the Port a Pot one last time before race time. The elites (open wave) got in the water at 7am. We went off two groups later at 7:15.
I was feeling froggy, so I got right out in front and prepared for the countdown to the 1500 meter swim. We had a deep water start, so I treaded water as the announcer counted down from 10. I took it fairly fast for the first few hundred and watched the lead 10 create their own pack. I was in the next pack of 15 or so. I found my "stride" and put my head down, sighting every 10 strokes or so, and just smoothed it out. As we headed into the beach, I kicked harder for the last 100 meters or so to the shore.
Running into transition, I knew my swim had been good (my watch showed somewhere around 28 minutes) and as I looked around, I saw a LOT of bikes still there. Good sign! Unfortunately, here is where I goofed up a bit. I had not sighted where my bike was and it took me probably 30 seconds to find it. This panicked me for a second and I imagine my heart rate was elevated. I finished taking my wetsuit off, threw my goggles and swim cap down, put on my helmet, bike shoes, and sunglasses, and ran my bike to the mount line. It was a long transition run and there weren't many who had less than a 3 minute T1. Those who did all finished ahead of me.
I got on the bike and was feeling great. I took my first gel with some water and added a little PureSport for good measure. I started slowly and kept it pretty smooth for the entire first loop (about 13K). Once I "knew" the course, I felt I could give it a little more and I proceeded to pull some bigger gears and take advantage of the downhills. After the second loop, I took my next gel with some water. I ran out of PureSport with about 6k to go, so I just had water until the bike finish. I wasn't sure how the bike went because of so many athletes out on the course (both the sprint and Olympic distances were run on the same course), but I was very pleased to see I averaged over 20 mph for the 40K.
Once again, it took me about 15 seconds to find my transition area (note to self: do a better job of sighting for my transition spot from now on). I put my bike on the rack, took off the helmet, put on my running shoes, run belt, and visor and took off for the 10k run. For the first half mile, I felt really good. I had high hopes of really putting together a personal best run. Just as those thoughts entered my head, my stomach began to cramp. Guess those Hammer gels didn't settle well. Nonetheless, I kept pushing and actually took another gel at the first water stop. Thanks to a water hosing and cold water dipped sponges at the second water stop, I was able to keep the engine cool. Don't get me wrong. The last loop was mind over body, but I pushed and ran strong through the finish. I have to admit that it felt like I was going no more than 10 minute pace, so like with my bike time, I was pleased to see that I kept it under 9 minute pace...even better than I had hoped.
I followed my race plan to a tee. I smoothed the swim, strategically took advantage of the downhills to gain some speed on the bike, and I was able to keep it under 9-minute pace for the run. The only regret I have was not paying better attention to my transition location. I probably added 2 minutes by getting lost in both T1 and T2.
Here's the tale of the tape: 36th of the 98 in my age group; 185th of the 498 competitors (had at least 10 DNF's. The medical tent was busy.). Individually I was 25th in the swim, 41st on the bike, and 47th on the run. If you look at the overall times in my age group, I was 1 mph on the bike and 30 seconds off my running pace from being among the top 20. The day is coming!
Kia Kaha!
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