Post-race commentary: What a great race! Rob, you were right, I thoroughly enjoyed the race and the setup, course, etc., and definitely plan to do it again next year. The Lord cleared the sky and stopped the rain for us right before the race started, and the temperature (in and out of the water) was perfect. I’d say the swim was pretty hard, but I’d like to hear from you guys on this as well. The high, rolling waves made it difficult for me to keep on track and find where the middle and end buoys were, so I went wide a couple times and had to swim back at an angle to get straight again and headed toward the buoy, and I took in a couple good gulps of ocean water.
The bike course was flat, clean, and made for speed, though I didn’t much appreciate the cross-wind pushing against us both ways. The bike and run courses were also very well managed by police and race officials. A few slight criticisms, though. It was not clear to me which way to exit the transition area for the run, and I went the wrong way (as did at least a dozen people I saw then and later after I finished). Also, it drives me crazy when races/tris don’t have mile markers for the run, so you can monitor your per mile speed. I’ll politely email the race coordinator and ask them to do this next year, because I rely on that to know how hard and when to push in the run.
Now some general comments. I thought everyone did extremely well and finished strong. Obviously looking at our times, the swim was a challenge, particularly since it’s the hardest to train for. I must say, though, that I need to give a special shout out to Jacob. He came in 11th overall in his run time – 12th out of 760 people! And only one girl beat him (and she was the first place women’s finisher)! After a grueling swim, and a very impressive 18.4 mph on the bike, he smoked me and 741 other people on the run – woohoo! Very impressive, my friend. Now we just need to get you in some swimming lessons, and you’ll be winning your age category! I understand from Rob that Jordan had, ahem, a little trouble with the brakes on his bike. :) Seeing as how it enabled Rob to close the gap between Jordan and the rest of us, perhaps it was ROB that “adjusted” Jordan’s brakes to rub the tire during his ride!
For those of you who enjoy a challenge.....let this spur you on and join us next time!!! The more the merrier. Until the next race! –
dvb
Now some general comments. I thought everyone did extremely well and finished strong. Obviously looking at our times, the swim was a challenge, particularly since it’s the hardest to train for. I must say, though, that I need to give a special shout out to Jacob. He came in 11th overall in his run time – 12th out of 760 people! And only one girl beat him (and she was the first place women’s finisher)! After a grueling swim, and a very impressive 18.4 mph on the bike, he smoked me and 741 other people on the run – woohoo! Very impressive, my friend. Now we just need to get you in some swimming lessons, and you’ll be winning your age category! I understand from Rob that Jordan had, ahem, a little trouble with the brakes on his bike. :) Seeing as how it enabled Rob to close the gap between Jordan and the rest of us, perhaps it was ROB that “adjusted” Jordan’s brakes to rub the tire during his ride!
For those of you who enjoy a challenge.....let this spur you on and join us next time!!! The more the merrier. Until the next race! –
dvbDerek's times
18:03 (1/2 mile ocean swim )
2:02 (transition)
22:45 (7.2 mile bike)
1:08 (transition)
27:03 (3.1 mile run)
Total tri time- 1:10:59
