Capital View Olympic Tri Results

Oh man where do I start with this one? I had heard pretty good things about this event from last year. Great support, not so hard bike, good swim, and run "wasn't bad". I'm going to find out who told me that the run "wasn't bad" and I got a news flash for you. The run is BAD. And it sucked worse that any other 10K run EVER. Jenny and I signed up for this quite a while ago. As race day approached, I was fretting the open water swim. Like always. We had done some OWS in Storrs Lake in Milton and I guess I am starting to feel more comfortable doing them. But after the first Aquathon debacle, I still have the doubt monster in the back of my mind. Also with the little fluid in the lung thing, I was a bit concerned. When we first bought wetsuits, we bought the cheapest we could. We figured it really didn't matter. Well the suits have always been tight and very constricting. It always felt like I was cramming 25 pounds of crap in a 15 pound bag. So after some review and a little bit of checking stuff out, we found out that higher end wetsuits are nothing like the entry level ones. The rubber is a lot more stretchable and much more forgiving. So I went and bought a Quintana Roo Superfull Wetsuit. Wow what a difference. I can get it on and almost zip it myself. And I don't feel like I am going to die or have lack of breath. We went to packet pick up yesterday too and Jenny wasn't switching from the Oly to the sprint so neither was I. I had thought about it several times. Just a bit freaked on the swim. We got back with our wetsuits. Tested it out in Storrs Lake and I was able to swim from the boat landing all the way across and back with ease. SWEET. Came home and got everything ready to go for the race.

Up at 4:30, get dressed and take off. Wanted to have some time to swim before the start of the race. Got up there and got chips (no not the ones you eat, timing chips that go on the ankle) and racked our bikes and got transitions all set up. Saw a bunch of people we knew. Michelle Wilkinson, Steve Knox, Bob Kincaid, Tom Peterson, and I am sure I am forgetting people.

Put the new wetsuit on with ease and went down to the water. The buoys looked a LONG WAY out. Oh well. I felt pretty calm and after swimming around for a few minutes I knew it was going to be O.K. I was shocked at how far you could walk out. You can touch for the whole sprint course. We got grouped in waves and soon it was time to swim.

Stroke, stroke, breathe...stroke, stroke breathe. Was easy. Soon I was at the first buoy, then the second and then back to the beach. I swam out away from the group hugging the line. I probably swam a little farther but the waves they were making were fierce. So I stayed away. Got into transition and saw that Jenny hadn't finished yet. She started 2 minutes behind me. I was hoping she was o.k. and expecting her to be there already. I got everything on for the bike and got ready to go. I didn't see her. She said she saw me but I didn't see her. So I rode off.

Bike sucked. I couldn't get anything going. Hills right away. Even the flats felt uphill. I swore a bunch of times and called myself a lazy fat fucker a lot. I sometimes do that and I don't know why. I got passed way more than I passed and it pissed me off. Finally got to a point where it seemed like the bike got easier and I got into a rhythm and pedaled hard.




Bike profile. Click it to make it bigger. Not flat. I say again..not flat. But whatever. I am pretty sure I averaged about 16mph which is not what I wanted. It was starting to get hot and I was sweating pretty good. I was drinking Gatorade so I felt o.k. I had some legs left and was looking forward to the run.

The run can suck it. Seriously...WTF were these people thinking. 6.2 miles of mountain bike trails. Nothing single track but all double tracks. Up and down and up and down and up and down. 1300 feet of climbing on the bike...1000 feet of climbing on run. In 6 miles. Well you can imagine how that worked out for me the non good runner.





It took me about 3 minutes longer to bike 25 miles than it did to run 6. Hot, tired and feeling funky, I finished. About 4 hours I think. The clock said 3:57 but I think that was for the first wave and I started about 8 minutes after them. I am thinking 3:50 ish. OLY PR. Wait that is the only one I have ever done.

I watched Jenny finish and talked with Bob Kincaid (who can run good) and he said the same thing. The run course can suck it. We didn't get finishers medals for this either and I was hoping to get one. I love finishers medals.

It's o.k. to challenge yourself sometimes. It makes you faster. But I will NEVER be in the shape to be able to run that well and that doesn't make it fun. I won't be signing up for this tri ever again, unless it is the sprint. I will say one thing though. GREAT organization, GREAT support, GREAT volunteers. Probably one of the best run Tri's I have EVER attended or done. These guys did a great job. But the bike and run course are just too hilly for me to want to do that to myself again.

Came home and showered and took a 2+ hour nap. WHERE'S THE BEEF? I'm starving.

UPDATE: Here are the results




230 out of 237 overall-oh joy. At least I finished.