Terramuggus Race Report 7-26-2007

I got to the park at 5:15 tonight and already the parking lot was nearly full. They upped the fee from $15 to $20 to pay for extra state police to help on the roads. I got marked number 36 and got a much better spot in the transition area than the previous time. I met up with several people from my class – there were seven of us tonight. My friend Derick checked my tires for me and we got them pumped to the right level.

There were 178 people -- even more people than two weeks ago. The race director announced that next time they would do two swim waves, but this time they had to still do everybody at once. I must have been swimming way too fast to start because I got really fatigued and felt I was swimming crappy so much so that I had to stop and do some breast stroke for a minute. I thought I might not even be able to complete the race, and then I got a mouthful of water. I spit most of it out – and I went back to swimming, trying to get in a rhythm. I also tried to spend a little extra time in the “sweet spot” rolled on my back as I breathed. That helped. The logjam wasn’t quite so bad, and the swim in was better, although I was a little off target and hit the ropes of the lifeguarded swimming area just to the left of the race finish area and had to stand and walk around an end post. I ran in and did a fairly quick transition. I brought a pail this time so I could sit on it to put on my socks and shoes. That helped. Even so I find putting socks and sneakers on time consuming. I took a swig of Powerade, grabbed the bike and hustled to the bike start area, which is about 60 yards from the transition area – I was really panting. My time was great though at 8:55, (66th place) which is 50 seconds ahead of the last race and 1:17 ahead of the first one. If they had a swim mat coming out of the water like they did the first time, I think I would have been even further ahead, as I felt I was again being passed in transition by some who I had beaten out of the water.

I had to go slow to start the bike as I was really huffing and again people were whipping by me. I tried to breathe deeply, but it was hard. I had to coast down the first hill as I hadn’t got my gearing set right.

The beginning of the race course is largely an uphill climb with a few small descents and it was killing me. I was trying to get my gears low enough so I could pedal easy. Everyone in my class passed me, but they shouted encouragement. I had to stand on the bike to get up the last hill in the residential neighborhood, and my thighs were again screaming. On the backstretch I did much better, using the big gear and really pedaling hard even as I descended. This time I didn’t get lapped by the leaders. Hooray! But then as soon as I started out on the second lap, my seat slipped down again, which was a real pain. I was debating getting off and fixing it, but I felt again if I got off the bike, I might lose more time, and probably wouldn’t be able to keep it from slipping down again, so I powered on with bent legs. Still the second lap I felt I rode okay – still had a hell of a time going up the hills, but I got in a low gear and that helped and I used a high gear for the downhills. I even passed three people – one walking their bike, one standing looking at their bike chain, and one who had passed me earlier, but who I had some legs to get past.

I crossed the bike line at a combined swim/bike time of 57:16, which was just 23 seconds slower than I did the entire bike the first race. My bike time was 48:25. A pickup of 3:35 on last time and 8:21 over my first race.

I did a quick transition, grabbed a small bottle of water and started off on the run, but I felt wobbly and was extremely short of breath. My back also felt tight. No way I was going to be able to run the whole way. I did walk run for the first mile, and had a period of belching that didn’t quite lead to a puke. Eventually I found myself running together with a 60 year old man from Trumbull and after a little bit of walk run together, we ran it on in all the way, having a nice conversation and even singing the Rocky theme together on the last 100 yards down to the line, which we crossed together at 1:31:55. My run time was 34:39, which was 28 seconds slower than last time, but my overall race time was 3:53 seconds faster than last time and 9:20 seconds faster than my first race, so I have to be satisfied.

I came in tied for 162 out of 178, but if you subtract the people who didn’t do all the loops, I was tied for 159.

I had a good swim time even though I did not feel like I swam well.
My bike was way improved.
I still have conditioning issues on the run, or maybe it is just an unwillingness to suffer.

I plan to do the Niantic Race, but may not do this one again this year, although I might go and volunteer. The next race is on the 9th, four days after Niantic. They were short volunteers again, and since I have really enjoyed the races, I would like to help out. Perhaps I will run the final race on August 23. I have made great strides, but I feel I will be best served now by doing some hard endurance training.

Tonight at home I am watching the Red Sox, eating a perfectly cooked New York Strip steak and after several Powerades, am ready to pop open a cold beer.

Cause I’m a triathlete…

Results

***

Swim/Transition

1st Race 10:12
2nd 9:45
3rd 8:55
Gain 1:17

Bike
1st 55:53
2nd 52:00
3rd 48:25
Gain 7:21

Transition/Run
1st 35:10
2nd 34:07
3rd 34:39
Gain 0:31

Total
1st 1:41:15
2nd 1:35:52
3rd 1:31:55
Gain 9:20