Dave Parcells Tri, No Duathlon - 9-8-12

They scratched the swim and did a duathlon.  Here are the results:

http://www.plattsys.com/m1shell.asp?eventid=942

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On Friday night I put my gear in the car and the bike rack on the back. All I had to do was get up in the morning and drive down to Madision for the Dave Parcells Tri. I didn't sleep too well, waking up a lot.  My alarm went off. I got up, then got back down. Three times I got up, and then laid back down. I did not want to go. Why? I had only ridden my bike once since the last Lake T triathlon. My running has been weak lately. I wasn’t likely going to set a PR, and would just be going through the motions. Plus twice on the way home yesterday the lights on my car just went out, so I had that worry to deal with – suddenly becoming invisible on a dark country road.

Still, I finally did get up and out into the car. I knew that if I stayed home, I would feel bad as I watched the clock, thinking, right now, I would be swimming or biking or running or crossing the finish line.  I think if I hadn't already pain, I might not have gone.

I didn’t get to Mountain road before my lights went off. I quickly flicked the switch and they came back on. I thought about turning around, but kept on. I was actually wishing they would go off again so I could return home with some semblance of honor instead of disgrace. I kept on, the lights stayed on.

When I got there, I learned they were canceling the swim due to rough water. Some people were leaving because of that. I thought about it, but ended up parking and walking in to the packet pickup. I picked up my packet, and then there I was.

They had us run, what they said would be 1.8 miles, but I think it was shorter. Where they screwed up was the waves got mixed up. I was in the 4th wave and there was supposed to be a fifth wave, but most of the fifth wave went with us, quite possibly the whole wave. I ran slow, taking this as a training run. There were a few people behind me. At least the transition was easy, not having to mess with the wet suit. I went easy on the bike for awhile. What was nice was going in the last wave, and being a slow runner, I don’t think I was passed by two riders the whole way, while I passed many. I had read this great book called “The Rider” the night before about an amateur bike race that was taught me a great deal about what road racing was like. I decided to just turn the jets on and was passing many people. It was a big rush, but admittedly these were not speed demons on tri bikes I was going by. I was a little slow on the run, and was happy to finish. My times in the bike and the run were a little slower than last year, but I wasn’t really going too all out.

Afterwards, I went for a swim. I really think they could have done the swim, but I guess unlike New Jersey they weren’t geared up for the safety aspect of rougher seas.

I am a little sad to be done with triathlon for the year. True, I didn’t train as much as I would have liked, and at most held my own over last year, but I would like one more chance to go all out.