Terramuggus Tri 2007 #1

Ah, ladies and gents, life is good. I raced again,and, once more, I avoided the dreaded DNF at the first Terramuggus Tri of 2007.

In fact, I set a PR for the course! Shocked, shocked!

Let’s roll back the clock and look at my overall results (and get a chance to use the cool HTML “Table” tag, which I haven’t yet attempted!)

How this happened, I don’t know. I don’t exactly feel powerful, like I did during the 2005 races. Maybe it’s just that my baseline expectations for feeling “good” about running and cycling have increased over three years of relatively consistent training. Or it could be that I’ve got a better engine than I’ve ever had.

My personal theory is that I’ve become more accustomed to suffering, so I’m able to push further into the red.

Oh, and the huge improvement in the swim is probably mostly from having used a wetsuit this time around. Sure, I’ve been swimming more regularly, but two minutes is a LOT of time. I still would have PR’d, though…

I will admit that my pre-race routine was a little bit off, but for good reason. On the way to the race, I stopped off to have beer with one of the guys I’ve worked with in the Reserves. F’n awesome guy – he made First Class Petty Officer in the last exam cycle, and this week got notified he’s been accepted into a commissioning program. Couldn’t happen to a better guy. Since I’m in class up in Hartford, I had absolutely no moral choice but to buy him beer.

I got to the race later than I’d wanted, and had to head to the car three times – forgot wallet, forgot license, and then to carry my stuff to the Transition. Got set up, and got into the wetsuit just in time to get to the start.

The swim – Well, open water swimming still sucks. Within 100′ of the start, I’d gotten both run over and swam into someone’s leg, losing my goggles. So, I kept well to the outside during the swim. Saw a bunch of perch – it was kind of funny to see them looking up at me and the 100+ other people thrashing up the water.

T1 was good – I unzipped coming out of the water, and it was much easier getting out of the wetsuit than getting in. Socks, shoes, shirt … And I had to go back for my bike helmet. Could be worse, I suppose.

The ride was – well, not the greatest. I was winded from the swim, and my legs were cold. I got passed by about 5 people heading down the first hill. But steady wins the race, right? Despite re-tasting beer, chips, and salsa for the first big hill, I started reeling in people on the second lap. Felt good.

Off the bike and onto the run – no problem; and fiddling with the iPod (got to get credit for Michelle’s challenge) gave me the chance to catch my breath and get into a good stride.

Again, I got passed a couple of times in the first half-mile, but then got my rhythm and had negative splits the rest of the way in. 8:30 for the first mile, 8:00 for the second, and forgot to stop Nike+ at the end of the run, so I’m not sure what the last mile was. (looks like less than 8, as the run time includes T2).

I hung around at the end, and got a free C02 cartridge. The ride home? Wonderful, thanks to the VDub’s heated seats.