3am wake up call, on the road by 3:30am. It was just under a 2 hour drive to Cedarville. This course is advertised as being extremely flat. My kind of race!!!
We got there just before 5:30am and walked to find the packet pick-up tent. I couldn't figure out why I was being eaten alive by gnats? More like a heavy swarm of gnats! They were everywhere. Unless you kept moving they were stuck to you. We couldn't do anything that morning without trying to swat them away. The people that parked next to us went to the nearest store and got bug spray. They were kind enough share with us. Yeah, it made no difference. I was in transition trying to set up and couldn't concentrate. Come to find out later, we were pretty much in swamp land and gnats are common.
Swim: The worst swim I have ever had. Short but terrible. Everyone was talking about the water temperature and how cold it was. That didn't bother me, especially with a wet suit on. Everyone walked on a platform and down a set of stairs to get into the water. I was expecting to get into the water and not be able to touch the bottom. Wrong. My feet hit the bottom and it was complete mush/muck. I did a few warm up strokes to get used to the feel and then lined up next to the buoy. The announcer kept yelling for a group of about 5-10 women to move back behind the yellow buoy, they were attempting to get a head start. By the time the gun went off, they never moved back, so a head start it was. When the gun went off I found myself swimming over top of girls and not being able to see where I was going. The water was pitch black. I spent most of the swim sighting every stroke because you couldn't even see the swimmer's bubbles right in front of you. Imagine swimming with your eyes closed, that's how dark the water was. I also realized that I don't swim well in a wet suit. I felt like I was being choked the entire swim. With all of that said, I didn't come out of the water in a terrible position, however I was held up at the stairs to exit. A few of the men in the waves before me took their time getting out.
Bike: The race director wasn't lying when advertising the race as "flat." There were a few false flats and definitely no declines. I think I enjoy a hilly course better because at least with hills you can somewhat rest your legs on the declines. This course you had to continue to push forward the entire 20.5 miles. I didn't want to push beyond my limits though because I knew I still had a 4 mile run ahead of me. I was happy that I passed the few girls that exited the water before me, but at the same time I was surprised to see how many 40+ women passed me on the bike. I give them much respect, 40+ years old and pounding it out on the bike like that. I can only hope that when I'm 40 I can be as competitive. Something to work for. About 2 miles from T-2 I was trapped between the side of the road and a tractor trailer. I was hoping he would have accelerated a little bit so that I could have drafted off him, but instead, he was going too slow.
Run: Not my best run off the bike but certainly not my worst. It was better than the 4 mile run at South Beach where I was passed 3 times by girls in my age group. This time, I was not passed by anyone in my age group at all. I was passed only once by a 15 year old female who I later found about .3 away from the finish on the side of the road puking. Too many chocolate gels I think.
All in all, good enough for 1st place in my AG. I was about 4 minutes faster than the 2nd and 3rd place females. Once again, an accomplishment.
Next up, Black Bear, Sprint Triathlon, 6/3/12 and I'm coming back for redemption!
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