Post Race Analysis

The Triathlon didn't go as well as planned.

First though, I have to say that the event itself was wonderful. I have never done any race that was so well organized: the volunteers and staff were excellent, the course itself was beautiful, and triathletes are far and away the friendliest competitors I've been around. The weather couldn't have been better, either. It was warm and sunny, but not too warm until near the very end. And the water in the lake was a balmy 78 degrees: that's warmer than the pool where we usually train.

Things went wrong for me in the swim, almost right from the start. The water was choppy, which is not something I had counted on, and it really messed me up. Then, about 150 meters in, I got stuck between a person on my left doing butterfly, and a person against my right. The butterfly guy was directly in front of my left shoulder, so I would be hitting his back every time I reached out my left hand. I was pretty much swimming with just my right hand, and I couldn't move to get away, so I was just getting more and more tired. I finally got away from them just before the turn at the halfway point, but I was exhausted. I made the turn and was struggling along for another hundred yards or so, when people started passing me. My goggles were totally fogged up, and I was feeling all disoriented. And then I caught a big mouthful of water. Long story short, I started to panic a little. I saw one of the buoys that mark the course, and I swam for it. I grabbed on, waiting for the panic to pass, trying to get my breath back. Then I had to wait while swimmers from the later heats passed.
So how bad was my time? Well, Sue started two heats after me (which is about 10 minutes), and she literally bumped into me about 50 meters from the finish.

By the time I got out of the water I was too exhausted to run through the transition.
I got on the bike and I had no juice to put into the ride. The course was 2 miles of hard climb, then 5 miles of rolling hills with an overall increase, then turn and head back down. I was so tired though that all I could do was grind out the hill. I passed Sue about a mile in, but we weren't allowed to ride together, so I left her to her own struggle. I finally felt better about 5 miles in and started to reclaim some of the time I'd lost. I hit the turn-around, and saw Sue soon after. She was doing awesome!

I didn't really get my legs back until well down the mountain, and just as I was started to make up ground, it was transition time. My one quibble with this race was how the run was laid out. It's an out-and-back course out to the waterfall, which is beautiful. But there are two foot-bridges to cross (one of which has stairs), and you weren't allowed to pass people one the bridges. So I got off the bike and started running, and about a third of a mile in is this first bridge (the one with stairs). And wouldn't you know, I got caught behind someone going much slower than me. It totally ruined my rhythm, and I couldn't recover it. I got a really bad stitch about a half-mile later (no doubt from swallowing half of Cayuga Lake) and I just didn't have the chi to push through it. I had to walk for about five minutes.

When I finally started running again, I came to the second bridge. Stuck behind someone again! I didn't let that discourage me, I pressed on as best I could. I vowed to keep running no matter what. It's easy to push yourself when you're near the lead or a PR. This was just about me overcoming my own exhaustion and disappointment. I kept running, and I saw Sue and yelled encouragement to her. I finished in 255th place (out of 291 finishers), dead last in my age group, in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 8 seconds

Sue had had bike troubles after I saw her (her chain came off). I am sure that if not for that, she would have beaten me. She finished 275th overall, in 2:06:53. I could not be more proud of her. Yay, Sue!