2009 Triathlon season complete
Today I raced the Telos Turkey Triathlon in Orem and honestly didn’t know what to expect.
My knee and ankle have been flaring up for a little while now and running has been a pain – literally.
This triathlon was backwards. Meaning it was run, bike swim — being a November triathlon in Utah means it just might be cold outside and the outdoors bike and run might kill a few people after a nice dip in the pool.
But I have to admit I was pleased with the run, all things considered. I didn’t dare push the pace but still carried a 8-minute mile average. Not surprisingly, that left me near the back of the pack during the run. I was passed by lots of people and I must admit it’s kind of discouraging thinking I might be able to run faster, but that I was afraid to do so because of the mild injury.
Of course, being slow on the run means there are lots of people to pass on the bike. And pass them I did.
The bike route was a two-lap route with one nasty butt-kicker of a hill near the end of each lap. Thankfully the tendinitus in my knee didn’t act up and I was able to drill it on the bike. I didn’t go into full TT mode — hindsight tells me I should have — because of the knee, but still passed people in bunches and completely ignored the safety cones on the corners so I could get around slower cyclists.
I didn’t get passed by anyone until the hill on the second lap. And the two people that did pass me were people I had passed just prior to the hill. So I count that as a push.
One area I sucked at was the transitions. My bike helmet didn’t fit at all for some reason and I took it off to inspect it. I found a couple of the sizing thingymabobbers had popped loose (I blame my kids) and that sucked a few seconds from my time.
On T2, I couldn’t find my goggles (either I, or someone on my right who threw their stuff on top of mine, had moved them from where I expect them to be) and after a little searching I was off to the pool feeling pretty good.
The swim was a cluster of good swimmers, bad swimmers and me. All crammed into a lane trying to get around, over or through the person in front of them. I took a few kicks to the face from people doing the breast stroke and had my ankle literally grabbed from behind three times.
When I hopped out of the pool and crossed the timing marker, I believe the clock read 1 hour, 3 minutes and some change. Not bad, not great, but acceptable.
Some sandbagger who likes to race bikes and had some possibly illegal wheels — they weigh something like 37 grams each — had a lunch bet with me. Who knew the guy could actually run?!?!
Anyhow, Triurbo crushed everyone within crushing distance on the bike and had a large enough gap coming out of T2 over the third place person to hold on for second overall. And it was his first ever triathlon.
Like I said, sandbagger. So now I owe him lunch. Good thing we’re hitting a buffet, because tall, skinny dudes can seriously put away the food.
I’m not sure where I finished (yet) but my estimated time and looking at last year’s results would place me around 50-60 or in the top 15 percent.
In all, a good way to end the triathlon season.
