St. Patrick's Day Triathlon - Race Report

Male 99 and under

         Overall                  ---- swim ----          t1      ----- bike -----          t2      ----- run -----                        Total
  Place   Place   Name         Age  Rnk Time   Rate     Time      Rnk     Time   Rate     Time      Rnk     Time   Pace                    Time
     1       1  Michael         27    1 4:08.4 2.09      1:07.7     3    38:41.7 18.6      1:00.2     1    24:38.5  7:57                 1:09:36.5    
     2       2  Rothwell        35    3 4:38.0 1.14      4:19.4     6    37:10.3 19.4      2:00.4     2    23:30.8  7:35                 1:11:38.9    
     3       3  Vincent         39    2 4:26.9 0.73      3:33.4     4    36:48.0 19.6      1:08.7     3    25:49.7  8:20                 1:11:46.7    
     4       4  Dan Benintendi  34    8 5:03.6 0.84      1:40.6     8    41:15.1 17.5      2:08.4     4    23:48.8  7:41                 1:13:56.5   
      
     I woke up at about 4:30am felt great and was ready for the race. 
I drank a 16oz bottle of Gatorade Focus to get my hydration going, 
then ate 2 slices of wheat toast with some margerine, had a couple 
spoonfuls of peanut butter a granola bar, and was ready to rumble. 
I drank a few more fluids closer to the race. Now for the reality: 
a balmy 39 degrees with light drizzles going on... BRRRRRRRRRR!!! 
The thought of jumping out of the water and getting on a bike wet and 
cold was not very appealing at all! There were over 700 people registered 
for the tri so it was a great turnout and everyone froze together!!! 
It's sad that to "Warm-up" I had to jump INTO the pool and swim some laps 
before-hand. Anyways....



     They started us off according to our estimated 300 meter swim time 
we put on our registration form. I put 5 minutes flat for my time. 
(My fastest time for 300 I have is 4:11) So I was very conservative in my 
estimation and was seeded as BIB #119. Appearently, folks have no idea what
a 5 minute 300 meter swim consists of because I passed 2 swimmers on the 
1st LENGTH (Not lap, length) 5 minutes? yeah right... Anyways, I spent all 
5:03 that it took me to swim, dodging people who need to get their heads 
and rear-ends wired together I guess. Anyways, I was happy with my swim 
time, could have done it quicker, but why tire for a few seconds? 
I made it out of the pool and was slappped with the weather when I ran out 
the door of the Natatorium in to Transition #1 and my feet almost 
immediately froze on contact with the concrete! On to the bike...



     I had only got a chance to ride my new Tri bike 1 time before this 
race and it is NOT like riding a road bike! I felt like I had never ridden
before and the muscles I engage being aero felt like they had never been 
used before yesterday. My bike split was awful! I averaged almost 20 mph on
my road bike on this same course last year in The Monster Tri, yesterday I 
averaged a weak 17.5 mph... ugh! Anyways it was cold, wet and miserable 
out on the road, and I know in just a few weeks I will be a force to be 
reconned with on my new bike, just need to get a little more saddle time in! 
Going into Transition #2, I got out of my shoes on the bike and hit 
the frozen ground running into transition. My feet were so cold they felt 
like they were getting stabbed! I got to my setup, racked my bike, 
with my frozen hands tried my hardest to get my socks on, I finally did, 
pulled on my shoes & used my Yankz and I was ready to jam on it on the run...

     
     The run went by WAY fast... I guess anything feels fast when you just 
ran a 26.2 mile marathon 2 weeks ago. The 5k was pretty much flat and there 
were a lot of people on the trail. I ended up running the 5k in 23:48 which 
translates to 7:41 minute miles... I'll take it. It was not until I hit 
mile 2 that I could actually feel my feet again... I think that if my feet 
would have felt 100% and were warm, I could have ran in 21 minutes, but we 
will get em next time!



     Overall, I am very happy with my race, I ended up taking 4th out of 43
in my division. There were only 4 minutes that seperated me and 1st place, 
and had I even had my road bike out there, I would have mopped up 1st place, 
no problem. Anyways, I have some work to do on my new bike, thank goodness 
it is warmin up outside, and everything else is progressing nicely! Thanks 
to all my friends and family who always love and support me, you are the 
best! 



     So, year-to-date for my events, I have ran a full marathon, finishing 
10th out of 61, and a Sprint Triathlon finishing 4th out of 43 people in my 
respective divisions. I am very happy with the results and I will be a 
fine instrument of Triathlon Warfare by the end of the 2009 season! 
Take care ya'll...
 I will post more pics from
the race when they come in from Photo company who shot the pics in the race!