Anchor Bay Triathlon Report (short)

All in all had a pretty good race today.  I feel really good with how I did on most of it and when I left I felt REALLY good with my results.  After downloading them from my Garmin I realized I probably had the best kind of race: one right on with where my training is/was.
My strongest leg has got to be the bike and today was no exception.  I got passed by 2 people very close to each other about 1/2 way through the course.  When I looked down I was going 23/mph when i got passed so I thought, "if you can do that more power to you!!!"  I ended up passing both of them shortly after they had passed me and I never really saw them again.  After the race I saw I was 2nd out of 19 in my age group for the bike and was really, really pumped about that!  When I got back to my school I downloaded the data into my computer and realized that I averaged 20.9 (right around my training) so it wasn't the hammering I thought I had laid out, lol.
The run was easily my best run.  It was only 3 miles, don't know why they couldn't find that last .10 to make it a 5k?  I ran the entire run this time and felt comfortable and relaxed.  My run time was 28:31 for a 9:28/mile.  Considering my best try so far had 10:40/miles and I was dying this is truly great.  More than anything I think it's my long runs that are my key.  I felt like I could've kept that pace of a 10k easily.
Swim, well not so hot here.  I did it in 20:32 and it was ugly!  One of the guys I've been training with was doing this tri too so we placed ourselves behind the front line of people but still in the top 1/3.  Well, I should've gone to the front.  I was hoping to do this swim in the low 16's or high 15's.  This last week I've been swimming pretty strong and really thought I could do this swim with just 1-2 minutes of recovery strokes.  Within 50 meters I was dealing with people treading water/doing backstroke/and doggie paddles.  It was a 255 person mass start and probably at least 1/2 the field was new to triathlon and I'm assuming they just didn't know better.  To top things off we were boxed in by peers for the first part so there wasn't any swimming to the outside.  By the time I got to clear water I was overheated and just couldn't get my breathing in control.  
All in all a great day for me and feel a victory for the running leg (finally).  I feel like I could've easily gone a little faster on the run and bike but I didn't want to blow early and as far as the swim, if I had positioned myself better think I could've knocked a couple minutes off that time.  
Oh yeah, when I came around a corner I saw a guy running with his bike.  This was with about 6 or 7 miles left on the corner (he was coming the other direction).  He ended up running his bike the rest of the bike course and he got a huge round of applause when he got back to the transition zone.  Ironically he beat the last biker in by about a minute and a half!!!

Sounds like it was a really fun race for you!  Things are coming together and Ironman CDA should prove to be another of those great experiences.

I've only done one tri with a mass swim start, and from what I hear, it's never really very pretty.  Each one is a learning experience.  Next time you'll position yourself closer to the front.  It's all good.  I agree that having the long runs allows you to do even the shorter races faster.

Linn

too bad about the swim, that is my biggest question mark as i haven't done any open water swims let alone in a crowd.  great work on the bike and the run, i'm not putting up any sort of numbers like that on the bike yet, but i'm starting to enjoy it!

Good Job Dan! Solid bike and run, not too shabby on the swim either.... Way to go brother, keep it up

Sounds like a great race. Your performance is quite impressive... I'm no where near those times yet either.

Congrats, it sounds like you put in an outstanding performance.

Keep up the great work.

Scott

Congratulations. Sounds like a great time. I am looking forward to my 1st open water tri Aug 2. It is going to be interesting. the wave I will be in had about 100 last year and they are expecting even more this year. Congrats again especially on the run.

Sounds like you really kicked butt on the bike course!! Great job! I've only done one tri so far this year (Starker-Mann) and my bike performance wasn't very good at all.
Do you have any plans on doing the Tawas Triathlon Fest Sept 12th?  That's actually about the time I will probably be scheduled for my surgery but I'm thinking of pushing the surgery date back so I can do it! It's the one tri I've been training for all year and I don't want to miss it.
At any rate, great job on the Anchor Bay tri. Hope to see ya in Tawas in Sept.!!

 I'm actually going to be doing the Muskoka 70.3 race that weekend.  I'm sure when it comes time to schedule your surgery dealing it until that Monday or Tuesday after the race wouldn't be much of a problem.  Good luck in your training and upcoming surgery!

Wow, a 70.3. That's great! I'm hoping to one day be able to do that. I still have a ways to go though.
I was told that surgery will probably be the last week of Aug or the first week of Sept. So, I've spent many months wanting to have surgery ASAP and now I'm hoping that it gets pushed back a little!! LOL.
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck on the 70.3. I'll be thinking of you with every step I take that day!!