FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

After my first race two weeks ago, Rick encouraged me to clog up the server with my long winded race recap and some photos of the race. So here you go Rick, this post’s for you!

This Sunday I completed my second Triathlon and I am proud to report it was another huge success.

This course was a much tougher course than my first Tri. It was a little longer and a lot of the bike and half the run were up hill, so while my time is 11 minutes slower than my first race, it is 5 minutes faster than what I thought I would be able to do. I am really proud and a little amazed at how well I did this weekend.

Here are the results:

Total Time: 1:15:39

Overall Place 173/ 386
Gender Place 103 / 177
Division Place 16 / 26
Swim time 12:19
Swim pace 2:06/100 Yards
Swim place 111
Bike time 34:54
Bike mph 17.7
Bike place 180
Run time 23:19
Run pace 9:20
Run place 244

Since the courses are so different, the easiest way to compare this race to my first race is based on ranking and pace data.

My swim pace was only 6 seconds slower. Not bad considering I only swam once since my last race and I started right at the front of the pack. I spent most of the race getting swam over or swimming over other people. It was a whole different experience than the first race.

My bike pace was way slower, but I knew that would be the case with all the hills. Amazingly I kept up a 19MPH Average for the first 6.5 miles. Then I hit the really big hills.

Here is the real shocker, despite using up so much energy busting hills on my bike and having to run half the course uphill, I managed to shave 16 seconds a mile off of my run pace! Woo-Hoo! That may be the biggest accomplishment of all from this race.

I am also really happy to see that I finished in about the same place in my age group and in the overall male rankings for both races, which says to me I wasn’t the only one slowed down by those hills.

And here are the pictures.

Just finishing the swim.

The start of the bike. Time lapse style.
I am so glad I drove the course the night before so I knew what I was in for. It would have been a rude shock to get out there with all those hills and not be mentally prepared for it.





Nearing the bike finish. This picture makes me look a lot more relaxed than I was. My legs were burning!!!

Starting the Run…Time Lapse Style.
Laura told me after the race that the look on my face at this point made it look like I was hurting…and I was. It could also be a little fear looking at the hill I had to climb. It was 1/2 mile of straight gradual incline and you could see it the whole way.







Sprinting for the finish line.
After the turn at the top of the hill, I managed to settle into a great pace. Going down hill helped I am sure. I felt really good coming into the chute. I was hurting but not nearly as much as I had been in my first race. As always my loving family was there to give me the encourgment I needed to kick in the extra speed right at the end.





Hanging out with my number one motivation!
After both races all three of my girls have rushed to congratulate me. That part of the race is even better than crossing the finish line. It will live as one of my most cherished memories.

There is a pretty good chance this was my last Triathlon for the season, and I am surprised at how sad that makes me. But I have lots more 5K and 10K races before the snow starts falling and I plan to do plenty more Tri’s in the coming years.

Tony
08/4 217.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.4 lbs. to go