Indy Sprint Triathlon Race Report

This morning I raced in only my second sprint distance race of the year in Indianapolis. Going in to the race I was looking forward to the chance to really test my speed leading into my last two olympic distance races of the year. All in all, the race went really well. The weather was not ideal, as it was rainy and that made the course really wet and dangerous (I saw at least a dozen guys go down on the bike course). Even so I managed to stay upright on the bike and post a near personal best 17:35 5k. The bike and run were definitely the highlights of the race and the swim belongs in the regrettable category. I had the opportunity to start in the elite wave but decided against it and paid for it big time! With some 500-700 people on a swim course that was only 500 yards long it made for some seriously tough going. I seemed to be constantly climbing over someone and didn't seem to find any open water for the whole leg. It really slowed me down: I posted a 10 minute split even though I felt much stronger than that in the water. Even with a super crowded swim, and a slower bike course due to the wet conditions I finished in 58:41 which was good enough for 13th overall. I'm pretty happy with the fact that I almost scratched the top 10 against a bunch of guys who specialize at this distance. This also makes me feel pretty confident about registering as an amateur elite at my next race in early September... hopefully I don't embarrass myself. I'll post some pictures when/if I get them...

Crazy Day at T3-MultiSport Muncie Triathlon

This morning was the Muncie Triathlon put on by T3 Multisport. The venue is a really nice course around the prairie creek resevoir south east of Muncie, Indiana. Since I've moved back to Muncie for the fall semester at Ball State University it's a great race for me to do, right in my back yard. This was my first race in just about a month so going into it I was a little unsure about my fitness level. I have been putting in some good consistent training blocks but when you haven't raced in a while there is always that little bit of doubt that creeps into the back of your mind.... little did I know that the actual race would be the easy part of the morning. First off, I managed to get slightly lost on my way to the venue since I had never been there before and reading mapquest directions in the dark, while driving can be tough. I still managed to get to the race site by a little after 6 am and since the race wasn't suppose to start until 8 am I figured I would be fine. Then I went to unload my bike, which I had packed into my car the night before, only to discover that the rear tire had a slow leak and was totally flat... LAME! But no big deal because I always carry a spare tube for just such an occasion. When I went to put it on I realized I had somehow accidentally gotten one that had a valve neck that was too short and it didn't stick out of my rim far enough for me to be able to fit the pump onto it... LAME TIMES TWO!! But still not a deal breaker because there is always a support tent where you can get tubes and things. They had tubes and the guy there gave me one (for the steep price of $5) and I went back to my car to put it on and it wouldn't fit. He gave me a 650x23c tube instead of the 700x23c tube that I asked for.... ANNOYINGLY TIME WASTINGLY LAME.... To make an already long story and little bit shorter, I was able to get another tube, of the right size this time, and pump up my rear tire. I still managed to set up transition and have plenty of time for my regular pre-race routine of nutrition and warm up. Once the race finally started things went very smoothly. I am nursing some sore joints and had very little problems with them and while I don't know my exact splits because the final results haven't been posted yet, I do know that I finished 4th overall. Good confidence booster with two more prep races to go before the big one at Nationals at the end of September. I'll post some splits and what little photos there are once they are made available to me...