Ocean Beach Triathlon

New London, CT.  Sunday, July 15, 2012.

Results here.  1:34:07.  75th out of 321.  PR by more than 5 minutes over last year's time.

7AM start, typical early start for tris.  My support crew (Jana) was good enough to get up with me and be out the door by 5:30AM for the morning's activities.

Swim:  21:22.  220th out of 321.  0.5 mile triangular course.  3 minutes faster than last year.

Pre-race jitters just before swim start

Swim course looked daunting to me

Return swim to shore:  I'm somewhere in here getting trampled

Yes!  I survived the swim, and
didn't drown.  On to the bike.

Bike:  50:10.  102nd out of 321.  16.1 mile loop through New London and Waterford.  2 minutes faster than last year, although most of this is due to I dropped the chain last year and lost a minute fixing it.  Hilly course.  Cool passing other bikers going downhill at 34mph, but hairy passing a couple of cars.  As I came into transition, a spectator told me I was 109th overall (not including swim wave start differential).  Let's see what we can make up on the run.

Bike dismount at end of course before entering transition area



Run:  19:14.  8th out of 321.  3.1 mile loop, mostly along the water.  Hot!  20 seconds faster than last year.  Just for the fun of it, I counted runners I passed to help the time pass:  I ended up passing 41 runners, and got passed by 1.  (Yes, passing so many runners is only because I start so far back after my slow swim and bike, but let me have my fun!)
Despite trying tips from veterans to ease the transition and Gumby-like feeling in the legs (such as spinning in low gear before getting off the bike), I still had trouble getting going on the run.  First mile was a disappointing 6:26, fortunately followed by 6:02 and then 5:52 for the final mile.

Start of the run:  finally I'm in my element
Running through a water fountain to cool off

Time to chase down
runners







 

End of the tri:  I gave it my all
(take 2 minutes off clock for swim wave start adjustment)



High points:  Swim was 3 minutes faster!  Yes, there's still much room for improvement, but I think sighting the next buoy every 5 strokes helped keep me on a straighter path.
Low points:  T1 was too slow at 2:08.  Also need to get going on the run a little quicker, or at least get into my groove sooner.