2009 Cincinnati One World Tri Race Report

Well, count this race in the books. Steph and I usually try to run the Cincy Flying Pig half-marathon every year as her sister lives there. Well, earlier this year, when we were at the race expo for the Flying Pig, I saw the advertisement for this triathlon. Knowing what my plan was for the year, I registered for it.

Fast forward to this weekend. On Friday, Steph and I hopped in the car and drove to her sister's house. After arriving and grabbing some Indian food for dinner, we quickly hit the sack as we were both beat.

On Saturday, we got up and went for a run (I know, I ran the day before my race...I'm an idiot). I got in 5 miles. Steph and my brother-in-law ran around 6. After our run, we headed out to the race course to scope it out and pick up my registration packet. We also wanted to attend one of the info sessions for the race.

Unlike running races, triathlon's tend to have race meetings prior to the race as triathlons are a bit more technical than running races and its good to know what the transition area looks like, where it's exits are, etc. So we picked up my packet and then waited around for the meeting. Uhmm, I'm not really sure how to say this, but the race director for this race is an idiot. I was more confused after the race meeting than before. I felt certain that on race day, I would royally screw something up because this guy was just abysmal at explaining the race details. Anyway, we headed home for a big pasta dinner and I hit the hay around 10pm.

On Sunday, we got to the course around 6:10am. I got everything set up and then we headed to the swim entry. We swam in the Ohio River. The swim distance was .85 miles. I felt pretty confident for the swim. Most triathlete's get a little nervous about the swim, but I've been swimming so much this summer, I felt this would be relatively painless. Thankfully, I was pretty close to being right. I completed the swim in 21 minutes, which is wicked fast for me. I think the current in the river had a lot to do with my speed, but hey, who cares? I ROCKED that swim!!!

I crawled out of the river and ran to the transition area for what's known as T1 (Transition 1). I quickly changed into my cycling gear and took off for the bike portion. The bike was 25 miles. It was a two loop route and was equally as fun as the swim. There were really only two tough portions on the bike course and they were insane hills. But, I got through it great. I passed a guy who clearly had bonked on the swim and also a woman who was having a really tough time. I offered a few words of encouragement to both and headed on. One guy and me must have passed each other like 20 times. He clearly was a speedster, which I am not. I'm more of a hill guy. So, he would pass me on the straightaways and I would pass him on the hills. It was actually pretty funny. We did that for the entire cycling portion. I was just happy to stay with him as he had a killer bike. It was way nicer than mine. Anyway, finished the bike in 1:24 and headed to T2 (Transition 2).

After changing into my running gear, I had 6.2 running miles ahead of me. The run course was through the park that runs along the Ohio river. It sucked. The course I mean. It really was a bad course. You run through the park and then run across the Purple People Bridge and then back through the park. Then you get to do it again on the second lap. Nonetheless, I felt good about the run and pulled into the finish line in 2:44hrs. I ran my 6.2 miles a bit slower than I usually do (54 minutes I think). Anyway, I came in 5th in my age group and 40th overall. I am really, really happy with my top 5 finish.

Thankfully, the volunteers for the race had clearly marked the course for all three legs and the race director's confusing directions didn't factor into anything on race day.

I don't think I'll do this tri next year. It was ok, but I felt things were disorganized. Also, some of the volunteers clearly didn't want to be there (I passed two guys who were laying down and asleep and two girls who were laying down). Anyway, it was a good time, but next year I'll find something a bit more friendly.

Ohhh, and guess what???? I get to do a Half-Ironman in two weeks. Woohoo!!!!

See below for a video that Steph took and I edited of the race this weekend.

Tomorrow is bike and swim.

Woot!!

And so it begins...

On Sunday July 26th 2009, I'm officially starting my triathlon season and the training for my Ironman. Up to this point, I've been working on my base for the two half-ironman events this year and the full Ironman next year. I know it seems like I've been doing a bunch of running, swimming, and biking, but it is nowhere near where I'll be next year. My goal this year is to prep and warmup for the full Ironman next year.

On the 26th, I'll be in Cincinnati competing in the One World Triathlon. I'll be racing the

Olympic distance which is 1.3k swim (.84 miles) 40k bike (25 miles), and 10k run (6 miles). I'm a little nervous as it looks like the high for Sunday is going to be 78 degrees which means the water is going to be a little cold. So, I'll be wearing the new wetsuit I bought. I've never competed in a wetsuit. I'm going to get in an open water swim today and hopefully tomorrow in my wetsuit. I didn't really intend to use it this year as I thought the weather would have been warmer. Thankfully, I didn't buy the full wetsuit. I got a sleeveless version (you can see it over there on the right). It should be an interesting swim to say the least.

More importantly, this race is a training race. I'm doing it to get the details down for my Half-Ironman in Morgantown on August 9th. I'm pretty psyched for the race. I figure I'll finish in a little under 3 hours. The bike looks fun and the run should be a breeze. My nutrition is down. I'm ready. Now it needs to hurry up and get here.

BTW, in case you don't know, a Half Ironman is 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run (in one day). And the full Ironman is 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run (in one day).

6 miles run down. Swim this afternoon. Long bike and swim tomorrow.

Woot!

Tour De France

I can't tell you how excited I get when it is Tour time. I love to watch it. It is amazing what the competitors put themselves through. 2200 miles in 26 days. It is humbling to see the effort and focus these guys put into racing.

But, this year, it has been a nightmare for me to tune it in. We don't have Versus on our cable package. Versus is the only television broadcaster of the Tour. And, I don't think there is any other way to watch. I can pay to watch it online, but 25 bucks? Nope.

So, I am left to look at the standings and watch the videos put up after the stages. It sucks.

However, I am happy at the standings. Contador is 2nd; Lance is 3rd. Team Astana holds 4 of the top 5 spots after 10 stages. I couldn't be happier. Most people either love or hate Lance. I love him. I think anyone who goes through what he's gone through gets to be as arrogant as they want. Maybe I'm wrong, but what the hell? You get diagnosed with cancer. Have multiple surgeries, including brain surgery. Then you come back and win the most grueling endurance cycling event there is. 7 times. You freakin' rock in my book.

On top of that, he establishes a foundation that raises gobs of money to help fight cancer. How many of you wear yellow bracelets?

All of this leads me to my real point. I admire folks who push themselves through adversity. For some of us, that adversity is riding a bike 100 miles a day, running a marathon or a 10k or swimming a few laps in the pool. For others, it is simply the act of going out for a walk or turning down that dessert. The bottom line is that whatever your adversity is, you had better meet it head on. On your feet. No compromises. We get one chance at the life we lead on earth.

Are you going to be remembered as a quitter?

1 mile swim followed by 25 mile bike today. Tmw is 6 mile run and swim.

Woot!

Facebook, Blogger, and the solution to my woes

Ok, so I had earlier decided to only update Facebook Notes with my blog postings, but it appears that I can import my blog postings from here (recastiniron.blogspot.com) to my Facebook profile. I was having some problems keeping both updated. Now, it appears I can do both at the same time. Back to frequent blogging!!!!

Today, I did a brick. I did a 25 mile bike followed immediately by a 6 mile run. If I had swam today, it would have been the exact race distance as I'm doing on the 26th of July: the One World Triathlon in Cincy. I'm doing the Olympic distance (1.35K swim, 40K bike, 10K run).

Anyway, about halfway through my bike today, I got stung by a bee. I was pedaling along at 20mph or so and felt something hit my leg right below my left knee. About a millisecond later, I felt the sting...Yowza!!!! I used to be allergic to bees, but apparently not anymore. I continued my bike and run. IT hurt the whole way, but tonight, I have no swelling or pain. More importantly, I didn't have any allergic reactions. Woohoo!!

Tomorrow is swim and bike. Steph and I will swim in the morning. She'll then run and I'll bike again.

Woot!!