First off I would like to say thank you to all the volunteer's and race organizers/sponsors that make it happen. We couldn't have these splendid acts of self-inflicted masochistic round-abouts if it wasn't for those wonderful people who give up their time, money, or both to make them happen. With that being said, Rockett's was only my 2nd Olympic distance race that I've done. I was pretty psyched about it because it's just a bit over a mile from my house. It's nice doing a race on your home turf; the bike and run course was where I usually train. This meant I got to get a little extra sleep and knew where everything was...sweet!
I rolled down to the race Sunday morning and got there just as transition opened. I notice that I'm getting the pre-race jitters less and less each time. I set up my transition and ventured around, talking with a few of the other athletes and checking out the transition exits/entrances.
NO SWIM CAPS! Yup, the water was so damn hot, I heard 91-93 degrees, that swim caps were optional. I'm so glad that I did the pre-swim last Friday because I have never swam in water that warm. It's crazy how much swimming in hot water drains you. I lined up on the far left of the course. For some reason I've had a bad habit of starting in the middle leaving myself no way out. Great choice! Minimal contact with others. I tried to keep it smooth and not push too hard because of the water temp. Came out of the water with a time of 25:46.
T1 wasn't too bad either, just a long run to get to transition from the water. Grabbed the bike and headed out, nailing my first fly mount, BOOM! I felt really good on the bike but I didn't do as well as I expected, 1:07:26 which is an average of 22 mph. Fly dismount into T2 and head out for the run.
I don't know what it is but it seems like every time I race in Richmond I blow it on the run.. It was hot but I've run in heat before. It was an out and back run. My time was 56:05, which outright stinks. I've got to work on speed!!!
Overall I was happy with my finishing time, 2:32:13, since it was a 14 minute improvement from my first Olympic tri. That is one thing I like seeing, drastic improvement. My buddy Jeremy pointed this out to me and I had never considered it; the guys that have been out here for years are shooting for maybe a 1-5 minute improvement where I'm making 10-15 min improvements. I have a long way to go before I'm running a sub 40 10k, but as long as I'm making improvements I'm going to keep gettin' after it!
Now it's time to get ready for one more long race, OBX half iron distance, which is 6 weeks away. I'm looking forward to seeing if I make any improvements from my first half distance.
