The Race

The entire race weekend was awesome and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Real quick, here are two really cool items:

• There were 750 Team In Training participants in the Nation's Tri who raised more than $3,000,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

• With athletes represented from 976 cities, 46 states, and 14 different countries, the Nation's Triathlon set a new Guinness Book of World Records record for the largest "International Distance Triathlon Event" in the U.S., surpassing the previous record set by the Chicago Triathlon.

On to the race...

My Race Times:

Overall Time:
02:37:08

That places me: 

Age Group M25-29: 144th out of 480 (Top 30%)

Overall: 877th out of 4418 (Top 20%)

Swim: 28:50   (Goal: 27:30) 

Transition 1: 3:58   (Goal: 1:40)

Bike: 1:13:14   (Goal: 1:15:00)

Transition 2: 2:02   (Goal: 1:50)

Run: 49:05   (Goal: 50:00)

Overall: 1:37:08   (Goal:1:40:00)

Day before race, getting our bikes ready

Transition area day before race (note: the sun)

My bike in transition day before race

RACE MORNING

Heavy rain at times and cold early Sunday morning before the race. Most racers put on their wetsuits to keep warm.

 You- under the table- stop your laughing!  

Racer getting marked before early Sunday

The Swim

 The ladies make their way to the Potomac

 Let go of the dock, ma'am. 

1/3rd of the way through the swim.

The buoys were massive, probably the largest in any race.

The Bike Starting the bike No hills, just a few sharp turns  She's just so happy The Run Another Team In Traning-er  Do I really need to keep making captions?  This is D.C.'s Mayor Adrian Fenty, who competes in the Nations Tri each year.  I beat him by 8 minutes... just saying.    The winner performs his dazzling Ribbon Dance routine  Photos of me performing the John Wall at the finish line, like you all voted on, are coming next week!

		What's next? Take some time off, gain some weight back, and pick training back up late this winter for ...

Nation's Triathlon Race Week

After sending death threats to family members and hijacking a Shriner for spare change, we have hit $3,900 raised for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There's nothing left to do now except Attack The Capital!

The fans have spoken and apparently you animals love pictures. So here is a rundown of this weekend including full color photos!
Friday morning: We fly to Washington D.C

Our coach, Bert, ready for takeoff

Friday Afternoon: We'll do a short couple mile run around D.C. as well as get registered for the race.

W

 I know what you're thinking- YES, that guy is totally wearing British flag shorts

Saturday Morning: We'll do a practice swim in the Potomac and a short ride as well. There is a ton of stuff I'm not mentioning.. I think there is a big dinner on Saturday night.

Sunday: RACE DAY! They want us down to the Transition Area at 4AM! Since there are so many people racing, they want us to beat the crowd and get there early.... that's 3hours and 40minutes before I get in the water. 

Transition area early in the morning

Much, much larger transition area than I've ever been in.

The Swim: I start at 7:40 am Sunday. Racers begin by age group. I know two of my teammates get in the water at 7:15 and 7:30.

Swim GOAL TIME: 27:30

 The Bike: After the water, I head for the transition area while peeling off my wetsuit, goggles, and throwing on my helmet, shoes, and eating a gel. I hope this takes no longer than 1:40. The bike is 25 miles around The Capital area. Mostly flat and fast course with a couple sharp turns. In the 2 tri's I've done, the bike has been my slowest split.

BIKE GOAL TIME: 1:15

The Run: I ride my bike to the transition area and run my bike back to my spot, change shoes, throw off my helmet, put on my hat and race belt. This should take 1:15 (always faster than my 1st transition). The run is 6.2 miles. Again, it's a flat course and the wind will be in your face the final 2 miles.

RUN GOAL TIME: 50:00

 RACE GOAL TIME: 2:40:00

Finish line party: After the race, there's a finish line party and another dinner that night. 

Cedars of Lebanon - Recap

As you know we hit my Big Goal and have now surpassed it! That's nearly $4,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You all are awesome. 

Race Recap: Cedars of Lebanon 8/28/10

Last Saturday was the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon, my final tuneup for D.C., in Cedars of Lebanon State Park outside of Nashville. It was a Sprint race, meaning it was shorter than the Olympic distance I'll race in Washington D.C.

• 300 meter pool swim
• 16 mile bike through hilly Lebanon
• 3 mile run

 In transition area before race

This was a much smaller number of racers than the Music City Triathlon. There were 26 racers in my age group (Men 25-29).
It was my first time racing in a pool (Music City was in river, so will DC) .They say you "shouldn't leave anything on the course", but I peed in the pool technically leaving behind something. Swim time: 5:35 (4th /26).Finishing 4th gives me a lot of confidence heading into next weekend.

The bike had more hills than I expected. Once again, the bike really jammed up my time. I finished in 54:57 (11th/26). There is a recurring theme with these races: bike time holding me back. Perhaps it's my head which is too large and bulbous for my helmet.

The run was party shaded and completely Copyrighted by 2010 brightroom. I finished the 3 miles run in 24:13 (6th/26). I hauled ass the final mile... next time I'll see if I can keep that pace the entire run.

I finished 6th out of 26 in my age group and a final time of 1:28:29. I wanted a Top 10 finish... I really wanted a Top 5 finish. I'll get there. When I improve my bike time, then I'll start seeing the results I want.

Friday of next week I leave for Washington DC. I'm excited. I'm only nervous because I want to do well and hit my goals. I'll get into this stuff more with my next post, but I have specific time goals for each split of the race in DC. I just want to be in the Top 25% of my age group- a modest goal for my first Olympic distance race. It can be done!

Did you know you can continue to donate all the way up until Sunday, September 12? Go ahead and visit my fundraising page! Click here.