5:58am: Wake up BEFORE the alarm
6:00: Alarm goes off. Just like going to school when younger, "do I really need to get up?!?!?!"
6:30: Depart for RCT with very tired girlfriend Brittany (she's a triathlon trooper)
7:05: Drive into Cypress
7:06: "SQUIRREL!"
7:40: Run into a good triathlon friend that I met from 2010 River Cities Tri Brent Vest. His wife and trooper Brittany became friends as well. BV beat me by less than a minute last year. That didn't sit well with me.
7:45: In transition area and my bike and stuff is right in the middle of a huge ant colony. I hate ants. I was deathly afraid of ants until I was 10. Not the best sign.
8:15ish: Start of the 30-34 swim group.
8:20: First buoy. Good pace and confidence rising
8:??: First turn. Slow pace and confidence fading. I'll be honest, I really hate the swim aspect of triathlons!
?: I am swimming in a straight line. The person next to me...IS NOT! Every 10 strokes get bumped into like a crash test dummy. Not happy!
8:35: Out of the water, hydrated and probably now have some mysterious disease.
Out of T1 and onto the Bike
Mile 1-3: Good pace keeping at around 20-22 mph
Mile 4: Get passed for the second time by race number 23#(?)
- This passing back and forth went on for a while. I would pump it up to 25, 26, 27 mph and then on a small hill get passed again.
Mile 5-7: Going through the winding hills of Benton at a 22 mph pace
Mile 8: Average 25.2 mph for the entire mile
Mile 9-11: Cross wind coming from the southwest, very good and pleasing. I start humming "Ride of the Valkyries"
Mile 11.6: Cross wind turns into a head-on wind. Not too stiff, but strong enough to notice and bye bye 24 mph
Mile 12-15: Winding all the way through the Cypress area with a lot of turns and "rolling hills"
Mile 16: Start laughing like a crazy man. Don't know why, just felt like it.
Mile 17: So close to run
Mile 17.6-18.2: We are in the park. The only thing I can think of is a quote from Jaws III. "Overman was killed inside the park. The baby was caught inside the park. It's mother is INSIDE THE PARK!" Side note: Did they really have to make Jaws IV? It's like Rocky V or Halloween III...what were they thinking?!?!?!?
T2 to Run
Mile 0: My legs are not really under me...at all.
Mile .5-1: Start hitting my stride and thinking about the finish line and sitting on the couch
Mile 1.4: Two high fives from a 2 foot and 3 foot spiderman look-a-likes. Really happy to be there and really happy to give out high fives. Not sure if they were pajamas, but if they make them in adult sizes, I will find a spiderman costume just like it.
Mile 2: The trail! You have to run down it, at a fast pace. Then you have to run up it, not at a fast pace.
Mile 2.5: I have found my pacer and I will keep at his pace until the end.
Mile 2.6: Nevermind, my pacer has decided to walk.
Mile 2.8: Time to get it in gear
Mile 3: Can see the finish and look at my watch. I have 58 seconds to finish under 1:40:00 for the day and start to sprint
Mile 3.1: DUNZO! Eight races in 80 days is finished. Time to have fun and relax.
Overall time - 1:39:40
Cut 8 minutes off from 2010
Beat triathlon friend Brent Vest by 22 seconds AND all three Keen siblings
After having fun at the post race, headed off to a charity poker tournament where I finish 22nd out of 62 and was the last person still in the game from KSLA!