On Sunday, June 4th, Kieth Fasano and myself raced the Mooseman 1/2 Iron triathlon. It was a cool and dreary day, but what else would you expect lately. My goal was to break 5 hours, my calculations said 5:10 would be more likely. But I figured if everything went just right maybe it could happen.

Pre-race:
Keith and I arrive at 5:15 AM and get in the first parking lot. Our first goal is complete. We head over to inspect the transition area and find it 50% under water. Luckily for me I have and end spot on the rack and it is high and somewhat dry. Kieth on the other hand was stationed in ankle deep water. Setup goes smooth for me and it is almost time to race. One tip for you all, when wearing a wetsuit make sure you are done with the bodily functions before you put it on. A last second trip to the porta potty is quite an adventure in one of those things.

The Swim:
I started the swim at the back of my wave, this was a mistake. I was immediately trapped behind a wall off slower swimmers, not that I'm fast, but they were holding me up some. After a 1/4 mile or so things freed up and I got into a good flow. The water was a little choppy and a little chilly, but the 1.2 miles seemed to go by quickly. My time out of the water was just over 33 minutes, just about what I expected.

The bike:
Being in the 4th out of 5 swim waves and not being a very fast swimmer meant I had alot of folks ahead of me on the bike. This made the bike an absolute blast. For the first 40 miles it was steady passing, sometimes big groups at a time. It is really fun to pass a $3000 tri bike on my little $600 Giant. The bike course is a very fun 28 mile loop with lots of ups and downs and plently of passing room. I did the first loop in 1:18, then backed it down a little and completed lap 2 in 1:22. This is exactly how fast my calculations predicted, so my dreams of 5 hours did not look good. But I felt strong and was having a good race so far.

The run:
The run started as expected, running a little awkward trying to shake the bike legs. After a couple miles things free up and I hit a good stride. This lasts until mile 9 when I start feeling some pain in my left knee. For the next mile things worsen. I tried altering by technique with no luck, stretching which only brought on cramping, and finally walking. After walking for a few minutes I try to resume running and quickly realize that my running is done. I mope along for the last three miles and cross the line in 5 hours, 36 minutes (or something like that). The last 1/2 hour really put a damper on what had been a very fun day.

post race:
I manage to get back to the van, that would be the last time I was seen. As bad as I wanted to go back and enjoy the festivities, my mobility was gone. Kieth was nice enough to hobble over to the transition area on his blistered feet and retrieve all my stuff. Thank again Keith. If you asked me if I'll do it again that day, no way in hell. Ask me today, probably not but maybe. Curious to see how I feel about it in a couple weeks.

Brian
 
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Sounds like the race was a blast! Don't beat yourself up about not quite making your goal first time out. Your time was outstanding in my opinion. Anyone that completes a race like this should take pride just in being able to finish. Look around you and ask yourself who would be able to have done what you just did. That put it in perspective a bit for me last year with the Timberman 1/2 Iron when I mised my goal. It seems like big races like this you need to grind one out first before you really figure what you could have done differently to train. You know, that hindsight thing. I know what I need to do differently for the next one (or at least I think I do!)

Remember it wouldn't have been worth doing if it wasn't a challenge. So way to go and chin up!