Notes
After getting stripped of my wetsuit (and timing chip), I spent about two and a half minutes in T1. Most of this time was spent running in and out of T1, since I was pretty efficient at getting on my bike gear: shoes, BIB belt, glasses, brownie (yum), helmet, done. As I left T1, I quickly ran through my checklist in my head to make sure I didn't forget anything. I'll have to add timing chip to the list in the future. The slower swim time and missing chip rode with me mentally for about 5 miles on the bike. I finally shook it off and focused on the bike race ahead. There are pros and cons to being the second to last wave of the day. Pro: there are a ton of people to chase out on the bike course, and everybody that you catch is most likely another position up in the standings. The biggest downside to this is that there are ton of people to get stuck behind on the steep downhills, sharp turns, and no passing zones. I didn't have much issue with bike traffic, but did have a couple of close calls. One in particular nearly ended my day. It was at the bottom of the Mile 8 hill that concluded with a sharp left hand turn. I was going at least 30+ mph when I had to slam on the rear brakes to make the sharp turn. I went wide and the rear tires began screeching along with some fish tailing. I quickly pumped the brakes as the other side of the street corner approached faster and faster. I was tempted to hit the front brakes, but that would have made it even worse. The stopped traffic and police detail probably looked on in horror as I managed to recover from the near crash. I finally navigated the corner with an "oh shit", but lost a lot of momentum doing so. I eventually got my heart rate below 300 and pedaled on. My TriFury friend, Mike L., who did 4:57 at his first Timberman, told me to go out easy on the bike: average about 18-19 mph until the turnaround point, and then crush it on the way back in. I got to the turnaround point at mile 27.5 with an average pace of 18.5 mph, and I remember saying to myself, time to crush it. There were huge packs of riders on the way back in, and it was a great feeling to catch each group. Nurition wise, I had one GU at mile 10, ate a honey stinger waffle at about 30, and a final GU at mile 50 for the finish. This nutrition plan appeared to have worked as I didn't feel sick or weak throughout the ride. I did, however, only drink about 3/4th of my own gatorade mix (very strong mix). This probably played into some of my cramping later on in the run. The rest of the cramping was due to me standing on the hill climbs, on the bike, way too much. It felt great to be in a different position, but by standing on the hill climbs, I was basically running a few extra miles, and uphill no less. The inside quad cramps popped up once in awhile, but it wasn't anything serious. I passed Lynn around mile 39 (predicted mile 35), and she was looking pretty good herself. My overall MPH was right on 20 MPH by the time I entered the final no passing zone near the finish, so I averaged about 22.5 coming back in. I was hoping for a sub 2:40 ride, but got 2:45. After reviewing bike splits in the final results, I noticed that a of lot riders, Bash included, hammered it on the way out, and slowed it down on the way back in. I will have to try this for next year. Overall, I was just happy to not have any mechanical issues during the bike, crashes, or major fatigue coming off of the bike. My legs didn't feel like bricks as a I gingerly dismounted (will have to practice the flying dismount for next season,) and jogged it into T2. I spent about 2 minutes in T2 racking my bike, taking off the helmet, the bike shoes, putting on the running shoes (no socks), flipping the BIB belt to the front, quickly searching (2 seconds) my wetsuit for the timing chip (no luck), and running out. Scotty G was manning the BIKE IN and he said that I shot out of T2 like I was racing a 10K. My overall time at this point was about 3 hrs and 30 mins, so all I needed was a sub 1:30 half to get under my goal time of 5 hrs. Keep in mind that my half PR is 1:17. So, here we go. TO THE RUN!