Maumee Bay is Just east of Toledo, Ohio on Lake Erie. HFP produces the race as a part of their Wheelie Fun series. The race offers sprint and international distance triathlons and duathlons. I chose the International tri.
I began with my pack and bike on Coventry. I caught a bus down to the rapid station and headed downtown to meet up with Zac at Rocco's. We packed up the vanagon and headed west to Crocker park where we found Nichole. Along the way we passed my sister on the highway. We waved and yelled back and forth as she drove along with us for a bit.
Once we got to Toledo we got stuck watching 2 different trains pass. This made me late for packet pickup. Fortunately the HFP staff was cool about it. I got my stuff and we went to grab a campsite.
The park was sold out. So we headed down the road the a private camp ground. It was cheaper and the guy said "we got 80 acres, camp where you want"....Very cool. We set up camp and headed into Oak Harbor for groceries at the IGA.
As we headed out of town we were escorted by a local cop to the border.
Back at camp we chopped up the food and consumed it. Zac had lit some wood on fire, so we watched it burn. We also began slapping ourselves. We began to itch. We were being eaten alive by mosquito's. I eventually retreated to my tent. It was also full of mosquito's. I didn't sleep well as I figure I gave 3 quarts of blood to a population of bugs.
5:30 we awoke and headed for the race. I had 2 Lara bars, a banana, and some Gatorade. The van wasn't waking up so easily and gave us a little static along the way, but eventually delivered us to the transition area.
I got set up quickly, Took care of business(no problems this time), and hung out and chatted with the CTC folks.
The sprint waves went out first. I pulled on my wet suit and watched with Zac and Nichole till my wave came up. At 8:19 the horn sounded and we were off.
My strategy was to just get in the middle of it, relax, focus on mechanics and sight. I essentially did that. I was very comfortable and the swim was really effortless. My time was 30:58. Not fast, but it is an improvement. I feel good about it.
T1 was a mess. Not a lot of room to work with for the slow swimmers. I got my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses and got moving.
The Bike was flat, flat, flat. 24 miles of flat. I stayed aero and played leap frog much of the time with another rider. I ate some cliff blocks(really good), and finished off my aero bottle of gatorade. My time, 1:14.12 with a pace of 20.1 MPH.
T2 was Chaotic. No rack space and stuff everywhere.
I hit the run and felt fine. The temps were hot, the course was flat, and I just ran, reeling in the next runner 1 by 1. I had fun, finished the run in 53:30 with a pace of 8:38.
My total time was 2:41.39.
I am happy with the results. I am not as fast as I would like to be, but I have gotten faster. My endurace is very strong. I felt like I had run a sprint.
I had a good race and did what I needed to do.
4 comments:
Sounds like you had a great race! Your age group was killer tough this year. Very solid performance my friend!
I'm all too familiar with the idea of grumpy van's and locals who say "give me a few bucks and camp wherever in my giant backyard." Good stuff!
Sounds like this race was just another building block on your way to the UK!! All your hard work is beginning to show its dividends, eh.
What kind of Lara Bars did you eat? I've snacked on those before, but I find that they're a little too heavy/dense for me, especially before a workout. Do they work pretty well for you? (I imagine so, if you're eating them before a race... just curious.)
Jen(Veg), I think I first learned about these bars from your blog.
I had a cinnamon roll and an apple flavor about 40 min. apart. and an hour before the race.
BY the time I hit the run my nutrition moved onto cliff blocks and gel.
I do think the Lara bar is a great product.
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