Buster Britton Triathlon Report. Woke at 4:45 with a chest cold laying over from Thursday and Friday. Looked at my phone while eating 2 bowls of grits and it was 66 and 100% humidity. Oh well, lets rock this.
Got to Oak Mtn and first thing is to get bike in order at my car. Pumped tires up and everything was just wet from the humidity. It was foggy and damp. Walked to transition to set my bike up. It was so wet outside, My printed number on my bike sticker slid off the sticker. So, I got a sharpie and colored it back on. Yep, not good for a first Tri anxiety, but no biggie. Got to transition, set up my bike and realized, you have about 12 inches wide and 2 feet back off you front tire to put all your gear. Sounds like a lot of space, but with handle bars and other athletes, it was crammed to say the least. Going in, I was concerned mostly about the bike (because of the age and weight of it), not so much the swim, and the run was my bread and butter. My mentor going into this, Hunter, actually got 1 bib number off me. What are the odds. So, I got to enter the water with him and talk to him leading up to the start.
Its go time. Lets get this one with.
[SWIM] 400 yards. Nothing compared to the yardage I have been doing in the pool. Well, one thing I didnt anticipate was dark water. Yes, it was unnerving. I got in the water, it was slightly cold due to all the rain, and my HR went through the roof. I could tell it was around 180. No kidding. I put my face in the water and started to do my thing and I couldnt hold my breath for more than 1 stroke. So, what happens next, panic. You think, "Wait, what is going on. I trained for this. I feel like I have never swam before." Then the mental part sets in. You continue to try to regain composer, put your face in the dark water and swim. Nope, just wouldnt happen. I tried to relax and reset, but with fog on the water, swimmers passing you and the urgency of moving forward, I side stoked the rest of the way. I actually saw a few others doing this. Not sure of their situation. When I got out of the water, I was so disappointed. Swimming since September and I felt like I bombed. I estimated 8 min swim, and came in at 9:50. T1 was under way. I ran out of the water and into the T area and started to get ready. When I was entering my row, Hunter was leaving. That really told me how behind I was. I only made 1 big mistake. Put my helmet on before my shirt. 5 seconds maybe. Ran out of T1 really ed off but that helped with the bike.
[BIKE] Im off on the bike. It was a 6.5 mile out, 6.5 back. More climbing on the out then the back. I was getting passed by a lot of people on road and Tri bikes, but I knew that was going to happen. I hung with a group for the most part and kept them within 100 yards. I was digging it on my bike. all 35+lbs of it. Had to make up 1:50. At one point, I was passing dudes on road bikes climbing. I was working my quads like crazy, but it was like I had something to prove. I reached a max speed of 33.5 mph on a down hill and I had it in the 2 fastest gears and I couldnt pedal to make it go faster. I had maxed out the speed per gear ratio. 13 miles.... done. When I came into the last 1/2 mile, there was a turn. Sam and the kids were there cheering me on. My parents got there early when it started.
[RUN] T2 was very fast. Since my cycle shoes were my Hoka's, I put my bike on the rack, ripped my helmet and gloves off, put on my bib and my TAC hat (first thing @
Donald Duck noticed) and headed out. It was a 1.5 out, 1.5 back. First mile was up hill. With the humidity and people taking in too much fluids on the cycle, a few decided to relieve themselves of their fluids. Luckily all behind me. I was passing people left and right. I saw my buddy Hunter when I got to mile 1, so considering he had a road bike, and a good head start, I was pleased. I did a 8:04, 8:05 and 6:50 pace.
All in all, wonderful experience. I got a text from Coryna when I got back to the car and I was done. She texted me something of encouragement and I replied TRIATHLETE. The told her my disappointment with the swim. Then @
fmingo36 yelled at me for being hard on myself and i was being rediculous.
I needed that. She is awesome and thank you Coryna.
So what is my goal. I have a used road bike lined up to be purchased, I am going to continue to swim on Fridays and I am going to work on open water, zero visibility swimming. I talked to a few other friends there and they say that have all struggled with it. I have something to prove to myself, so, I shall see you next year Buster Britton. Final times:
Swim: 9:50
T1: 3:41 (little did I know, T1 starts when you exit the water, so the 100 yard run, barefoot, to the T area counts. Not to shabby)
Bike: 51:22 (15mph average)
T2: 1:19 MONEY!
Run: 23:01
Overall: 1:29:10 (I had estimated 1:22:00. That was before I knew the bike course and I thought I would have a road bike for this event. Hunter had a road bike and did the bike portion in 43:22, 8 mins faster. Ill take that)
Now some pics. Yeah, pics.
