The first race of the season has come and gone and I am happy with the progress of my training so far. I started off this year weighing 213 lbs and today, race day I weighed 193. The morning started off well and I ate the QT2 pre race protocol breakfast of unsweetened applesauce, whey protein and banana mix and sipped powerbar perform drink. I arrived at the race location 1 hour before the start and got all my gear set up in transition. I donned my wetsuit and went for a quick swim to see how cold the 58 degree water was and it was not that bad in a wetsuit. During the pre race briefing I had one power bar gel with 1x caffeine and a cup of water approximately 15 minutes before my wave went off.
Swim
The swim is advertised as a 1/4 mile but is actually ~100 yards longer. I went off with the geriatric group (over 50) with the plan of going hard at the start and then settle in. Well I did just that but did not expect my legs to freeze up and and I went into a slight panic. I calmed myself down and was able to get into a nice rhythm. I guess the elevated heart rate and the cold water caused my legs to freeze up at the start. The swim was pretty quick and I was done in 8:15 good for 3 of 21 in my age group and 92 of 431 overall. Had a short run to the transition area and had a slight problem getting my wetsuit off but eventually got on the bike.
Bike
The bike course was originally 10 miles but due to construction was cut to 8.3 Miles. I got off to a good start climbing the hill out of Hopkinton State Park and then settled in. The course had lots of rolling hills and even travelled over the Boston Marathon start line. There was a very nice down hill after passing the BAA start line but the cross wind made for a little hairy descent with my 65mm wheels. I thought I was going fast but only averaged 19.1 mph for the 8.3 miles. My average cadence was 81 rpm and my coach commented that I needed increase my cadences. My average power was 227 watts good for 6th of 21 in my age group and 84 of 431 overall
Run
The run was also short by 1/10th making it a 3 mile run instead of 5k. I was very happy with my run and actually took almost two minutes of my run when I did this course 2 years ago. I felt really good on the uphills and was able to maintain a steady pace throughout the run. The improved run has lots to do with dropping 20 pounds and doing many brick runs as part of my training program. I finished the run in 22:12 which was 7 of 21 in my age group and 112 of 431 overall.
Results from Race website
Race # 1 is done and its back to training. 3 weeks from now the stakes are raised and I do my first Half Ironman in 10 years. I will be doing Quassy Rev 3 in Connecticut. This will be a clear indication of where I am at in my Ironman journey.
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