Rev3
Last year at this race, I finished with a pretty bad time, was ill prepared for the swim and the ride, but still felt pretty good after it was over. With an extra year of preparation, and a few upgrades in equipment, I actually had a fighting chance.
My sleep patterns over the last few days have been pretty crappy. One Benadryl and everything somehow gets all thrown off. The 7 hours I got the night before would have to do.
The swim course this year was laid out slightly differently. It seems there was a mistake with the buoys and the Olympic distance course ended up being almost as long as the half distance course, meaning an extra 300m or so. Even if it had been the proper distance, the swim did not go well for me. I'd been out of the pool for almost the last two weeks due to an untimely hand injury last Saturday when I lacerated it on a front chain ring. But that probably wasn't the only factor. I had a hard time warming up, settling in, and swimming straight. My sighting was decent at times but when I stopped paying attention, I found myself swimming off course adding a little distance here and there. When I was finally out of the water, I was more than happy to get on two wheels and start pedaling.
My legs were ready for this one. The first couple miles went by uneventfully though I did feel some sort of sensation coming from my left toe region, though my toes often fall asleep inside my bike shoes and I had enough adrenaline going to where I didn't give it much mind.
I only passed a handful of other collegiate guys on the ride but my split was far better than last year and I really felt like I paced well, keeping as even an energy output as I could without a power meter.
T2 went fine and most of the run felt as well paced as the bike. The Clemson and South Carolina guys that were trying to snag a lead on me during the last few miles of the bike couldn't keep up when I ran away from them.
About 2 miles in, I felt that sensation on my left toe again. During transision I had noticed some bleeding going on down there. Whatever, I'll deal with it later.
My miles were split pretty well and I caught up to two of my teammates, Kyle and Tucker, along the way. We would end up placing 6, 7, 8.
Nearing the finish the miles got exponentially more painful as hotspots turned to blisters, blisters to bleeding flesh wounds. I saw the mile 6 marker and right away an abdominal cramp that felt like the stab of a ring wraith gripped my right side. Also, the 6 mile marker sign was a lie. I had to run well over a quarter mile to get to the finish. Fortunately no one was coming up behind me because any attempt at a sprint finish would not have gone well for me at the time.
The elated feeling of finishing a race that I experienced this time last year was nonexistent. It was a hard day of work and I left everything on the course. Also, I couldn't really walk anywhere without a good bit of pain. When I removed my shoes to assess the damage, I kinda wish I had not. Coming out of the water, or maybe at the very start, I stepped on a sharp rock or something and slashed my 2nd biggest toe open on my left foot. My left heel was in bad shape too, the outer layer of skin abraded away and oozing.
Our men's team ended up getting 1st and I finished 6th out of 59 men, a vast improvement from last year's performance.
My sleep patterns over the last few days have been pretty crappy. One Benadryl and everything somehow gets all thrown off. The 7 hours I got the night before would have to do.
The swim course this year was laid out slightly differently. It seems there was a mistake with the buoys and the Olympic distance course ended up being almost as long as the half distance course, meaning an extra 300m or so. Even if it had been the proper distance, the swim did not go well for me. I'd been out of the pool for almost the last two weeks due to an untimely hand injury last Saturday when I lacerated it on a front chain ring. But that probably wasn't the only factor. I had a hard time warming up, settling in, and swimming straight. My sighting was decent at times but when I stopped paying attention, I found myself swimming off course adding a little distance here and there. When I was finally out of the water, I was more than happy to get on two wheels and start pedaling.
My legs were ready for this one. The first couple miles went by uneventfully though I did feel some sort of sensation coming from my left toe region, though my toes often fall asleep inside my bike shoes and I had enough adrenaline going to where I didn't give it much mind.
I only passed a handful of other collegiate guys on the ride but my split was far better than last year and I really felt like I paced well, keeping as even an energy output as I could without a power meter.
T2 went fine and most of the run felt as well paced as the bike. The Clemson and South Carolina guys that were trying to snag a lead on me during the last few miles of the bike couldn't keep up when I ran away from them.
About 2 miles in, I felt that sensation on my left toe again. During transision I had noticed some bleeding going on down there. Whatever, I'll deal with it later.
My miles were split pretty well and I caught up to two of my teammates, Kyle and Tucker, along the way. We would end up placing 6, 7, 8.
Nearing the finish the miles got exponentially more painful as hotspots turned to blisters, blisters to bleeding flesh wounds. I saw the mile 6 marker and right away an abdominal cramp that felt like the stab of a ring wraith gripped my right side. Also, the 6 mile marker sign was a lie. I had to run well over a quarter mile to get to the finish. Fortunately no one was coming up behind me because any attempt at a sprint finish would not have gone well for me at the time.
The elated feeling of finishing a race that I experienced this time last year was nonexistent. It was a hard day of work and I left everything on the course. Also, I couldn't really walk anywhere without a good bit of pain. When I removed my shoes to assess the damage, I kinda wish I had not. Coming out of the water, or maybe at the very start, I stepped on a sharp rock or something and slashed my 2nd biggest toe open on my left foot. My left heel was in bad shape too, the outer layer of skin abraded away and oozing.
Our men's team ended up getting 1st and I finished 6th out of 59 men, a vast improvement from last year's performance.
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