Triple T 2012 - Race #3

Seriously....another Olympic distance tri.  With only 5 hours rest between.  Yes that is the mystique of Triple T.  The mystery is what to do during the down time.

Nap?

Eat?

Stretch?

I ate lunch then sat around with the crew bs'n and having fun.  Around 2 we started getting our gear together and ready for the 3PM race.  The afternoon race has a slight twist to it.....we bike first....then we swim...then we run.

When I got to the transition area the sun was beating down on us.  No shade except around the perimeter of the parking lot.  Part of the trick with the race is getting your wetsuit on when you are a sweaty mess coming off the bike.  The best piece of "equipment" you can have is a plastic bag.  I slicked down the legs of my wetsuit with Suit Juice.  Combined with the slickness of the bags lets your feet slide right through.  Fortunately Janet had extra bags because I completely forgot to bring any.

After I made sure my transition area was set I took my bike over to the start line.  The time trial start would send off two bikes at a time.  While waiting for 3PM to roll around I stood under a tree.  I swear the temperature was 10 degrees cooler in the shade. 

Shannon, the race director, had us line up and tried to get us motivated.  He asked if we were ready for our next race.  Three people and myself were the only ones to respond with a big cheer.  Shannon said we could move up to the front of the line. 

The bike course is an out and back on Route 125.  There are two major climbs on the way out and two on the way back.  The largest descent/climb is two miles long.  There is also no tree cover on this route so we would be in the sun the entire time. 

I hit the climbs fine and if the coast was clear I bombed the downhills.  On the two mile downhill I had to be patient until I could pass two riders ahead of me.  But once I passed them I reached 42 MPH on the sweeping curves. 

The return trip was fine as I kept myself under control during the long climbs.  I kept my heart rate manageable and didn't burn up my legs.  During the ride I thought how good I felt going into the run...only to realize I still needed to swim two laps around Turkey Creek Lake.

Heading back into transition I dismounted, racked my bike and slipped my feet into the bags.  Zip they went right into my wetsuit.  I just had to adjust the legs and pull it the rest of the way up.  With goggles and cap in hand I made my way to the beach. 

Just like the morning swim I got into a good rhythm right away.  As I finished the first lap my legs were feeling good.  In 2010 I cramped real bad between laps and when exiting the water.  This year the water was much warmer and I didn't have any problems. 

The water was weird.  As with any swim there are cold spots and warm spots.  But the spots I swam through were significantly different in temps.  It felt like a 20 degree swing when I went through these spots.  The warm spots were so warm I could feel the heat when I exhaled under the water. 

I sighted all of the buoys this time and didn't get off course.  Into transition and off to the run with my water bottle in hand for the 6.55 mile run. 

Due to the temps I slowed it down a little to the tune of about 30 seconds per mile.  Still happy with my finish time despite it being 11 minutes slower than the morning race. 

Bike:    1:22:19 -- 18.3 average/ 42.2 max speed
T1:           2:35
Swim:    25:27
T2:          2:15
Run:      55:12
Total:    2:47:48

Run splits:
8:46
9:12
9:17
9:14
6:55
7:39
4:09

Again I didn't wait around to long before heading back to camp.  I wanted to shower and start eating.  Janet made some tasty spaghetti sauce for dinner.  After relaxing around the campfire bedtime arrived at 9:30. 

Only one more race for the weekend.  Race #4 for most of us......Little Smokies Half Iron for those only racing on Sunday.