Wineglass

Wow.  This is long overdue.. I had a draft of this sitting around for a while.. Anyways, without further ado:


Marathon #1 is in the books!

I got up pretty damn early Sunday.. Just as well, since I couldn't sleep.  Unlike the half marathon this spring, I wasn't confident I was going to crush this race.  (Well, not the race itself, but my goals for it).  My 20 milers had been, well, sub-par.  The longest I had run was 20 miles.  Until 4 months ago, I wasn't even planning on running a marathon this year.

For prep, I made sure to taper, carbo-load, and all of that good stuff coming into the race.  I even abstained from the drink for a week!

As you can see, the elevation is generally downhill, but pretty flat overall:

Major props go to my inlaws for coming over and watching mini-Raul for the better part of the day.  Mrs. Raul came with me to the race, and I was stoked about that.  Her first showing at a race!  I gave her a printout of possible viewing locations, and the general direction of "each of these seems to be right off of the highway", and left her to it.  Huge props to Mrs. Raul for truly making the most of what little I gave her.

So, I had decided the 4 hour goal was ridiculous. I was comfortable running a 9:45 pace, and that's what I would shoot for.  Walk the water stations, drink 2 gatorades at each, and a Gu every 45 minutes.

It was cold in the morning.  I was shivering in a tank and shorts.  Damn cold.  There were probably 2000 runners. I haven't seen the official count, but that's in the ballpark.  The course winds through a few small towns, and a lot of back roads.  5 years ago, there were about 500 runners, so it's really expanded.

The race started just a couple of minutes past 8. Close enough to the official start time for me.  It's truly amazing that with pace signs up and everything, people still can't line up to where they should be running.

I got off to an appropriate start, and was quite befuddled to see the 10:07 pace sign ahead of me.   I think the pacers started out pretty fast.

Miles 1-3 were uneventful.  After here, people were in the right spots.

Mile 4 became eventful.  My left knee started a familiar tinge to it.. A little ITB rubbing.  Eh, shizz.  Well, there's no where to go but forward.  I'll stick with the plan.

There were a few marked spots for easy runner sightings.. Mrs. Raul nailed those.  She found them all with minimal directions.  Talk about a boost seeing someone you know.

So, I kept up with my pace for the next few miles.  Nothing terribly eventful. I did get trapped near some run-walkers which was irksome.. Not the fact that they were doing that.. it was the fact that when their watches went off to walk, they would start walking.  Immediately.  Not moving to the side or anything.  Sigh.  Eventually, we got far enough apart from each other for my tastes.

At the 13.1 mark, I found it pretty incredible.  This was going to be my longest race.  I wasn't on pace for a particular time, and I could feel the wheels getting a little shaky.  Oh well.. we were in it for the long haul.  Besides, at this point, someone was crossing the finish line, first place was well out of reach. :)

I kept slugging Gatorade and water.  2 Gatorades per station, plus 1 water.  In retrospect, this was too much. I had to stop and pee way too often.  On the upside, I didn't have any muscle cramps that plagued my training runs.  Good data point to have there.

I didn't really talk with too many people.. I was just taking it in and having fun.  I did talk with one runner who said this was her 10th marathon or so.. She informed me that "they all hurt". Sigh.

Around mile 19, things were really tightening up. I had adjusted my stride and gait a bit to compensate for my ITB/knee area.. As a casual observer might suspect, that leads to other issues.   My hip flexor hurt.  Like hell.

I kept it up... Around mile 20 was the last time I'd see Mrs. Raul.  This was the point in the race that I call "The Darkness".  There's a picture of me, and it's me heading into the darkness.  The ache, the delirium.  Wow.  I remember giving Mrs. Raul a low-5 before heading down a slight hill.. that's when the wheels fell off.

The downward bit was enough to seriously aggravate my flexor, and I started some serious walking.

Over the next few miles, there was major walking.  There was a public park we ran through around mile 23.. I was looking forward to this before the race.. I thought that would be a nice break from running along the roads, etc.  O.M.G.  The Darkness.

I was pretty nutty around mile 24.. I thought my watch had turned off, and I had no idea what time I had, if I was on track for anything, etc.

In all seriousness, I did realize around mile 22 that I would finish.  I was having serious running issues, but I could walk at a pretty decent clip.  It wasn't going to be a stellar 10K to finish it out, but I would finish this beast.

I got to the last mile and did my best to do more running.. some of the spectators were encouraging me to go for it.. I had to tell them that I had one last dash left, and I was saving it for the finish line.

Ah yes, the sweet finish line.  There was a quarter mile or so stretch down the main street in town.  When I saw that big inflated finish chute, I was stoked.  I was here.  I had enough to finish, and finish strong.

Bam!  Done!  4:38.  Turns out my watch was never stopped.

Splits were:
Miles 1-9: 9:46, 9:48, 9:31, 9:33, 9:39, 9:39, 9:28, 9:39, 10:43 (pee break)
Miles 10-14: 9:34, 9:43, 9:30, 9:40, 10:03 (another pee break)
Miles 15-19: 9:28, 9:26, 9:37, 10:29 (way too hyrdated pee break), 9:28
Miles 20-26+: 10:44, 11:16, 12:15, 11:34, 13:47, 14:17, 13:09, 10:44 (The garmin was .4 miles off by this point)

It took about a month for me to feel 100% healed up.  I feel fine now, and am back to training.. I've lightened up the running, but started mixing in some biking and swimming.......

Was I prepared enough?  Probably not.  Am I glad I did it instead of waiting?  Absolutely. Would I do it again?  Absolutely!   I learned a ton, not only about how I should prep for a marathon, but about myself.  It was a terrific race, and a terrific experience.  I appreciate the support of my family and friends.  What a blast!

Keep on rockin!

The flat 20

So, my next (and last) 20 miler before the marathon was on Saturday.  I had originally planned on Sunday, but the schedule changed, and an opportunity presented itself.

My goal was to run 16 miles slow, and then 4 at marathon pace.  Here's the conundrum that I face (as do all first timers): What the hell is my marathon pace?

I'll not hide it, I'd love a 4 hour marathon.  That's a 9:09/mile pace.  OK, let's use that as a starting point.

I took a route that was flat.. It's actually an old railroad track that was ripped up, paved, and used as a community walking/running/biking/etc path.  It's a 4 mile lap.  Sigh.  5 trips on this.  It works on the mental toughening as well.

The good thing about this was that I could park my car at one end, keep all of my water, Gu, etc in it, and not have to carry much. That's a win.

I also decided to try Gu'ing every 4 miles instead of every 5.  This is the time and place to try it.  I also brought 2 salt packets, to see if they would help with the cramping I experienced last time..

So, the weather was hot, and I was slightly under the weather due to some random cold that mini-Raul brought into the house.  OK, let's go anyway.

Lap 1.  Splits: 9:52, 9:45, 9:59, 9:41.  (The 3rd one has a walk break included in it, as scheduled)
Lap 2.  Splits: 9:55, 9:47, 10:06, 9:43 (Walk break executed here as well)
Lap 3.  Splits: 9:46, 9:49, 10:12, 9:40 (Walk break is getting longer, but not bad)
Lap 4.  Splits: 9:42, 9:38, 10:14, 9:53

Between each lap, I had a half liter of water, and a Gu.

OK.  That's pretty consistent.  9:40ish to 9:50ish.  I was cranking these out with no problem.  This is a 4:15 marathon, provided it could be maintained for another 10 miles.


I turned up the gas.

8:41.  Solid.
9:29.  Yeah, you can see where this is going.
12:01.  The wheels are coming off.
8:15.  Huh?  Oh, right. I actually only ran a half mile for this.  The wheels were off, flat, and long gone.  Crash and burn, baby.

Pace chart here:

I shuffled back to the car.  It actually took me 10-15 minutes to let the agony subside enough that I could drive.  Somehow, I managed to make it home and cook dinner.  I put on a pretty good act, because I never heard a word about how I looked.  (And let's not tell Mrs. Raul about this, shall we..?  I'll never hear the end of it)

After I ate, I felt a shit-ton better.  Excuse my TMI, but, my urine was very dark.  I was probably dehydrated, and potentially low on electrolytes. (Given that I was covered with salt at this point, it's not out of the question).

The next day I felt fine.  Muscles were sore, but I had no pain.  Next day was good.  Today, I ran a fairly brisk 4 miles.


So, I'm at a decision point.  I'm thinking I should scrap the 4 hour marathon plan.  My half was a 1:52.  The weather will be cooler.  However, I haven't had a long long run that has gone extremely well.

There's a pace group for the marathon at 4:00, 4:10, and 4:25.  (What, no '4:20' pace? j/k)

4:10 is a 9:33 mile, 4:25 is a 10:07 mile.

Do I scrap the pace groups, and settle in for a 4:15 pace?  I have absolutely no idea.

Keep on rockin'.

The carousel run

So.. my first 20 miler.  I wanted it to be memorable.  It was, for a number of reasons.

Our area has 6 carousels in it, scattered among 3 towns.   I spent my time mapping out a route from Casa Raul, and seeing if I could hit all of them..  Indeed I could, but I needed the help of Mrs. Raul to pick me up at the end.  (Doubling back home would make it a marathon, as an interesting data point).

The downside of this route was that it was hilly.

In addition, if you collect a ticket from each carousel throughout the season, you can get a button saying that you rode the carousel circuit.  Well, damn! I'm going to run the circuit!


I decided to run with a Camelbak, something I haven't done in a long time. However, it was hot, and it seemed like the right play.

Armed with my trusty cell phone, off I went..

Stop #1!  This was about 7 miles in, and after a sizable hill.  I'm sure the parents at all of these carousels were thrilled to have a stinky & sweaty man join their children riding around.  (What, you didn't think I *wasn't* going to ride, did you?)

Stop #2.. This is about 9-10 miles in.  I was a bit upset here.. I had gotten to the carousel, waiting in line, and the damn thing broke down.  WTF?  I took a ticket anyway. I was there.

This is Stop #3, about 12 miles into the journey.  This one is by far the hottest one on the circuit.  They certainly need to work on the ventilation.  It's fun in the winter, because they open it up on Saturday nights and do a Christmas & Santa gig.


There was a big freaking hill between stop 3 and 4.  The hill hit just after 15 miles.  I felt my calves start to twitch pretty seriously, so I started mixing in some walking.

It was laborious, but I made it to stop #4

Yeah, you can tell at this point that I no longer gave a shit what the picture looked like.  I think this was mile 17.   They sell water at this joint, so parted with a couple of bucks and loaded up some more.


Stop #5 doesn't have a picture.  I was just becoming a zombie.  A lot of walking mixed in, just moving along.

I hit 20 miles about 1 mile out from my destination.  I walked it from here.

The end.  The glorious end.

So, I stopped here, and I sat down on the ground to stretch.  One of those calves decided to cramp up at this point, and I was flopping around on the ground, just trying to find some position that was somewhat tolerable.

Predictably, this is the point when Mrs. Raul drove in to pick me up.  She read me the riot act about us not being athletes, etc etc.  Sigh.

After 5 minutes of sheer agony, I was able to stand.  We rode the last carousel together, and I got my button:

So, I had run with a Camelbak, I ran on a hot day, and I ran some hills, with a lot of stopping to ride.  A list of excuses, but valid ones, at least.


Truthfully, the next day I felt good.  Not "I want to do it again" good, but pretty reasonable.  I felt better than after the 18 miler.

My training schedule allowed me to either do 3 20 milers on short rest, or 2 on longer rest with a 4 week taper.  I opted for the latter.

I also opted for making my second/last 20 miler roughly like the terrain of the course... (read: flat).  That will be the topic of my next post...

Keep on rockin!

Hiatus is over

Yeah, I took a blogging hiatus.  A lot has happened this summer. What's up with that, though, summer being over?  Disappointing.

So, I have a 3 part return to blogging.  Here's part one..

After my triathlon, I spent a couple of weeks in a bit of a lull.. not as much exercising, a little more eating.  I did some reflecting on the year.  I looked at my 2012 resolutions, and I realized I hit them all at the end of June.  Solid.  No matter what happens the rest of the year, I can only call 2012 a success.

Mrs. Raul and I took a mini vacay for our wedding anniversary.. Came into town the week after a big race.... lets say it's a potential future destination, and perhaps I can sell it as a race-vacation.. First thing is to get through that marathon at the end of September.

So, what else?  A couple of fun sporting events:

AAA All-Star game, up in Buffalo.  What a blast.  Every ticket in the stadium was $25.  That's pretty damn reasonable.  The stadium was great, and the crew I went with was awesome.  Combine that with staying with friends, and it was a sweet setup.  Got to see Tom Terrific throw to Ryno for the first pitch, as well.  A couple of hall of famers, still doing their thing.

I also rolled to Cortland, NY one day to watch my beloved NY Jets have their training camp.  It was awesome being this close to the NFL players.  The big takeaway I have from that is, "Holy shit, those guys are huge!".  Even the wide receivers are just big guys.
(The other takeaway I have is that it's going to be a really really long NFL season this year.  Sigh.)


Training-wise, I kept a solid 3 run a week schedule, with one being a long one.  For my 18 miler, I wound up running to my brother in law's house.. I was going to be crafty and text a picture of the outside to him, but they had left on some errands and already seen me.  Sigh.  So much for the element of surprise.

I did catch up with them at the halfway point, which was a nice and welcome break.  The route was moderately hilly, and by mile 15 or 16, it was starting to suck pretty bad.  My hip flexors were pretty tight, and I was just glad to make it home and have it be over.

After about 24 hours, everything felt pretty good.  All in all, I was happy with the outing.

Of course, on a 18 mile jaunt, your mind just goes all kinds of crazy places.. that's where I plotted out my first 20 mile run.....  to be continued.

Keep on rockin!

Sprint

The sprint is done!  Woot!

So, Friday morning, I felt like shit.  Absolutely horrible.  I think it has to do with living it up at a baseball game the night before, but it wasn't a good outlook 24 hours before the big race.  It was forecast to be a hot day.. With the race at 9:30, I was a bit worried.


Fast forward 24 hours.. Temperature was warm, not terrible.  I felt absolutely fine, as well.  Winning!


It's funny, you sign up for these races months in advance, and all of a sudden, you're heading out the door for them.


In case any men are interested and stumble across this post as a "What do you wear to a sprint triathlon? search", I wore these tri shorts, and just a C9 tank top.


I got registered, body marked, and found a spot to set up my gear.  Problem.  My big fat tires didn't fit into the 2x4 bike racks they made.  Sigh.  Once again, I look around, and I see the mountain bike is not a bike of choice (there were 2 others though).  I did manage to stuff the tire in and turn the handlebars enough to make it semi stable.


OK, so I go and look at the swim course.. It's a triangular course.. Go to buoy, swim left, go to next buoy, swim left, swim to shore.  Damn.  Those buoys are damn far out.  This whole "skipping the swim" thing probably wasn't a great idea in training.


So, coming into the race, I wanted to have fun.  I had no idea what to guess for time.  I wanted to finish in 2 hours.  I was hoping for a half hour swim, an hour bike, and another half hour for the run.  (Yes, that doesn't leave time for transitions, but whatever).


Before I know it, it's go time!  And.. we're off.  Swim swim swim.  Are we at the turn yet? Oh, no. Not even close.  That's pretty much what I felt like the whole way.  The women and relay participants were let loose in the second wave, so not only did I get to feel the men crawl all over me as they left me in the dust, I got the womenfolk doing the same.

In my younger years, I swam an open water mile a couple of times.  That was 20 years ago, sadly.


I finally made it to shore.  I had debated waiting to take my Gu midway through the race, but I opted to take it now.  (I had actually decided that about 2% of the way into that hellacious swim).  I futzed around a little while just to get my bearings back. As a result, my T1 time wasn't stellar.  I was one of the last people into transition, so it was easy to find my bike. (I wasn't last, though!)  I guess that is a positive way of looking at it..


So, to the bike!


Course elevation looked like (I missed a half mile due to me forgetting to turn on my Garmin):

Yeah, it was hilly.  At about the 2 mile mark, I started feeling a little better.. I think the Gu kicked in. Wise choice taking it early.


In my bike training, I mainly have been doing hill repeats.  A bit sadistic, but I think it helped me today.   I did get passed by a couple of people, but I did pass others as well.  


I passed a guy that was 68.  I hope I'm still doing this sort of thing at that age.


I really started to push it, and I'm happy with the results:

A couple of times I wound up above 30 mph.  That's pretty cool.


The course was an open road, but the county sheriff's office did a good job slowing down traffic for us.


Around mile 9, I was riding along and somehow hit a sawzall blade lying on the side of the road.  Really?  What the hell is it doing here?  I noticed no ill effects on the tire, thankfully, and finished my ride without further issue.


Yeah, I know it's not an uber stellar ride, but for me it was above what I expected.  That was an average speed of about 12.7 mph on a fairly tough course.


I had started my Garmin about 4 minutes late, but I knew I had a decent shot at getting in under an hour, so I kept pushing. 


OK.. T2 time.  Easy for me.. no cycling shoes, I just have to park my bike and go.  Park my bike, start to head away and.... that damn narrow tire slot bites me.  My bike fell over.  Sigh.  I wound up dragging it to the middle of my spot and just leaving it on its side.  Whatever.


Off for the run.  So, at this point, I actually have no idea how I'm doing timewise.  I knew the bike was close to an hour, and probably under.  Other than that, no idea.   I felt pretty good, so I decided to go for it.


Originally, I was going to try to break 25 minutes here at this race, rather than doing the 5K I did earlier in the year. I wised up to that plan and did the 5K instead, just in case I was gassed at this point.
This course was relatively flat, except for the scramble part going up the side of a damn, and later back down:

It was an out and back, with a water station placed at the top of the damn, so you could get water twice.


I hit about 8:24 for the first mile, which included that powerwalkish thing I did up the damn.  OK, let's go for it.  At this point, my core muscles were definitely feeling it.  I had thought about this Friday saying "I should have done more core work.. I haven't been doing that too much lately".  Unfortunately, thinking that the night before doesn't do too much good.


Mile 2 was just a mental game trying to hang on.  I finished that one with a 7:52 pace.  I heard my watch beep indicating that mile was done.  All that was left was to get some more water, scramble down the hill, and run to the finish.


What they say about your ability to calculate times, splits, etc in your head at the end of a long race is true.  My brain was turning to mush.  At one point I thought I could go for a 10 minute mile and make it.  This was just another bear down and pick off people along the way sort of mile.  I squeezed out a 7:37 mile here.


Coming into the finish there were two guys ahead of me.. I beat one, but the other heard me coming and turned it up.  Eh, good for him.  
At the finish, the DJ was saying people's names that crossed, which was a very nice touch.   I got to see the clock, too.  Holy shitballs, it's reading 1:50 something!!

I crossed at 1:50:51.

Splits were:
Swim: 24:48  (beat 30 minutes!)
T1: 3:37
Bike: 56:49 (beat 1 hour!)
T2: 1:11
Run: 24:27 (beat 25 minutes!)

Wow.  Absolutely incredible.  All goals met.

It was a fun race, and I had a great time.  What did I learn?
My swim form isn't that great.  More time in the water needed.
My bike form isn't that terrible, really.  I felt good the whole way.  I was certainly of the slowest bikers, but I think more practice will get me better.
I need more core work.
Running wise, I was of the better runners there.  Go me.
T1 would have been better if the swim hadn't wiped me.  T2 would have been better if my bike didn't fall over. I'll have to look into buying a kickstand or something.

I had a blast.  I think it's probably the last triathlon for me this year, though. I was debating an Oly tri, but the logistics aren't going to work out for me.  I do need more bike time in general first, too. (And swimming. Of course).  I do plan to do more of them in the future, though.  No doubt.

Keep on rockin!

Paperwork

Well, I got my official paperwork in the mail for the sprint tri on Saturday.. It includes the necessary forms to become a one day member of USA Triathlon and all of that.

It's here, upon me.

Holy shit.

1/2 mile swim, 12 miles on the bike, 5K run.

Not ready, not one bit.  I took a look at the course maps, rolled over to the web, and checked the elevations.  That bike ride is going to:
A) Suck
B) Suck the big one
C) Totally suck
D) All of the above.

The run looks "OK".  There's a steep uphill and downhill on and off of a dam (referred to as the "damn dam"), but flat otherwise.

The swim.  Oy.  Number of practices since the micro tri: 0
The thing about open water is, at some point, self preservation will take over, and I'll just plain have to swim.

Note to self: In the future, respect the disciplines more.


It'll be an experience.  It'll be fun (I hope).  I don't have any serious goals, even though this was a race I set off to do at the beginning of the year.  I figure I'll walk away knowing that:
1) I need more time on the bike
2) I need more swim pacing practice
3) I need more swim practice

Ah well.  I am looking forward to it, in all seriousness.

Other than that, not much going on.  My long run last week was 14 miles. My knee wasn't feeling great going into it, so I ran to the local school (a mile away) and ground it out there at the track.  All 12 miles.  It honestly wasn't terrible, but I was so ready for the run to be over after 10 miles on that track.

I've been mixing in biking (in prep for Saturday), and that has helped my running.  I do wish I felt more comfortable on the bike.  I can't ride and drink out of a water bottle.  I can't even really ride and do hand signals.  I'm just one uncoordinated guy.

Keep on rockin!

I tri-ed

Welp, I am now a world-famous triathlete.

The day was forecast to be hot, humid, and all of that fun stuff.  I actually woke up to clouds and a slight sprinkle.  Score!

I made it to the race site about an hour before the race.  Wow.  Hardly anyone there.   This was the "first annual" of this triathlon, so perhaps the word didn't get out.  Apparently, since our city was marked as one of the cities with the highest obesity rate in the U.S., this group decided to do something positive about it.. they made this triathlon, with distances that anyone could do.

Truthfully, most everyone there looked like they had done a bit of triathlon work before.  I think I had one of the three mountain bikes there. lol

I got marked up, set up my gear in transition, and just milled around for a bit. The time went by really fast, in all seriousness.

So.  225 yard swim.  The swim was done in 7 minute waves in the pool.  OK.   I'm in the second wave.  Cool.  "How many lengths are we doing?". .. Oh.. 9. Got it.

The first group got out, and we were told "you'll be going in 2 1/2 minutes".  OK, sweet, I'll hop in.  Holy cow, that time flew by.  The lady I was sharing my lane with apologized in advance if she crashed in to me.  The look of panic on her face when I told her I hadn't swam in 3.5 years.... chuckle

And, like that, it was go time.  Holy shitballs.  This was it.

I went off strong, trying to have reasonable form and all of that.. up, and back.  Wow, I'm tearing it up!  Wow!

Oh, damn.  I've gone a bit too fast.  I'm winded now.   Alright Superman, slow it down.

Well, I made it through the swim.. The first lap was by far my strongest and my best form. I actually got out of my swim wave 3rd in the group, less than a second behind #2.

Off to transition.. That sounds so hard core.

I dried my feet off, threw on my Garmin and clothes and all, and headed out.

Of course, with all of the prep work I did, I made sure to scope out the course.  Not.   The road was to be marked with red arrows for the bike ride, and white arrows for the run.  Plus, some volunteers at "key intersections".  Ooookkaaayy.

Well, the first bit of the bike ride was fine.. Up and down, left and right.  And then we went up a hill.  One big f'in hill. I actually passed one person here.  (And was passed by a whole bunch).   I was playing leapfrog with a guy.. He'd walk his bike, and I'd ride by.. Later, he'd ride by me until he walked.  Repeat.

(When I say "I'd ride by", it makes it sound so fast.  lol)

That's what the elevation chart looked like.

At about 2.5 miles, those red arrows disappeared.  I caught up with a pack that had gone right, when evidently the course went left.  This part was all relatively flat, but still.

We made it back, and if I hadn't seen someone make the final turn, I would have missed that myself too.

Pace wise, here's where I was:

I'm really not comfortable going down the hills.. Probably wise on this one, since it was full of potholes, but still, that's something I need to work on.

All in all, the bike part sucked.  I was 6th in my wave (of 7).  I think I was slightly short of the 5 miles, due to missing part of the course, but I was pretty close.  That was 24:40 on the bike.


OK, back to transition, dump my bike, and off for the run.   White arrows.. Got it.

I was heading out, and one of the volunteers said "watch the hill with your pace".. I looked at my watch, and I was doing about a 6:20 mile at that point... Wow, the brick work I have done actually seemed to help.

The course was hilly, but not terrible:

I managed to pick off a few people here that had zoomed past me on the bike.  One guy (one of the winners) blazed by me at the mile mark.

There's my pace chart (the spike to the left is where I went inside after forgetting to shut off my watch).

The leapfrog guy from the bike was ahead of me, but within striking distance for most of the run.. I slowly worked on getting to him. At about a quarter of a mile left, there was a hill, and that's when I made my move.. I got past him, and the lady in front of him.  I know this wasn't an "A" race for me, but this was going to be my hard workout for the week.  Why not?

We ended with a slight hill down into the driveway.. I coasted in, and the guy I passed snuck in at the last minute.  Damnit.  Run finished with a time of 14:47.


Results were done with a bizarre spreadsheet.  The best I can tell is my times were:
Swim (225 yards): 4:36  (~11/24)
T1: 2:54
Bike (~5 miles):  24:40 (~16/24)
T2: :49
Run (2 miles): 14:47 ~ (2/24)

Overall, 15th of 24.


So, I finished.  I wasn't last.  I am walking today (with tight hamstrings, but healthy at least).  I call it a win.

Takeaways:
Swim: Not bad, for not having swam.  Some time in the water working on pacing would benefit me greatly.
T1: Not terrible. I could use to get my feet drier.  I don't know where that 3 minutes went, but I think that went well.
Bike:  I need more bike time.  It's my least favorite of the three, and the one I need to work on the most.  If I'm going to get into this sport, since the bike takes up the most time, I better become comfortable with it.
T2: No complaints here. I rocked that one.
Run: No trouble here either.

All in all, what a blast!  I have a sprint tri at the end of the month, and I'm trying to figure out what other ones are do-able.  There's another micro on the 4th of July which I'm on the fence about.  It's very close to home, but it's very early in the morning, and only a few days after the sprint.

After that, it becomes a logistical nightmare, as the next closest ones are 2-2.5 hours away.

I'll definitely do more of these.. Whether or not they're this year or next, it was a superb workout, and perfect for a guy like me.. Jack of all trades, master of none.

Keep on rockin!