320 Miles Driving, 1 WAWA Stop, 1 Hour & 20 Minutes Of Racing

  

4:45 Cup of coffee in hand and time to hit the road! Today started with a 160 mile drive the race site in Clinton, NJ. Today's adventure was the Skylands Triathlon, a 1/2 mile swim, 14 mile bike, 3.1 mile run.

Swim - 15:50 - 73rd fastest swim
I can only wonder how dangerous I could bee if I could swim. Maybe it was the long drive but I did seem to loosen up until the turnaround on the swim. The swim was just your basic out and back swim. The water temp was in the lower 70's so I opted out of a wetsuit not that it would have helped me today. The water was not unbearable but definitely cooler than what I have experienced thus far this year. I also opted out of the wetsuit as it was close to a 200 yard run to transition which is always fun barefoot.

T1 - 2:12 including the long run to bike and 75 yard run out of transition

Bike - 40:54 for 14.3 miles/21.0 mph - 6th fastest bike
Now my race has started! Once out of the state park, I just ate up a lot of the competition throughout the early hills of the bike course. The 14.3 mile course has a net elevation gain of 943 feet with one Cat 4 hill. I felt strong throughout the bike but still was cautious not to put too much into the bike and save some for the run. Once we reach the top of "the Hill", I was flying back to transition, covering the last 4,3 miles at 24 mph. My top speed during the ride was 43 mph. Spinning in over the last mile I felt the legs loosen up a bit for the run.

T2 - 1:01 - 2nd race with good transitions

Run - 19:47 for 3.1 miles - 5th fastest run split
Off the bike the legs felt ok but not fresh like they did for the triathlon 2 weeks ago. Regardless, I was able to reel in a couple of runners early in the run. Noticing that there were not many bikes racked when I headed, I knew there would not be that many people to real in on the run. After passing that last runner within the first mile, I did not catch another runner. Getting close to the run turnaround, I was able to see how many runners were ahead of me but you had to guess who was in the triathlon and who was in the duathlon. 

Total time - 1:20:09

Originally, I figured today would end my season but I am tempted to race again if I can find another race. If I  can't then it is time to start planning 2013 which includes getting better in the swim!

I will be rocking it 2013 regardless!