No Frills Olympic Tri #3 (19 Jun 2011)

The Day I completed my Blog Entry on my 2nd Olympic Triathlon, I had completed my third Olympic Distance Tri. For all future inquiries on triathlons on Guam, TriathlonGuam.com is the website of choice for all Guam Triathletes. Much like my first two Olympic Triathlons, this was a "dual distance" meaning racers had an option of doing either a Sprint Distance (750M Swim, 20K Bike, 5K Run) or an Olympic Distance (Double the Sprint Distance). There were about 10 of us doing the Olympic Distance, and 40 or so doing the Sprint Distance. Several of the "top finishers" from the previous week's Sprint Tri opted to do the Olympic Distance this time around, which was a serious "bump" to the competition field. That being said, competition can bring out the best in people, and that was certainly the case for this race.

1,500 meters of swimming isn't particularly difficult if you are confident in the water. That doesn't mean it's going to be a quick swim. It's a little bit of a downer on the last two laps of the swim because by that point all of the sprint distance triathletes are out of the water and it can be very lonely in the big blue ocean. To add to it, I had a serious goggle malfunction which caused one of the goggle eyes to fill up with water. Swimming with one eye shut is not fun, and the mental fatigue caused by it probably led to my slower time of 32 minute, 21 seconds.

Out of the water, and able to see with both eyes again, I was on my bike and off on my 40K ride. My goal on the bike is to go as fast as I can, stay as aerodynamic as possible, and try to pass a bunch of people. I do this knowing full well that I'll have to run a 10K after I'm done riding, but having done marathons and very long runs, I'm used to running tired. More than anything, I don't want to slack off and end up not doing my best. Completing the bike ride in 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 55 seconds, I would say that I was successful in achieving my goal.

Entering the final portion of the race my legs felt like a mix of Jell-o and cement. The thought in my head is to just keep my legs moving. As the run started I happened to be in 4th place which gave me several people to "chase" and helped me stay motivated to run my hardest. It definitely paid off. For the first of the two laps I stayed in 4th, then heading out for the second lap, I started to make my move. It took me nearly 2.5K, but I ended up passing the racers in 2nd and 3rd place. For the last 2.5K it was a matter of putting my head down and keep running. 45 minutes, 3 seconds later, I was done.

2 hours, 27 minutes, 19 seconds was good enough for second place, and more than 2 minutes faster than my time the week prior. I definitely attribute the improved time to the stiffer competition. It helped motivate me to keep going even when I was tired and just wanted to stop. In a race when there are no trophies or prizes for the winner, the best you can get from a race is a new personal record (PR). Considering that, I would certainly say this was a successful race.