Race 13: 2009 Scott Tinleys Adventures

Date: October 3rd 2009
Distance: 1.5k Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run

 The season ending race for 2009 took place at lake lopez for an olympic distance triathlon. Last year, my race was spoiled by two flat tires and prompted me to vigorously check over my bike this year to avoid the same problems. After racking my bike in the transition zone, checking and re-checking the tire pressure, and dawning my wetsuit, I headed down the boat ramp to check out the swim course.

When I first arrived, I could see the triangular orange buoys that outlined the swim course for the sprint triathlon. I knew that the swim course for my race was going to be two loops, so I just figured it was 2 loops of the sprint course. After a small warm up in the lake, I stood at the start line with the first wave of racers. 8 A.M. came, and a horn would sound signaling the start of our race. Although I wish I was a much faster swimmer than I am, this was a good day to be part of the pack. As it would turn out, the set of 3 buoys that I could see from the boat ramp was not the entire swim course. Off to the right there was a 4th and 5th buoy that I needed to swim too that I did not know about at the beginning of the race, and only because other racers around me turned towards them did I even know they existed! About half way though the swim, I also noticed that some of the swimmers that started sans wetsuit may have had the right idea. The water was starting to feel warm, and over heating my body a little. I actually had to back off of the speed because I was overheating! A first for me in any swim! 35 minutes later I exited the swim, ran to transition where I checked my bike tire pressure once more before heading out onto the bike course.

The bike course was hilly, but all in all I was able to keep a decent pace of 17 MPH though most of it. The bike portion is a very scenic ride, and I wish I had something close to what it offers back home. The roads are mostly decent with only a few rough patches. Thankfully, this year the bike was relatively uneventful, and I was on the run in 1 hour and 32 minutes.

The swim had taken me longer than I had planned, and the bike was not fast enough to make to much of the time back, so if I was going to get a sub 3 hour time on this course, it was going to have to come down to my run. The 6 mile run was a 2 lap course with one very large hill climb / decent combo near the end of each lap being the only challenging part of the race. I needed to keep about 8 minute miles though the whole thing which would be easy for me if I was just running 6 miles, but adding the extra mileage of the swim and bike before hand made it more difficult. To make things even worse, the temperature was starting to get pretty warm out, and the sun was making a strong appearance. I took in water to help keep hydrated, and even poured a few cups over my head to try to stay cool. After the first lap I knew that it was going to come close at the finish, and unfortunately I would finish 32 seconds behind my goal.

I should have been disappointed, but I was not. This was a great finish to my 2009 season. I was able to finish 4 olympic distance triathlons and improved on my personal fitness to what is possibly the fittest I've ever felt in my life. Triathlons was truly becoming a passion, and I couldn't wait for next year to begin and start setting new goals for myself.

Links:

Website: http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/Tinley2012-main.htm
Official Results: http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/index.cfm/20091003_Scott_Tinleys_Adventures_Triathlon.htm?Fuseaction=Results&Class=On+Road+International+Individual~M25-29