7/24/11

Fairport Triathlon

It was hot! The swim was good except for the first 100 meters which was pretty much a slugfest until we opened it up a little. I got pounded on the head pretty hard too by none other than Douglas John Sedivy and the pounding continued all race long as he beat me hands down in a race that neither one of us felt very good.

Once out of the water we had a long run to T-1 and then another long run to the bike mount area then up the hill and out onto the bike course which was fast on the way out since the winds were from the North West this morning. We hit Painesville Township Park area and all the corners slowed everyone down a bit which was the reason the overall times were a bit slower than in previous years and also the high humidity which drained alot of runners. The straight a way back into Fairport was hot and windy and I was not putting out the power that I would have liked and my heart rate was much higher than usual due to the heat and humidity, but hey everyone was in the same boat, I just never do well in these conditions.... Got back into T-2 and had a good pit stop and was out on the run pretty quick right behind Doug. I got to the top o the hill and my hr monitor was beeping loudly telling me that if I go any harder my heart was going to quit working and I was never going to do another triathlon again.... I recovered a bit and then ramped it up again and ran steady on a very hot run course always keeping Doug in sight but not being able to close the gap. He ran into the finish somewhere around :30 ahead of me with both of us winning our age groups but both of us knowing we could have and have done much better. The overalls weren't posted but Kevin Park won overall again and had a great race and Tony was 4th overall. I would say that Doug and I were somewhere in the top 10-12 overall in a sold out race of 447. I'm very thankful though for this race since I didn't even know if I was going to be able to race this year after the knee issue I was dealing with this winter, so I'm very happy!

After awards we all gathered under the shade trees of Lakefront Park and had a nice get together with some very good friends, it was a good day indeed no matter how much I felt I suffered.

Greater Cleveland Triathlon in two weeks, look out!

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