As Tropical Storm Hanna tracked up the coast toward my weekend race, I was wondering what a really rainy triathlon might look like. It could be potentially windy too. I hadn't pre-registered because they only allowed that via Active, and I hate Active (see my rant: www.trifuel.com/forum/14980/hating-activecom-rant), but I was planning on signing up race day and doing it - it was on the calendar, in ink. I must have checked the weather a million times between Wednesday and Saturday morning, hoping to glean some idea of when the rain, how much rain, and how much wind would hit. When Friday night rolled around, I'd come to no decision, but I prepared to go anyway. I also thought, if it's bad, hey, I'll just bag it (even if that would have been a disappointment). On race day, Saturday morning, it was calm, there had been some overnight rain, but it was not raining. Tormented (since rain seemed quite likely - making for a wet day), I imagined if I bagged it I'd be sitting around that morning or later that afternoon looking out the window or watching stupid TV or something, and thought: even if it's crappy, I'll be much happier if I do it, then if I don't. Normally I'm not very good at projecting my future state of being, but this one seemed clear. I'd been training hard for some months now. Other options (like doing another tri further away the following weekend) didn't seem as good. I was going to do it!

So I had a small breakfast (cereal, 1/2 PB&J, and a banana), loaded up, and got to the race with plenty of time to spare (it's only about 8 miles from my home). I did my regular routine of stretches and resting, and got into the water without much problem (well, except my cap wasn't going on very well - some guy helped me, "thanks" to him).

Swim: I started near the front in the first wave (this year, with the rain I think there were less than 200 people racing, with three wave starts). I'm not a fast swimmer, but OK. I do love the swim more than the biking and running, because it's so much fun and different to be in a lake swimming instead of a pool, no turning off a wall, and the water isn't full of chlorine. I finished in what felt like my best time and came out of the water not feeling as dizzy as previous triathlons, so that was good, and I transitioned well despite leaving a bike tool in my bike shoe, doh! Swim split: 23:59, T1 0:56.

Bike: I don't think I was on the bike for more than 1 minute before it started raining. It was a steady rain, and the roads were wet - no screaming around the turns today. I forgot to reset my cyclometer ... so I didn't really know how well I was averaging, so I just hammered along. At one point early on I was going close to 30 mph (downhill) and not paying enough attention to the road and hit a pretty good bump while in the aero position and because of the wet conditions my left hand slipped off, my right almost
too. I uttered some swear words, but thankfully averted a wreck. I was a bit more careful after that. I felt like I had a good bike ride, but also felt a little tired (maybe because of the round of golf I played the day before in 90 degree weather). Bike split: 1:06:09, T2: 0:48

Run: I transitioned well to running, the humidity was sapping my strength and endurance a little, but I felt fine. I drank a lot of water, and even Gatorade (which I don't normally drink), and got into a grove. I didn't feel particularly speedy, but managed to pass one guy on the run. I finished well and generally felt good. Run Split: 40:38

In all I did the course 3:40 better than the previous year, despite the rain, so I felt good about that, I was 7th overall, and won my age group. So, I was very glad I decided to do the race. My goal this year had been to improve by three minutes from the last, to do a 24 on the swim, 1:06 on the
bike, and 41 on the run (and 1:40 total transition time), for a total of 2:13 (previous year was 2:16:11). It's scary how close my goals and reality were, my final time was 2:12:31. I suppose, had there been no rain, my bike would have been a little faster, but anyway ...

Humbling my performance was the winner, Andrew Yoder, who finished around 20 minutes faster than I did and set a course record. Granted, he's now a pro-triathlete and young (only 19), it's just phenomenal to think he found more than 20 minutes of inefficiency in my performance. Just humbling.