Yesterday was my 1st race in 2 months and the 4th year I have done the Steelman OLY. It is the most competitive field of any of the races I have done. It is also a great course with a hilly, but fair bike course and a run course that is fast.

The forecast was for 90 degrees and sunny with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. I left the house at 4:30 in a downpour. The rain let up a little but didn't stop for the next 4 hours, so this was my first tri in the rain.

It was cold (62) leading up to race time but the water was 79 degrees and it felt great to get in for a literal warmup. Being 40 I was in the third wave. It is strange not to be in the 1st but I don't mind it, in fact it was kind of relaxing to see the first waves go off and the crowd's energy die down a little. I was very confident going into this race that I could break 2:25 and set a PR. My training has been going great and I feel healthier and stronger than ever before. My only worry was that I was overtrained a bit from a week in the Pocono Mountains hammering the swim and bike, but it wasn't a big worry as this was just a fast training day.

I started the swim conservatively because I hate the first 2-3 minutes of any race. I always fear my heart rate will sky rocket and I will hyperventalate. After a few minutes I felt confident and started swimming faster and smoother. I felt awesome, so good that I picked up the pace faster than I normally would. After 20 minutes or so my shoulders started feeling the burn but it was a good burn. One that I knew I could push through and go even faster. A few minutes later I thought I should have been near the last turn but there where 3 more buoys to go. Strange. I was passed by the top 4 swimmers in the wave behind me but I passed quite a few people from both of the waves in front of me. I got out of the water and was shocked to see that my time was 34:50. NO WAY was I almost 5 minutes slower than last year. I am not a complainer but the course had to be long. I did not go off course and I did not slow down. It took me a few minutes to get over the depression I felt. No PR today. After the race I confirmed with a few people I know who did the race last year who all where 5 minutes slower than the previous year. Oh well, stuff happens.

It was raining pretty good at this point. Transition was somewhat crowded and slow. The mounting area is too narrow for all the people and the road out of the park is pretty much single file. I was having a great time hammering the bike. On the first hill my easiest two gears in the big ring would not stay in gear. They would continuously slip back and forth. No problem. I was scared to shift to the small ring because I thought my chain would come off, so I decided to Ullrich the hills. At mile 10 the 3rd easiest gear went. At mile 16 the 4th went. Just a hard training day that got a little harder. It was raining so badly at one point that I felt like I was riding in mud. Puddles everywhere. None of it bothered me. I was feeling great and just happy to be able to be doing this. I had a goal of not being passed and passing over 100 people (two loop course with a sprint tri that merges with us on our 2nd lap). I met both goals.

I got off the bike and felt great. I immediately saw one of my friends from work on the first small loop. He was doing the sprint and was about 40 seconds ahead of me. Next goal was to pass him before the 1 mile mark. I passed him and my training partner was coming the other way toward the finish at the same time. Gave him a high five and almost took his arm off. I was pumped for him. It was his 1st tri and he was extremely nervous before hand. He ended up with a 1.21 sprint. Not bad for someone who couldn't swim a lap 3 months ago and rode about 20 times in his life. Anyway, I continued to feel great until the 2 mile mark. I was passed by a 41 year old in the OLY. I went with him and couldn't hold the pace for more than a minute. Rookie mistake. Run your own race not someone else's. I slowed slowly and steadily for the next 4 miles. I finished with a 41 minute 10K. Not great but not bad. One thing I have not done in years is sprint at the end. It just isn't worth the risk for me. But yesterday I passed another 40 year old with 150 yards to go. He went with me. With 100 to go we looked at each other, smiled and said let's do it. All out. Through the mud. Around the sharp last turn he cut me off and forced me to either back off or go into the fence. Great strategic move. I came around the other side and gave it every thing I had. He beat me by a hair and almost went into the fence and the crowd. I grabbed him before he fell. He got up and we couldn't talk but we put our arms around each other and helped one another to the volunteers. The announcer and the crowd were screaming. All for 44th place overall and 7th on our age group. What a great sport.

Overall 2:29:40 4 minutes slower than last year, but if the swim was indeed 5 minuted longer than I would have been 1 minute faster. Either way it was a great race.
I don't have my official splits yet. Sore as heck from the sprint but it was worth it.