All,

Had a great race in Middle Ohio yesterday. I got up early to feed and water the Greyhounds, since we were camping near the race, I had a chance to leisurely get ready rather than rushing around at the last minute.

Got to the start, racked the bike ( rack 'O' ), and I started to worry a little. This is the biggest Transition Area I've ever been in! No problem with the positioning of the bike, good setup for me coming in and flying out.

Start of the International Duo, the temp was 81 deg, and the humidity not too far above that. Through the 5K turnaround, I was running 6th, and managed to hold my position into T1. The first leg I finished in 21:01, with a 59 second transition.

Jumping on the bike, I missed the pedal, and ended up coming to a complete stop before I could get clipped in. Ended up hitting the bike leg in 7th. It was pretty sad on the International Bike course, I kept getting passed by all of the front-running Triathletes. The last half of the ride seemed to have the wind from right-to-left to full headwind. I had the good sense to listen to my faithful pit crew (wife), and not use the disc. Running the HED3C's still had a little amount of wiggle in the heavier crosswinds.

Finished the the Bike leg in 8th place, 1:16:16 (19.5 mph, sigh). Saw the leading Intl Duo woman take a spill, and I had to do some manuvering to keep from hitting her.

Before the second transition, I slipped the feet out of the shoes, and for some reason, this time it caused me lots of problems the last 200 yards or so. Guess I'll go back to running in the cycling shoes through the transition.

T2 was a 1:16 transition, by the time I hit the 10K run leg, it was 88 deg, the 10K course was the 5K course, plus an extra jaunt down a country road. No shade, very little breeze, just pavement smoking in the sun. Being of a larger size than most, the heat took it's toll. Finished the 10K in 57:11 (ugh!!!), but I managed to pass another age-grouper in the last mile, putting me in 8th overall, 7th among the men. I won the 185-199 Over 40 Class with a 2:36:44

At the finish, the temp was 92. With the temps that high, I knew my times were going to be slower, but I felt really strong during the first run and the most of the ride. I tried using Accelerade during the ride, and a HammerGel before and after the ride. It seemed to pay off, since I didn't have any cramping, and finished the race feeling like I could urinate if I wanted to. Guess that means I had enough liquid in me.

Next International Duo is in Toledo, Ohio in two weeks, so I'm going to work on the bike some, and do some running in the Heat!