Parlee Beach Triathlon was today in New Brunswick. The skies threatened rain, and delievered a little before the race, but they did hold off. Which is more than can be said for the wind.

Anyway, this was my first race with an ocean swim. Especially wierd because the sandbars meant that sometimes you would have to stand up and run through the water for 10m or so. Let me tell you, that is extremely tiring to have to do, and throws your rythym out the window. I made the choice to stay swimming, even if I had to alter my stroke so that I could pull without my hand dragging in the sand, and I think it was for the best.

Swim [24:07] - What can I say, despite the difficulties, and the saltwater, it was my fastest swim EVER. By a long way, shattered my year end goal of a 25 min mile. I was extremely happy, and came out of the water in 23/58 and 4 minutes behind the leader.

Bike [1:14:00] - 33.7kph - The 42km bike course was made up of 6 laps, of which the long uphill was directly into the fiersome headwind. Took me 4 laps before I started to feel good. The saltwater I had swallowed during the swim was not sitting well in my stomach, but I finished off the final two laps with a 37kph average. My split was 15/58.

Run [48:30] - Ever my weakness, I was still pleased with this run. First time in a race I have been able to run sub 5 minute kilometers. I really need to work on this over the winter, but after reading some tips from Ken about the Evolution method, I definately nticed the difference and am going to continue to focus on this.

Overall [2:26:37] - 21/58, 3rd in my age group, 20 minutes behind the winner, and a new PR for me at Olympic length (and the bike was 2km longer, making it even better).

Thanks for all your tips that have helped me improve myself, and get me to this point only 8 months after starting this sport. I am looking forward to the future.

Race season complete.

Brian

Brian