Tarpon Springs Sprint Triathlon- the second go 'round!

A little background-
The TSST was my first attempt at a tri in '04. During the ride, my pedal stripped out of one of the crank arms of the rental bike. This was at mile 2 of the 10 mile ride. So I one legged the rest fo the bike and cooked up the run to come in next to last for my AG.

This time around-
It was my buddy Steve's first race. He had been doing very well in prepartion and had a flawless race without any detatching bike parts.

The swim was interesting. The tide was out, so the water level was at least 4 feet lower than it was last time I raced it. I could almost touch bottom for the entire 400m swim. Many idiots were running/ walking it. Combine that with the fact that they had added the 30- 35 Mens to our wave, it was a horribly packed swim. This was easily the roughest swim I have ever engaged it. I say engaged, cause it WAS combat. I got kicked in the mouth, stepped on, pushed around, etc. Hardcore stuff. 6:22- 5th in AG

A drawback to this large wave and packed swim was drafting on the bike. I knew this was going to happen when we were still in the water. A non USAT race without officials or enforcement = free for all, I guess. I saw a pack of cyclists pull away from me at the start and another pack caught me, but I managed to keep them in my sights. The course was rough and winding, just how I remembered it. 21 mph average. A little slow. Oh, well. It's all about the run, isnt it? 28:47- 5th in AG

I caught most of the pack riders within 1/2 mile of the run start (i guess they were drafting cause they knew they couldnt run!) but there was a group of three a little ways in front of me. The course's first and last miles of this out and back are completely exposed, so you can see who's ahead. I focused on that group and bumped up the pace to where I was gaining ground. It happened slowly at first, but by the mile and half, I was sitting on their shoulders and made my move. Right about this time, this dude with a 54?!?! on his leg comes boogeying up beside me. I caught his shoulder and held on for dearlife for a few hundred meters, but that dude was COOKING and I couldn't hold the pace. He did help me open a gap between me and the drafters that they couldnt bridge for the last mile. I was ablet to keep them at about 400m untill I crossed the line. I am glad they stayed back there, cause I dont know if I would have had the kick to fight them off! 20:23- 2nd in AG

Ther esults were good, but it seems I should have tried to catch the first pack of drafters- I was second in my AG by 2 minutes. My first hardware finish in a long time. I have been consistently finishing one place off of the podium for a while, always just a little shy. Not today!

http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2006results/tarponspringstriathlon090906.html

A lot of fun, but I wont dot he race again. The TA wasnt secured, and the drafting was a bit too much for me. I wante my revenge on the course, and I got it. The importance of soild transitions was big here, as I had the fastest transitions out of my AG, and the dude behind me would have been a LOT closer if he learned to drop down those times. Transitions are the 4th discipline!