JPD Race Report: Memphis in May Triathlon
May 21, 2006, Memphis, Tennessee
On the drive down to Memphis from St. Louis, the temperature was steadily creeping higher. If it got much hotter, the ability to use wetsuits would be in jeopardy. The day before the race consisted of the usual packet pick-up, short run and swim, and a bunch of Mapquest printouts to get from the race site to the hotel, to dinner, etc.
Days Inn in Memphis: Deactivated. Check-in was slow and the room felt dirty. As I rolled my bike into the room, I noticed the front right burner on the stove was on high. Heat seemed to be the theme of the day. No need to "bring the heat," as it was already in stock.
When I was finally ready for bed, I peaked out the window to see what all the hoopla was. Beyond the scraggly-looking alley cats, it looked like there was a practice run of a Mexico World Cup victory fiesta in the parking lot. A car alarm sounding a few feet from the window erased any doubt I may have had of whether I'd fallen asleep yet. Wakeup call was only a few hours away.
Race day was warm but the lake temperature was wetsuit legal. Unlike my previous two races at Memphis, I did not have an early start time. I waited for my number 662 to take my place in line as swimmers departed in 3-second increments.
I felt good making my way clockwise around the buoys for 1500 meters. It never got too congested due to the time trial format and I felt like I was holding my own. I emerged from the lake and was pleased to see my time was close to my goal. It had been a long time since I could say that about a swim.
My transition was smooth and quick, but as I went to mount my bike one of my shoes unclipped and fell to the pavement. I struggled to get my shoe on as the awkward silence of the spectators made everything feel like slow motion. A lugey seemed to magically dangle 5 inches off my nose during the aggravation. I was eventually pedaling toward the park exit when mishap #2 occurred. Also, seemingly in slow motion, my water bottle slid from the cage and appeared to explode on contact with the road. I had fluids in my aero bottle so I didn't panic. But then I noticed my bike computer wasn't registering my speed measurement. Again, not critical, but the annoyances were accumulating. I was working my way through the purple peloton (get it?) when I saw Missouri superstud D. Marriott climbing out of a ditch after a hard left turn. It looked like his day was over. I didn't feel particularly fast as the bike wore on and I entered T2.
My watch told me, however, that I could still hit my overall goal time with a solid run. Did I mention it was hot? Although my pace per mile was consistent and it seemed that I was passing people throughout, I never got up to the speed I needed to hit my goal time. I did enjoy the personal exchanges during the out and back run, especially getting "Activated" by an anonymous athlete/blog reader.
As I strode across the grass alongside rookie superstar triathlete Jillian P. out of Missouri, I finished about 4 minutes off my goal, but still managed a PR for the Olympic distance.
The St. Louis contingent had a good post-race spot under the Big Shark tent, where new faces mixed with old friends. Good times.
On the drive down to Memphis from St. Louis, the temperature was steadily creeping higher. If it got much hotter, the ability to use wetsuits would be in jeopardy. The day before the race consisted of the usual packet pick-up, short run and swim, and a bunch of Mapquest printouts to get from the race site to the hotel, to dinner, etc.
Days Inn in Memphis: Deactivated. Check-in was slow and the room felt dirty. As I rolled my bike into the room, I noticed the front right burner on the stove was on high. Heat seemed to be the theme of the day. No need to "bring the heat," as it was already in stock.
When I was finally ready for bed, I peaked out the window to see what all the hoopla was. Beyond the scraggly-looking alley cats, it looked like there was a practice run of a Mexico World Cup victory fiesta in the parking lot. A car alarm sounding a few feet from the window erased any doubt I may have had of whether I'd fallen asleep yet. Wakeup call was only a few hours away.
Race day was warm but the lake temperature was wetsuit legal. Unlike my previous two races at Memphis, I did not have an early start time. I waited for my number 662 to take my place in line as swimmers departed in 3-second increments.
I felt good making my way clockwise around the buoys for 1500 meters. It never got too congested due to the time trial format and I felt like I was holding my own. I emerged from the lake and was pleased to see my time was close to my goal. It had been a long time since I could say that about a swim.
My transition was smooth and quick, but as I went to mount my bike one of my shoes unclipped and fell to the pavement. I struggled to get my shoe on as the awkward silence of the spectators made everything feel like slow motion. A lugey seemed to magically dangle 5 inches off my nose during the aggravation. I was eventually pedaling toward the park exit when mishap #2 occurred. Also, seemingly in slow motion, my water bottle slid from the cage and appeared to explode on contact with the road. I had fluids in my aero bottle so I didn't panic. But then I noticed my bike computer wasn't registering my speed measurement. Again, not critical, but the annoyances were accumulating. I was working my way through the purple peloton (get it?) when I saw Missouri superstud D. Marriott climbing out of a ditch after a hard left turn. It looked like his day was over. I didn't feel particularly fast as the bike wore on and I entered T2.
My watch told me, however, that I could still hit my overall goal time with a solid run. Did I mention it was hot? Although my pace per mile was consistent and it seemed that I was passing people throughout, I never got up to the speed I needed to hit my goal time. I did enjoy the personal exchanges during the out and back run, especially getting "Activated" by an anonymous athlete/blog reader.
As I strode across the grass alongside rookie superstar triathlete Jillian P. out of Missouri, I finished about 4 minutes off my goal, but still managed a PR for the Olympic distance.
The St. Louis contingent had a good post-race spot under the Big Shark tent, where new faces mixed with old friends. Good times.
posted by JPD at Tuesday, June 27, 2006
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