Boondogglato and The End
Less than one month before our 8th wedding anniversary, Michelle and I began the event prep with something we had yet to experience in our A.K. era (After Kids) at the house…a night with no children (This is not going where some of your thoughts are headed). With the kids at Aunt Stacy and "Uncle Fat Kid's", we enjoyed a peaceful and quiet evening of collecting all of our gear and getting to bed by 9PM so we could get up at O'dark hundred and head to Sylvania, OH.
The morning was chilly. Temp at 4:50 AM departure was only 51 degrees, and it was to remain relatively stagnant up until race time. Fortunately, the water temp was 77 degrees, so it was comfortable to the touch while in it. Unfortunately, with stage 2 of the event being a 13 mile bike ride in the ol' spandex suit; fingers, knuckles, legs, and assorted other body parts were a bit chilly while speeding down the road at 22 mph. By the time the run came around, temps settled out in the mid-60's with the sun shining to warm things up.
Michelle looked the part in her newly acquired Quintana Roo Kilo tri-bike (Vintage 1998 - Thanks eBay!), bib number tats on her arms and legs, and a caffeine/Cliff bar/Hammer Gel infusion that would make any Red Bull jealous. She backed-up the "look" with an impressive time of 1:24:33, and an 11th of 18 placing in her age group. She crushed her target time by nearly 6 minutes, and had a personal best bike and 5k. Not bad for only her 2nd triathlon. Look out once she gets the swimming down pat.
I entered the event with the target of shaving 5 minutes off of the previous year's event time of 1:17:31 (9 of 20), and improving my overall standings for the age group. Starting in the first wave of yellow-hatters, the swim went well, incurring only minor contusions with several kicks and elbows to the head. The bike seemed tougher this year than last, with a significant head wind on the way out that did not seem to be as helpful on the return (perhaps it was my fatigue). The run was improved by ~20 sec/mile YOY, but there is definitely room for improvement (verified the next day when I PB'd a 5k run). At the end of the day, the tally was a 4:03 improvement over 2007 (1:13:28), and a 7th of 27 showing. All-in-all, it was a satisfying race day.
Next up on the agenda is the Nation's Triathlon (Olympic Distance) on 9/14 in Washington, D.C., followed by the Detroit Free Press Marathon on 10/19. Thanks to all of you that have supported the SMBC's and pushed me along the way…it is definitely paying off.
Less than one month before our 8th wedding anniversary, Michelle and I began the event prep with something we had yet to experience in our A.K. era (After Kids) at the house…a night with no children (This is not going where some of your thoughts are headed). With the kids at Aunt Stacy and "Uncle Fat Kid's", we enjoyed a peaceful and quiet evening of collecting all of our gear and getting to bed by 9PM so we could get up at O'dark hundred and head to Sylvania, OH.
The morning was chilly. Temp at 4:50 AM departure was only 51 degrees, and it was to remain relatively stagnant up until race time. Fortunately, the water temp was 77 degrees, so it was comfortable to the touch while in it. Unfortunately, with stage 2 of the event being a 13 mile bike ride in the ol' spandex suit; fingers, knuckles, legs, and assorted other body parts were a bit chilly while speeding down the road at 22 mph. By the time the run came around, temps settled out in the mid-60's with the sun shining to warm things up.
Michelle looked the part in her newly acquired Quintana Roo Kilo tri-bike (Vintage 1998 - Thanks eBay!), bib number tats on her arms and legs, and a caffeine/Cliff bar/Hammer Gel infusion that would make any Red Bull jealous. She backed-up the "look" with an impressive time of 1:24:33, and an 11th of 18 placing in her age group. She crushed her target time by nearly 6 minutes, and had a personal best bike and 5k. Not bad for only her 2nd triathlon. Look out once she gets the swimming down pat.
I entered the event with the target of shaving 5 minutes off of the previous year's event time of 1:17:31 (9 of 20), and improving my overall standings for the age group. Starting in the first wave of yellow-hatters, the swim went well, incurring only minor contusions with several kicks and elbows to the head. The bike seemed tougher this year than last, with a significant head wind on the way out that did not seem to be as helpful on the return (perhaps it was my fatigue). The run was improved by ~20 sec/mile YOY, but there is definitely room for improvement (verified the next day when I PB'd a 5k run). At the end of the day, the tally was a 4:03 improvement over 2007 (1:13:28), and a 7th of 27 showing. All-in-all, it was a satisfying race day.
Next up on the agenda is the Nation's Triathlon (Olympic Distance) on 9/14 in Washington, D.C., followed by the Detroit Free Press Marathon on 10/19. Thanks to all of you that have supported the SMBC's and pushed me along the way…it is definitely paying off.
