Monday, July 30, 2007

Tinman



Sunday was the Tinman Triathlon (800m Swim/40K Bike/10K Run). It started at 5:45am, with a much earlier show time. I was pulling into a parking lot in Waikiki as a lot of drunks were stumbling to their cars. Of course that made me reminiscent of the old days, but now I've come full circle...starting my day as they end theirs'. One thing I knew is that both of us were going to feel like crap by noon that day...just with different means to arrive to that same end. Ultimately there's some gain in mine, and all these folks had to show for their night was a smaller wallet.

Overall, it was a good race. I had my typical lousy swim. Although I didn't drift into the breast stroke or doggie paddle, I was slow...I was in a nice rhythm with the freestyle, but it took forever. Knowing I had a lot of time to make up on the bike, I hauled ass through the transition and jumped into my shoes sans socks. Took off accelerating quickly until my chain popped off...thought I had it back on track when I jumped back on and the crank locked. Spent awhile looking for the problem and noticed the chain off track jammed in the derailleur...anyway, that took a couple minutes to fix. Then I took off again, up the hill around Diamond Head and lose the chain again...this time, it destroys my uphill momentum. Other than that, the ride was good...passed lots of folks, particularly those that had trouble handling their tri-bikes in the rain. I was glad I was on a less aerodynamic road bike that handled well on the wet streets...I saw lots of folks with road rash at the finish line. The run was a pleasant surprise. My 10K was just a few seconds off a 10K I did a few months back...I had low expectations for the day, since I hadn't really focused on running. I was amazed that the run wasn't slow after the transition. It's normally pretty painful for me to go from bike to run.

This was a fun race...was dreading it before, and even regretted signing up since I had to miss a 'round the island group bike ride. Glad I did it...it will probably be awhile before I do another tri...I should probably master the swimming first.

Here are the results.

3 comments:

Louis Winthorpe III said...

Congrats! That's pretty hardcore!

Anonymous said...

Yeah I have to agree. I can swim and run, but my ass hates biking. All I've got to say is come swin with me. I'm not the best, but you won't be the slowest in the field after I get you in shape.

Strap said...

oh i've tried...even went to some fancy schmancy collegiate/olympic swim coach for his clinic...he watched me swim and gave me tips. nothing helped.