Concrete Man post mortem

Well, I finished. I felt a little under trained for this event, and I may have been right. I had a rough race, slow on the bike and slower on the run, which I walked most of. Many thanks to my good friend Don for this video and moral support and general camaraderie.

The swim; It looked intimidating. When I first surveyed the course it didn't look that bad, then I saw the third buoy. It seemed a little long, but I was told that it was set using GPS, so it should be right. Getting to the first turn was a mental exercise, constantly telling myself, that I could do this. I've swam further and I know swimming is quite a bit mental and that's amplified in the open water. I didn't check my stopwatch after the first leg, but it seemed like an eternity. The second wasn't so bad as I finally felt like I was in a rhythm. I got out of the water after the second lap and I saw someone finish that I had started with (I think). I checked my watch, and it showed fifty minutes! That's five minutes longer than I had figured my total time at the outside limit would be. So it turns out that the swim course was long, maybe by as much as double. This makes me feel a little better about my final time, but not better about my bike and run performance.

The bike; The bike was not real eventful. I did okay, but I backed out of the speed quite a bit because the swim had really sapped me. My stomach was a little sick and that mad it hard to take on any nutrition. There were a couple of times I thought I might throw up, but it passed quickly. I forced myself to hydrate and eat a little. I felt awful after the bike and was happy to get into transition.

The run; What can I say? It was rough. I started out at a trot and did okay for about half a mile. Then I started a run/walk routine that turned into more walking than running. The aide stations were a Godsend. Cold water and towels felt great and kept me moving. So my strategy became, run till you cramp, then walk till it stops. I guess some folks got worried about me and sent out some recon in the form of Al Trumbo. It was great to see him actually and he helped me along by just showing up. I took on a gel at the four mile aide station. I made my way to the final mile and thought I'd be able to run the rest of the way in, but it was not to be. When my quads weren't cramping, my hamstrings were. I limped along until I could see the finish line. I was determined to actually run across the finish line. That's what you see in the video. At the end I was given ice for inside my hat, water, watermelon. Don and Dennis helped me haul all my stuff back to the car. I came home and took a great nap sincerely happy to have just finished this very difficult race.