An Almost Perfect Race

Yesterday I competed in the USAT Mideast Regional Championship. The race was held near Waterloo, Michigan - about 30 miles west of Ann Arbor. 

When I first start competing in Olympic Distance triathlons seven years ago (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.25 mile run) my goal was to finish a race in 2 hours 30 minutes.  My somewhat naive assumption was that I could complete all of those events individually in that amout of time so with some training I should be able to do them back to back to back. 

It didn't work out that way. I managed to break 3 hours but I have never had a race time under 2 hours 45 minutes.

Conditions for the regional championship were perfect.  Cool temperatures, no wind, easy to spot swim buoys (staying on course on the swim has always been a challenge for me), easy rolling hills for the bike course and a scenic trail through a shaded forest for the run.  There were only about 200 competitors so the tranisition area was compact, which meant faster transition times, too. 

For years I have been expecting a breakout race where I finally knock serious minutes of my personal best. But progress to date has been glacial.  Until yesterday. 

Yesterday I had personal bests on the bike (averaging 21.5 mph) and the run (7:56 pace per mile) and had my second best time ever on the swim.  I was actually in second place for my age group into the last mile of the race, but was passed by Squires and Baas just before the finish line, pushing me back to 4th place. 

Nevertheless it was a great race and I was thrilled to finish in 2 hours 33 minutes.  Just three minutes short of my original goal.  And fifteen minutes faster than my previous best time for this distance.

Here were the results for my age group:

	Male 60 to 64
		Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total	Overall
Place	Name	Time	Time	Time	Time	Time	Time	Place
1	Robert Rossbach	28:33:00	1:13	1:08:38	0:59	50:16:00	2:29:40	99
2	D Mark Squires	31:43:00	1:10	1:09:26	0:54	49:07:00	2:32:21	108
3	Ed Baas	26:07:00	1:11	1:18:37	0:58	45:52:00	2:32:47	112
4	Len Joy	30:16:00	2:16	1:09:45	1:18	49:28:00	2:33:05	114
5	Michael Lindley	29:36:00	1:56	1:14:59	1:03	50:41:00	2:38:17	129
6	Mike Morris	40:11:00	1:50	1:16:22	0:43	48:46:00	2:47:54	160
7	James Weaver	34:00:00	1:23	1:15:33	1:23	1:04:04	2:56:25	179
8	James O'Brien	48:31:00	2:12	1:15:57	1:05	49:12:00	2:57:00	181

Next Race:  Evergreen Lake Olympic Triathlon - July 13, 2013