Tri the Midlands

Tri the Midlands 500 meter swim 14 mile bike 5k run  Lake Carolina near Blythewood, SC.  Saturday, June 22, 2013  I was overall happy with my result of 1:18 and change for this Sprint triathlon. I came in 4th in my age group (45-49) and was beaten by only 14 seconds by 3rd place guy. So that fact gnawed at me since I could have been 15 seconds faster.  I used alot of near gear since my last triathlon way back in late 2011. Yep no triathlons last year for some reason. Anyway I had primarily a new tri bike QR with aero wheels and tubulars. I rode almost 22 mph for the course.  I swam with a one piece tri suit and ran and biked with tri specific shoes.  So my transitions were about a minute each which is much better for me. No socks. Also I had a aerodynamic TT/Tri helmet. All this needed to be tested out in a race finally.  My right knee has been a problem this year and I lack depth in running however the knee was ok and I did a good run. The swim was not so good and I am not sure why. Poor first 100 to 200 meters with everyone bumping into me was stressful drank some lake water. I will try to improve my place in the future. I was like 140th out of 190 men. My swim wave was much smaller.  On the bike I did well passing maybe 50 guys. I rode the course the day before so that helped me. I did not use my aero water container. I just used one frame mounted waterbottle with 250-300 calories. Next time I will use the aerobar mounted hydration system.  Still trying to figure out my next race.