Slippery Rock University Mini Triathlon

Race: Sprint Triathlon
Date: October 2, 2011
Location: Slippery Rock, PA
Time: 1:17:01
Overall Rank: 27 out of 54
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 8
Results: http://www.runhigh.com/2011RESULTS/R100211AB.HTML
No photos

I swam well and I did it fast. The swim was in a 25y university pool (but they advertised that we would use the 50y pool) with very warm water. Relays went first, followed by the triathletes in order of seed time. The fastest swimmers went first, and you know what? I was third in line! Somehow I have become a "fast" swimmer!

Bike portion of mini-triathlon. This was 7 circuits around a university campus with one small hill. People were talking about how terrible the hill was, but I've been training on hills a lot bigger. I was totally prepared for this race, except for the fact that it was 41 degrees and raining. And even then I would have been prepared, except for two things: (1) I left my socks in the car so I wore no socks inside my cycling shoes...no big deal; (2) I decided at the transition between swimming and cycling that I wouldn't bother wearing my cycling gloves because my hands were wet and it would take too long to slide them on. Big Mistake! My hands rapidly became so numb that I couldn't feel what my fingers were doing and shifting became an endeavor that took a lot of concentration. Other than that, my neon yellow Pearl iZumi cycling jacket kept my core warm and dry. I recommend it highly.

By the time I was finished with the cycling, my hands felt frozen in the 41 degree, rainy weather. My legs were red and cold, my sockless feet were cold. It was a dark and stormy night, blah blah blah....So I didn't run very fast as I was having trouble picking up my feet. I don't think this was due to fatigue but rather the fact that my leg muscles were cold. Given the wet running shoes and my lack of socks (I left them in the car!), I started feeling discomfort on my left big toe. One cannot run his best when he's in pain with each step. It wasn't terrible pain because the coldness deadened the sensation, but at the end of the race I discovered my brand new shoes were bloodstained at the toe. I rubbed my big toe raw and didin't really know it. It's a small injury so I'll heal quickly. All in all, it was a great day because I completed the triathlon. In 41 degree weather. In rain. Who does that? I do :)

Despite my sluggish run, this was the fastest 5K run that I have done to date. I completed it in 27:49 which works out to a pace of 8:57.