Life of an Age-Grouper

The 2017 Patriot Half triathlon was to be my curtain call for long course racing. I had envisioned, rehearsed and trained for a perfect race. This perfect race would have a fantasy ending in which I would leave my shoes on the mat like wrestlers do after their final match. I crossed the finish line on Saturday with a smile on my face, a heart on my chest and my shoes on the mat.   Unfortunately it was not a perfect race yet, I’m at peace. As race day approached I knew I had put in the training to become as fit as possible however the levels I achieved would not allow me to reach my goals.   I could have easily altered my goals and made them more realistic but where is the fun in that? If this was going to be my last long course race then I was going to have to maximize my fitness and to take chances throughout the race. The weather on race morning was 70 degrees, 100% humidity, overcast and drizzling and would remain that way until about noon.   I was very co...

The Lead In : 1. This triathlon was my first race in two years. 2. 100% of my swimming has been alone in the pool 3. 99.9% of my biking has been on the trainer. My tri   bike has never seen the light of day. 4. 100% of my run training has been done alone. 5. I knew I had built some amount of fitness but was really unsure of how I would perform and execute against the competition. Goals: 1. Be the shark in the water. 2. Move quickly and with purpose through both transitions. 3. Race the bike. 4. Make any move permanent on the run and do not get passed. Swim : It is a rarity to swim on an accurately measured course and this course is notorious for being inaccurate. This translates to strange and sometimes shocking pace results. Knowing this ahead of time my only concern was to come out towards the front.  The triangle shaped swim started on the beach. I lined up to the far left of the starting arch and directly behind the first row of 3 swimmer...