November 28, 2011

The Nutcracker triathlon

I registered for the Nutcracker triathlon, formerly called the Jingle Bell triathlon. The Nutcracker triathlon will be held on Dec 4th and is a sprint distance tri. It is a chip timed Run-Bike-Swim held at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center here in wonderful New Mexico. The bike course is an out-and-back (difficult bike course) and the run is a VERY hilly 1 loop course. The swim is a serpentine swim up/down one lane at a time. Distances: 5k run, 25k bike, 400yd swim. The Nutcracker's RD is Mark Miko, who is one of the 2 best RD's of all time (tied with the Greer's from Lubbock TX).

This race is only 14 days after Ironman Arizona. It's probably a bad idea for me to be racing only 14 days after IMAZ, especially since the Nutcracker tri is such a difficult course. In the last few years the 2nd place 35-39 AG finisher's average time in the Nutcracker tri has been 1 hour 11 minutes to 1 hour 12 minutes. In 2008 & 2009 I raced this event & finished with a 1 hour 25 minute (4th place AG) and a 1 hour 28 minutes (3rd place AG), but I was 20-40 pounds heavier. I'm currently in better shape and lighter than I was in '08 & '09, but I'll be riding the slowest bike ever manufactured. So only time will tell how I'll finish my 1st race of the 2012 season.

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