Today, September 30th 2012 I completed the Elephant Man Olympic distance triathlon in Elephant Butte New Mexico. This was my 81st multisport race and my 8th Olympic distance triathlon. This was by far the hardest Olympic distance I've ever raced. As a matter of a fact, the Elephant man triathlon is easily the hardest course I've EVER raced. It has massive hills, lots of very steep climbing, heat, a rough road for cycling, and a mile of sandy dirt paths on the run. It's also one of the funnest courses I've ever raced. There's AMAZING views, lots of friendly volunteers, and the vehicle traffic was very courteous.
I knew I was going to be slow today, and I was right. Today was one of the 2 slowest race performances of my triathlon career, but I don't feel badly. To finish a race of this difficulty and distance with virtually no training at all in over 4 months is something I was proud of. My legs fell apart at the 10 mile mark of the bike, so the last sixty percent of the race I finished with nothing but heart. I'm in the worst shape I've been in in over 8 years, but my courage, ability to work through pain, persevere through adversity, and my determination has always been my greatest asset, and it came out in force today.
I swam a 1 mile open water swim having not completed any swim training in over a year and still finished it in 34 minutes 41 seconds, I was 10th out of 14 in my AG, 71st out of 156 overall. I finished the 25.5 mile bike in 1 hour 37 minutes, finishing dead last in my division, 92nd out of 156 overall. And I ran the 6 mile run in 1 hour, 12th out of 14, 82nd out of 156 overall. I finished the trithlon in a total time of 3 hours 17 minutes and 58 seconds, 12th out of 14 in my AG, and 110th out of 156 overall.
I only earned 1 point in the South West Challenge Series for the 2nd race in a row. I now have 46 points, and since the SW challenge series is no longer counting the Warrior triathlon 46 is how many points I'll be ending the 2012 season with. The SW challenge series 35-39 AG points standings is currently:
1st place Price Lowhon with 65 points
2nd place Cody Hanson with 46 points
T-3rd place Matt Hall with 41 points
T-3rd Cory Adair also with 41 points
T-5th place Jan Grande with 38 points
T-5thplace Valentin Ramirez also with 38 points
7th place Mike Edwards with 36 points
3 comments:
Congratulations on your great time on the swimming part. Especially when you haven't completed any swim training over a year.
Way to go! I love your race report.
thank you so much for your kind support. it means so much to me
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