Arrived at the race site early and proceeded to setup my transition. My friend Dan arrived at about the same time to setup his transition area, so it was good to have someone to talk to. Once transition was setup, headed over to get my timing chip and then body marking. I was competitor number 38. That was unique for me as that is also my age. In triathlons, your competitor number is written in black permanent marker on your upper arms and quads. Then on your right calf they write your age. So I was a walking billboard for 38!
Headed to the pool area at 7:40 am for the opening announcement from Scott Kirby. This race is a great event for your first triathlon as evident with approximately 30% of the participants being first-timers. Scott closed the announcements with a prayer and it was time to line up for the start.
With the temps in the 60's it was a little chilly. All of us were commenting about how we wanted to get started just so we could get the blood flowing and warm up. I hopped into the pool to get used to the water temp. Dan was starting 3 minutes before me so gave him some encouragement as he started. At 8:09:15 am, it was time to start as I hear 3..2...1...go! Throughout the swim I felt pretty good, quickly getting into a decent rhythm. In a pool swim for a triathlon, everyone starts 15 seconds apart. You never know with this around you if you will have that gap of 15 seconds. Fortunately the gap between the guy in front of me and behind me stayed the same. This made for a good swim by not feeling any added pressure. Overall swim time time was 5:54 (this includes a 20-25 second run from the pool until crossing the timing mat). Improved my time by 8 seconds compared to the 6:02 in the 2011 race.
On my way to T1, I heard Dan's wife and daughter cheering for me as well as my friends from the local Chick-fil-a (Katherine, Lindsey and Brandon). Thanks for the support guys. A routine T1 in getting my socks, cycling shoes and helmet on with a 1:00 time and off onto the bike course I went.
The bike course is, in one word, fun! It is 4-laps with each lap being 3 miles. The first part of the lap includes a steady climb and then you hit the downhill section where you can put the hammer down. There are some traffic circles to navigate on the course, which adds to the fun. My goal coming into the race was to improve my bike split from 2011 which was 41:29. I successfully accomplished that goal with a 39:48 split for the 12 miles. There is also great crowd support on the loop with many residents coming out to cheer you on. Great to see the support from the community.
T2 was also routine with a 1:03. Changed into my Second Wind shirt, running shoes, grabbed my visor and race bib and I was off.
As with the bike, my goal coming into the race was to improve my run split over 2011 which was 29:58. On the run I felt pretty good. I was keeping a consistent pace throughout and improved my time this year with a 27:31 for the 5K. That is a new PR for my 5K time.
Coming to the finish line area I saw Dan and gave him a high-5 as I passed. He had already finished about 10 minutes ahead of me.
Crossed the finish line with a total time of 1:15:14. That was a 3 minute 57 seconds improvement over my 2011 time of 1:19:11. For my age group, I finished 15 out of 22 and for the over males I was 57 out of 100.
Overall the Gary Kirby Triathlon is a great event. I would recommend this race to anyone and look forward to the 8th annual race in 2013.
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