Meat Pie Tri
Pre-Race
The Meat Pie Tri was the regional sprint championship for the four state region hosted in Nacitoches, LA. I wish I had had time to get around town some to take pictures and check out the local shops. Neat little town with a lot of history to it. Anyhow, we arrived the night before the race and got to hear 3-time Olympian Sheila Taormina tell of her experiences in both swimming, triathlon, and the modern day pentathalon as we ate dinner. I decided afterwards not to get a ride in with it being really dark and my knee bothering me a bit. That night I didn’t get a sound nights rest, but was ready to go once that alarm went off. This was a 7AM start and I arrived in transition to choose my spot at 5:30. As usual, I chose the spot on the very end by the aisle and laid out my gear. The numbering system started with the oldest males with #1 and on from there. I was #172. Starting this early posed a problem of not having any light before the race so I only ventured out for a couple of miles “warmup” on the bike and we weren’t allowed in the water until the sun was visible. I think I put in about 200 meters worth before being ushered out to start the race.
Swim
We started in the water every 3 seconds so it didn’t take too awfully long to get going. Once in I took off on a pretty fast pace and then settled in. I did much better sighting at this race, but after the halfway point I just slowed too much. I think it’s because I train in a pool where I’m turning and constantly reminding myself to speed up. The half mile swim took me a long 15:23, which put me at 79th place for that event.
T1
I slowly exited behind an older gentleman and then shot around him to my spot. I threw on the helmet, grabbed the bike, and then bolted to the mount line. T1 came and went in 0:31.8 giving me the fastest one of the day.
Bike
The first and last couple of miles (out and back course) had several really rough areas so I was very cautious at these sitting upright in case I had to bunny-hop over some potholes. The rest of the course was super smooth with several gradual hills. Luckily at this hour of the morning there aren’t many cars out although I did get stuck behind 2 vehicles briefly at two different times. At around mile 4 I thought I had gotten in with another guy to “legally draft” as I have just recently learned about from my friend William Ritter. After about 1.5 miles he said something about getting in trouble when I was passing him again and never saw him from then on. I slowed just a couple of minutes until rudely awakened by an LSU triathlete who blew past me. I got back after it from then and he didn’t put any distance on me. The 20 mile bike segment took me 52:48.3 averaging 22.7 mph (16th fastest).
T2
Upon hitting the dismount line I was off running quickly, but it didn’t feel so great on that asphalt having still soft/wet feet from the swim in my shoes. Once to my spot I tossed the tire in the slot (wooden bike boxes instead of poles) and monkeyed with my shoes a little longer than I should have. 0:43.5 seconds later I was out and headed up the flight of stairs that started the run course.
Run
Sheila was at the top of the small, long flight of steps warning of loose bricks, but I had already sighted those the day before when scouting out the course and turned the corner to cross over the bridge. I quickly caught the LSU guy before the first mile and blasted past a lot of other people. I felt really strong even though I could feel a tinge of pain in the knee. I kept pushing. The run was similar to the bike with it being out and back, although I thought that turnaround cone would never come. There was nobody around it and I almost kept running until I saw the little white arrow around the orange marker. Knowing exactly how far I had to go and seeing several people ahead of me kept me going at a fast pace. I was a little surprised at how good my legs felt considering I haven’t done any quality run training in 6 months. As we neared the bridge I saw one more guy ahead of me whom looked kind of younger and I just told myself he was in my age group so I’d have to run him down. After turning off of the bridge and seeing the finish in sight I switched modes to the old 110M hurdling days and took off at an all-out sprint shooting past the guy and finishing strong with an 18:18 5K run (5:54/mile and 7th fastest), including the stairs.
After
My finishing time of 1:27:47.5 put me in the 14th position out of 313 overall and 1st in my age group of 18. I was pretty happy with the bike and run, but not satisfied with the swim. In the off-season I need to head out to the lakes decked out with my wetsuit on to solve a few issues. My dad and I waited around as I received my trophy and then left town. Next up is the Red River Revel 15K run in Shreveport this coming Saturday morning.
Race Summary:
(Rankings include relays)
800M Swim - 15:25.3 (79th)
T1 - 0:31.8 (1st)
20 mile Bike - 52:48.3 (16th) 22.7 mph
T2 - 0:43.5 (19th)
5K Run - 18:18.3, 5:54/mile (7th)
Overall - 1:27:47.5 (14th/313 and 1st/18 AG)
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