Weekend of Me (cont.)

The race was a half-iron man distance. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13 mile run. Due to crazy weather the event organizers ended up cutting the swim in half, which was annoying but better than canceling it all together. I finished in 5 hours flat, just one minute off the podium and a chance to stand next to my buddy Casey who got first. I still owe him a Slurpee for a stupid bet I made. We finished the bike portion of the race at the same time and I said if he beat me 20 minutes I'd buy him a Slurpee. He went on to run the half marathon more than 30 minutes faster. Don't know what I was thinking.

Upon reflection I wondered where I could have made up the minute I needed to get on the podium. There's the fact that I'm fat and out of shape but that's a given. If I got a Tri or Time Trial specific bike that would more than make it up. Even if I added aero bars to my bike it would have gotten me out of the 30 mph head and cross winds we had before the storm hit. Maybe if I hadn't gone off course (with lots of others) and added an extra mile on the bike I could have made up the minute I needed. There's also all the walking I did after mile 8, that certainly didn't help. Finally I figured out where I wasted a minute and turns out it was on the swim. But not really the swim as there was no stroking going on. It was spent trying to get out of the water on the moss covered boat ramp. It was impossible!

You'll have to take my word for it but that is me and my right arm behind the guy in front. I'm in 2 inches of water and still on my hands and knees trying unsuccessfully to make progress. Eventually one the of the volunteers took pity and offered me their hand while they anchored themselves on dry land. Just like a quicksand rescue.
Giving it my all and hitting 12 mph. Stupid summer storms.
At the start of the run when I could still run.