Wyckoff Triathlon 2011. The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Summary:
In 10 years, I've never cramped in my quads/hams during a race or training...save both of my
tries at Wyckoff. I was debilitated during the swim transition to T1, T1 to the bike, and to cap it off, during the entire run. The race was an utter disappointment as a result, as my expectation of a 1:45 was high and well within the realm of achievable.

Ok, ok, all was not lost, however, as there were some notable high notes. :)

Stats:
Overall time: 2:02 (I did beat my Wyckoff 2009 time by 1 minute!).
Overall Place: 250/650 (better than the 406/750 2 years ago).
Age group males: 42/85 (ok, pretty good, all things considered).

Swim-
Swim went very well. My best open water 1/2 mile swim to date- I clocked out of the water at 14 min, but as soon as I reached the shore, the thigh cramps started, so by the time I completed my gimp to the sensor into T1, I added 4 minutes to my swim time...then I gimped some more during the 1/4 mile T1 to my bike. Bad, bad start and a hauntingly possible
deja vu of Wyckoff 2009.

Bike-
Sam's bike strategy helped me INCREDIBLY- average of 20.3 during the 17 miler with hills.
My best bike race pace to date! Thanks Sam! Not sure why I didn't cramp at all during the ride...and, I was so hopeful for a strong run...however....

Run-
I literally had to walk-jog the entire 5 mile run. Bam! Deja vu. I uttered a hysterical giggle at multiple times during the ordeal. My ABSOLUTE worst run to date...ever....even worse than my run time of Wyckoff 2009, which I also had to gimp through. 10:05 pace. I was miserable with hammie/quad cramps, but somehow mustered up a limping jog across the finish line for the fans, and, of course, for the photographers. I think people thought I had some sort of disability by the running "strategy" I chose to employ (if you could imagine a constipated countenance on a bow-legged, galloping, hunchbacked quasimodo, you might get a hint of what I mean).

Coolest part of the run- several people offered their gels, electrolytes, words of encouragement, and a pat on the back.

Ok, off to the next race. NEW JERSEY STATE OLYMPIC TRIATHLON. JULY 24TH!!

happy training!