Well, Memphis in May has come and gone for 2011. I am glad that I was talked into competing in this new 5i50 race, as I had struck it from my calendar a few months ago. Shane receives the credit for keeping me honest with my race schedule. My reluctance to compete in this race was namely due to my expectation of extreme heat and humidity in Tunica. What a surprise I was in for.
We got into town late Friday night. Got settled and off to bed. Woke up Saturday morning and went down to watch the sprint race. This got us excited about our race the next day. After the sprint was finished we headed off and got our packets and some goodies from the guys at ACME Multisports. Then we were off for our practice swim. The lake (large pond) was only five feet deep at the deepest point. Strange to swim a few hundred yards out into the middle of the lake and stand up to get your sighting points for the next days race. Finished our swim and felt good. Headed out on the bikes for a bit just to make sure everything was working. The wind was howling and we only rode about 7 miles before we called it quits. No need to fight the wind anymore. Got back, cleaned up the bikes and got our transition bags ready.
Sunday morning came early. I woke up feeling groggy and a bit lazy. Ate breakfast and headed down to transition to check in the bike and get set up. This was really nice as the transition was in our hotel parking lot. Got transition all set up quickly and headed off to the swim start. I was #323 which meant I had about 20 minutes to watch the race get started. Soon enough my time came and I headed into the water. My BlueSeventy Helix suit felt great. Got in the water and started making my way through the field. This is when the shallow water started to really upset me. The weaker swimmers who usually backstroke or breaststroke when they get tired were now standing up in the middle of traffic. I swam square into 3 racers during the swim. This brings you to a dead stop. Very frustrating. Swim really went well and I felt strong. Got out of the water right around 26 minutes....wish I could have brought that down a bit, but this was my tune up race for the year so no pushing the pace.
T1 went really well. Got through transition and out on the bike. This is when it happened. The sky opened up on us. Not a sprinkle but rather a real southern storm. Torrential downpour, lightning, thunder and heavy wind for the whole ride. This caused a lot of nervous riders and a lot of blocking (guess people were nervous about riding the line). The bike went well, no wrecks, flats or other issues. Got off the bike in 1:04 and headed into T2.
T2 went well also and was out on the run in under 1:00. I really tried to control the pace on the run as I have not been real religious with my run training lately. First mile ticked off quickly and without much issue. Mile 2 went about the same way. Mile 3 and mile 4 seemed very very long. I really resisted the urge to look at the watch to confirm my suspicion. Just focused on pushing through. The run wrapped up and I crossed the line in 2:27 and some change.
I was happy with the time, especially when I learned that the run was actually .5 mile long. This finish was enough for me to place 2nd out of 50 in the clydesdale division. This earned me a spot at the Hy-Vee 5i50 championship in Des Moines in September. I was excited to hear about this as I now have a fall "A". Now off to bed so I can get up early and get on the Powerbeam Pro trainer to get ready for the GJCC Super Sprint this weekend here in town.....
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