70.3 New Orleans - By the numbers

I am a little slow getting a detailed race reported completed.  The race with the heat took it out of me and I have hit the hay pretty early the last couple of days.

Transition - Race Morning

But by the numbers;

Swim: This was a rough swim. These were the worst conditions that I have ever swum. There were no whitecaps but the swells were large enough to toss me around, take on water and not sight very well. In addition the swim was an out, a large rectangle and then back kind of swim. There were four 90 degree turns around buoys and starting at the next to last wave meant lots of congestion.

Last year: 40 minutes. Goal time: 35 minute. Actual time: 38 minutes. In better conditions I could have achieved my goal time. All in all, considering the conditions I am happy with the swim.


Bike: This year there was a head wind going out. This is much better mentally. I wanted to race the bike in a rather conservative method so that I could “win” my race with the run. Once again, starting so late in the race (1:12 after the race start) means you don’t get passed much and that there are hundreds (thousands) of people in front of you. I was constantly passing riders and truly flying on the way back. Having a tail wind push you back to transitions was actually cool.

Last year: 2:42. Goal time: 2:40. Actual time: 2:39.

Run: I was in position to reach all of my goals. It got HOT on the run. I let the race slip away. I still have lots of room for improvement.

Last year: 2:01. Goal time: 1:35. Actual time: 1:46.


Total Race - Last year: 5:30. Goal time: 4:59. Actual time: 5:08.

I had a good race and I believe that I did better than the numbers indicate. I am a better athlete this year than last year. This was just a harder race.