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Mike Bourquin Goldsboro Family
YMCA Triathlon
Saturday August 10th My wife and I drove down on Friday after work, checked into the hotel, and went out for some fine cuisine at Applebee's (not many choices in Goldsboro and the only Italian restaurants I saw had pizza in their name.) But dinner was actually pretty good, had a couple beers as well to supplement my carb intake:) Finished last minute preparations about 10PM, got to bed and proceeded a viscious cycle of sleep-awake-sleep-awake, etc. Up at 5AM, out of the hotel at 5:45, and at the race site at 6:00. It was an atypically beautiful morning, 55 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. For some reason even though this was my first triathlon, I knew it was gonna be a good day, good karma in the air. Pre-race nutrition: Gatorade, coffee, water, bagel with peanut butter, banana, and a Carboom 10 minutes before the start. Warmed up on the bike for 10 minutes and then ran for 10 minutes. Set up my transition area (not really sure what the big deal is about transition areas as they all looked the same to me). I was in the first swim wave starting at 7:30. Got in the water about 5 minutes before the start to get acclimated. Water was a nice temp, probably around 78 and not nearly as murky as the water around here. Lined up at the back of the pack and all of a sudden I was just totally calm and really looking forward to getting started. I still can't believe how calm I was before the swim start. It was like an outer-body experience standing in the water at 7:30 AM with the sun just coming up, totally peaceful, hard to explain. The horn sounded and off we went. I instantly got into a nice groove, however we suddenly came upon some thick seaweed but having read others accounts of similar situations, I was prepared, didn't freak me out at all. We were swimming a counter-clockwise triangle with big orange buoys marking the way. Every time I sited I was right on target (by the way, loved my new Aqua Spheres). Rounded the first buoy and to my surprise realized that someone was actually drafting off of me! About every 10 strokes or so my toes would hit this guys hand. It didn't bother me, in fact it was funny because I'm pretty slow. Rounded the second buoy to head home and boom, there was the sun right in our faces. It was tough going, very hard to see, just tried to stay parallel to the shore as that was the way home. Also my arms started getting tired but not too bad. Got close to the finish and when I sited to the right I caught a glimpse of my wife on shore and gave her a wave. She had stopped in the middle of her weekend long run to see my transition and take pictures. Got out of the water onto a very slippery boat ramp, headed to transition which was a whopping 50 feet away, dried off, chatted with Holly, put on my gear (no socks or gloves, good choice) and headed out on the bike. Swim + T1 = 20 minutes The bike course was very flat. Over the first few miles I gradually got up to a 20mph steady speed and some of the guys from the second wave were passing me but not too awful many. Was cruising along some beautiful, scenic farmland feeling really good, a little queasy from swallowing water but not too bad. At 10 minutes I took some water, 20 minutes some gel, periodically some Gatorade/water mix, another gel at 45 minutes. It was an out and back course and the lead dude passed me on the way back in about 15 minutes ahead of me. Got to the turn-around and decided to step it up a bit. Got up to 22mph and starting passing some people. Then a pack of 5 riders came by me, drafting like a motha'. I thought about hooking up with them but then realized that would defeat the purpose of why I'm out there. Decided just to not let them get out of my site which I was pretty well able to do. At about mile 18 I caught up to Ed in NC (he had told me he would be out there on a blue Trek) and we talked for the last 2 miles, very nice guy. Rolled into T2 feeling very confident as my watch was reading total time of 1:17 and I was just hoping to break 1:50. And of course, there was my wife taking more pictures and rooting me on. Bike time = about 57 minutes (59 minutes with T2). Started the run and shortly after the leader passed me heading into the finish, kind of has a way of humbling you real fast. Ran with Ed for awhile but felt really good so I gradually picked up the pace. I figured I was running about an 8 minute pace but hit the turn-around in 10 minutes! I was like "what the heck, sub 7 minute average??" I was passing some people and only got passed by 2 others, a guy and the 3rd place girl. My right shin was very tight and I lost feeling in my foot but just kept pressing it as there wasn't too far left to go. Spotted a guy up ahead about 50 yards and decided to catch him. I really picked up the pace near the end and caught him right at the finish though I let him actually get ahead and go into the shute first. We shook hands right after and congratulated each other on a good run. I felt great, not winded at all. Saw Holly and got a big hug and then several pictures. I still couldn't believe how fast I ran but Holly said I was flying (it's all relative of course!). I've heard that when you go from the bike to the run you often underestimate how fast you're going because you're used to the speed of the bike thus making the run seem very slow. Run time 21 minutes Total time 1:40.23 (winning time was 1:21) Thoughts:
Thanks to everyone who has ever offered advice, opinions, etc. This site is THE BEST resource there is. Sincerely, |
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