The weather was soggy to say the least; woke up race morning to a torrential downpour. Thankfully it cleared just in time for the start but I was not about to let anything dampen my spirits, this was the first race I would be using my new toy: a 2010 Argon 18 E-112.
The swim was an age-group based wave start with the "young-guns" (M19-24) leading the way. As a strong swimmer I love the start of any triathlon. Many view the swim as something to "get through" before they can race the bike and run, I see it as an opportunity to put time into the competition and nothing gets me fired up more than knowing that I can do just that.
When the gun went off I immediately sighted the first buoy, put my head down and started to crank. Within a few strokes I was clear of the field and moving through clean water. This remained true for the entire swim, and I entered T1 at just over 00:19:00, ~2min ahead of the rest of the field (except for one other athlete who blew themselves up trying to match my pace and payed the price with nothing left in the tank).
The bike went well, I made it to the turnaround in first and into T2 in third. T2 was something of an catastrophe as I struggled to put on socks and tie my shoes, causing me to drop to 4th overall as I started the run. Note to self: look into getting some Zoots! First half of the run went well but the legs started to cramp towards the end. Finished in 5th with 02:10:43, good start to the season.
I walked away from the Keuka event happy with my condition. Offseason training had definitely helped with the bike and run and I had already noticed improvements. Definitely needed to work on transitions through, and lose the socks for sure.
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