Music City Triathlon Race Report

July 16 - July 22
S:  7,994 yds - 1hr 51min
B:  88.01 mi - 4hr 45min
R:  33.43 mi - 4hr 20min
Total:  10hr 56min

I last did this race 2 years ago, and after having a complete meltdown in 105 degree Tennessee heat I vowed never again to return.  However, as this year rolled around I figured it was time to quit being a coward and man up.  My brother and his wife live in Nashville, so it was a good opportunity to see them as well.  The race was of the standard intermediate distance - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and 10k run - here's how it unfolded:

Swim - 16:12
The swim was shortened to 1,000 meters due to a pretty strong current.  The first leg of the swim was upstream against the current, with the latter half being downstream.  As usual, it was pretty uneventful and I came out of the water ready to hop on the bike and reel some people in.

Bike - 1:03:59
This bike course didn't look too tough on paper, but the hardest part was that it was on a completely-wide-open-to-sunlight highway.  If it's hot and sunny, you are going to cook; and it was, and I did.  I passed a handful of people, but it was hard to figure out what position I was in because there was a sprint race going on at the same time so the course was littered with people.  Coming into T2 I saw 4 or 5 bikes around mine so I figured I was in a decent spot.

Run - 43.55
This run was a brutal, hilly, and hot 2-loop-5k course.  I felt alright coming off the bike, but I could tell that the heat was getting to me.  At the end of the first lap I saw my brother and wife cheering for me so that helped a lot.  During the 2nd lap I slowed down a little bit, constantly pouring water over my head to keep from overheating.  In the end I crossed the line with a slower than expected run split, but given the heat and seeing as how only 4-5 people cracked the 40 minute barrier, I guess I can't be too disappointed.

Total - 2:07: 25
I ended up with an 8th place overall out of around 330 finishers, with a consolation of 1st in my age group by a couple of minutes.  Local pro Craig Evans and Huntsville pro Andrew Hodges beat down the field, with the rest of the top 10 coming in 10-15 minutes later.  In summary, I'll say that racing in the heat is tough and painful.  It also seems that extremely hot and humid conditions really decreases your margin for error in pacing on the bike.  Or maybe I just suck at racing in the heat, but that's what it feels like to me.  All in all, I felt like I executed as well as I could, and at least I didn't blow up like 2 weeks ago!