tyler's take

… is coming soon. Really. While we wait, serious bonus points will go to anyone who can identify anybody in the obnoxiously cool photo above.

Yes, I’m a bit behind. They’re coming …

Todd tells me he has an over/under on my upcoming triathlon. Never having been outside of the airport in Vegas I’m not sure I exactly know what he means. But anyone who *is* in the know can send an email to TheRaceOracleOf2009@tylerblessing.com and proceed accordingly (RobotSpammers take note: after race day, that email address will forward to the great bit bucket in the sky, so hurry up with all the adds for ambien, xanax, and personal enhancement … you’ve got only 48 hours to reach a very receptive audience of one).

Here’s the breakdown of the currently known info:

• Olympic distance triathlon (1500m swim / 40km bike / 10 km run)
• it’s my first olympic distance triathlon
• I’ve done a total of two triathlons in my life, both sprint distance
• I’m possibly overtrained for the swim
• I’m undertrained for the bike and run (unless two weeks is adequate)
• I’ve run longer than 10k exactly 3 times in the last 10 years
• I’ve ridden my bike more than around the block approximately 3 times in the last year
• Ande thinks I have a good practice-to-competition performance ratio
• I’ll be riding my regular road bike with clamp-on aero bars and regular training wheels
• I’m running in shoes that I bought before my first triathlon (hey, they’re still the comfiest)
• my first triathlon was in may of 2005

Anyone wishing to speculate publicly can simply post a comment here. As the robotic spammers have long ago discovered, you don’t actually have to enter legit info in the email and name fields of the comment form (so anonymous posting is perfectly fine). That being said, if you start speculating about how much ambien someone else on the internet wants to buy from you then your post will likely not make it through the filter.

Cheering and encouraging comments are most welcome (as are similar PMs).

Sometimes change is in the air; sometimes it’s just in the mix; sometimes it’s good; sometimes it hurts; sometimes it’s needed; sometimes it’s all you have, and sometimes … well, sometimes it’s just for fun.

11 days ago I did something that qualifies as a definite change (well for me at least): I signed up to do the third triathlon of my life, and my first olympic distance tri.

SInce that defining moment I’ve discovered that being a triathlete requires a different kind of life. So far I’ve changed the way I eat, the way I live, and the way I treat other people.

The race is in downtown Austin and begins during the sunrise hours of labor day: 7 days from today. Hopefully more pre race posts will follow …

Although I had originally planned to be racing this event, today I was just a spectator (for a tiny bit of the olympic and the better part of the ITU races). The ITU race started after all the other races so the course was clear for the elites and pros (and it was also getting hot!). The women started first and I missed watching the swim portion, but apparently Hayley Peirsol put a substantial gap on the field and maintained it through transition and onto the bike. Amy apparently had some technical problems in the swim (goggles?) and ended up in the second chase group (a major bummer for her as the other 2 women in her group did not seem to be doing much of the pulling and she couldn’t seem to drop them). In between Hayley and Amy was a group of 4 or 5 including Tenille Hoogland, a feisty canadian who had stopped in to swim with us on Thursday morning of last week (she swam in the lane with me and Ande and Todd if that tells you anything about her swimming!).

The ITU bike course was slightly shortened from the earlier olympic and sprint course and it was 5 laps instead of 4. The first chase group reeled in Hayley somewhere in lap 2 and 3. At some point on lap 4, Tenille made a really gusty move on the bike and attacked the lead group putting (I think) over a minute gap on them into transition. Unfortunately for Tenille, she was not able to maintain her lead through the run, and either her late solo attack on the bike, or the muggy Texas heat (it was around 87 F (31 C for the rest of the world), put her into some really bad shape. She ended up finishing 7th and spent some time in the medical tent (hopefully she’s feeling much better now).

The men started the swim portion around the time when the women were getting into the run, and the mens field was quite a bit larger than the womens. Around the halfway point in the swim I recognized Mark Van Akkeren, who used to swim with us when he lived in Austin, at the front of the swim pack. Much later and near the back I spotted Brandon, whose race report states that he was not having a stellar open water swim day (hey, I know that feeling!). Fortunately, Brandon was able to pull his race together quite a bit once he got onto the bike.

After the men went under the bridge I walked over to the run course and found Terra waiting to do her best cheering for Tenille, who, as Terra reported, was really struggling. At this point the lead women were already on their final lap of three and as I looked west I could just make out the leader winding her way behind the two bright yellow pacers on bicycles, who appeared to be having to work some just to stay in front of her. She was just flying along, making it look easy even in the heat! This turned out to be Kate McIlroy of New Zealand, who apparently just started racing as an elite triathlete earlier this year(!), having converted from a world-class runner after a series of nagging injuries pushed her training more towards the swim and bike. Her running background was obvious however, for as light and easy as she made it look, she might as well have had springs for feet. She ended up winning the race by a substantial margin, and next behind her was Hayley Peirsol who seemed strong off the bike all the way to the end.

It was some time before Terra and I could see Tenille approaching in 6th place, and she was really having a tough time. Amy was not far behind Tenille, having finally dropped the two gals in her bike pack, and she moved into 6th sometime around the final turn and held that position to the finish, clearly disappointed at how the earlier portion of her race had gone. Terra had left to follow Tenille and pace her all the way home (and I think to make sure she did make it home (Terra is a great person to be able to call a friend)). Tenille finished 7th, and in the same situation I think I probably would not have finished (that girl has heart!).

After watching the women, I walked over and watched the men race a few laps of the bike portion. The lead pack was just three, and Marky V was in it. Brandon was in the second large chase group, which was a ways back, but he looked much better than he had in the swim. At this point it was after 1:00 PM (13:00 for the rest of the world), and I had not eaten anything since my pre-workout banana, so I made my way home, a little more inspired for my return to triathlon than I had been in the morning.