One week after stinking up the course at the Longhorn Half Ironman in Austin I moseyed up to the starting line one last time to sling a bit of sweat around in 2007. This time it was without the TriDiva of Canada throwing smacktalk grenades at lunch or her whacking me in the side during the swim... no... not with her but, instead, with a few names that reportedly have a leeetle bit of triathlon game... only names such as...
ohhhh just...
Greg Bennet (Olympian 2004, #1 World Triathlete 2003 & 2003)
Hunter Kemper (Olympia
n 2000 & 2004, #1 World Triathlete 2005 & 2006)
Hunter Kemper Meets TriBoomer and TriBuddy
Bevan Docherty (Olympian 2004)
Sarah Haskins (2006 United States Pro Nationals Champion)
Emma Snowsill (Olympian 2004, 4-time ITU World Champion)
and... Aaron Scheidies, who was attempting to be the first blind athlete to break two hours in an Olympic distance triathlon.
These, and nearly 800 others, goggled, saddled, and laced up their kit to be a part of the inaugural running of this championship series (New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles triathlons) race. The pros were going for a gazzillion bucks, and me, like the others, were going for some late season cowbell.
My goal was to finish in under 2:54 minutes, my previous Olympic distance best. Considering how toasted my legs were from the half ironman just a week prior and still feeling kinda creaky from Ironman Wisconsin less than a month before I thought a finish just over three hours was more doable.
But to finish under 3?... pffffft... yeah, whatevah. Anywho...
...the conditions were wickedly windy, warm, and humid. A time-trial swim start with four athletes dashing into the water every ten seconds kicked off the contest. A point-to-point, mostly uphill, bike (I averaged 11 mph for the first five miles... ugh... and over 20 mph for entire bike leg) course was followed by a flat two loop run between the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas.
Except for the small, but frequent, cracks in the street the course was safe, clean, well marked, and supported by the police and volunteers. Well... a couple more delineating buoys would have helped the myopic types like me on the swim. But, we all got out of the lake no worse for wear from choppy waters.
In the end...
Gregg Bennet won for the men and pocketed $420,000 in prize and bonus money...
... Sarah Haskins won for the ladies and took home $60,000 ...
... Aaron Scheidies set a world record time of 1:44:41
Oh, and me?
...
...
...
I finished in 2:45:34... a PR by nearly nine minutes. Woot!
And, with that, my 2007 season came to a close.
Stay tuned...
12 comments:
wow.....are you saying I don't have any triathlon game?!?! wait till next year buddy......plthhhhhhhhh
See what I mean, 'BoomerNation?
This year hasn't ended and already KonaShelly is smacktalkin' for 2008.
Maaaaaaaaan, I love this sport!
Stay tuned...
Let the smacktalk begin ... or continue ... whatever!
Congrats Boomer!!! Way to round out the season!
Outstanding!
Maybe there *is* something to this aerobic base business....
Awesome job with the PR and wow by 9 minutes, that rocks.
Thanks again for carring my Mom and Grandmothers name in the Ironman.
Congratulations on a great race. And your season finish should keep you pumped and rocking and looking forward to next year.
What a GREAT way to end the season. Well done! Now I just need to figure out how it is a man is worth 7x what a woman is worth. News to me!
Well that was quick. That Greg Bennet must have greased up the course for you, eh? Talk about a great year!!
Great PR!!!!
Oh, that Shelley.... you can't stand back and just TAKE that smack??!!
;-)
Way to close out the season with an ass kicker Triboomer!!!
Congrats on a nice finish to your season. I would guess it was because of the "relaxed" atmosphere without having to worry about a certain someone beating you.
Congrats on a GREAT season ending race! WooHoo for a PR :)
Post a Comment