James O'Rourke Memorial Triathlon-North Platte, Nebraska

Ryan aka: rplong and I raced a sprint triathlon on Sunday. Ryan asked me to post and he would put it his 2 cents!

Indoor 25y pool for a 500y swim, flat 14mile out and back bike course, and a flat 5K out and back run. 2 divisions- competitive and fitness. I raced fitness 30-39. Weather conditions were cool and windy. The wind was blowing from the northwest, which meant headwind going out and tailwind coming back.

Swim:
2 persons per lane/6 lanes. Started at 8:30 based on estimated swim times. I was in heat 8, I don't remember which heat Ryan was in. I wrecked my bike the Saturday before the race. To make a long story short: I was going about 20mph and an old lady pulled out in front of me. I braked hard and went over the handlebars, landing on my head and right shoulder. My bike came out virtually unscathed. My head and shoulder was bruised and full of road rash...I knew my swim was going to suffer. It did, I swam a 9:47.

Bike:
T-1 went fine and headed out on the bike. I maintained a good pace into the wind and was happy to see the turn around. I used the wind and was able to make up some of the time lost driving into the wind. My aero bottle and bracket worked great. I tossed the yellow sponge thing and replaced it with foam. Worked flawlessly. Thanks IRONWOMAN.

Run:
T-2 went fine, too. I was slow starting out. More than usual, which I think is because I was cranking harder than usual into the wind. The second half felt really good and I finished strong.

I finished in 1:22:53 on my watch; however, my official time was 1:23:29. I thought this was weird, as there was no chip timing, they just ripped off your number and posted it on a board. Regardless, I was happy, as I cut 10 minutes off of my time from last year. I also managed to win my age group and finished 3rd overall in the fitness division. I also finished top 25 if you count all divisions/age groups/men&women, so I was pumped!

I'll let Ryan post how he did...but he seriously kicked boootay.

I did the North Platte Triathlon this weekend 500/14M/5K. It is what I will call my first real triathlon. I have done a few duathlons and a couple of indoor 'try'-athlons. I just started swimming consistently 6 weeks ago and have been doing it twice a week since then.

Swim: My heat (9) started at about 10:15 AM in the pool. I had put down 11 minutes for my estimated swim, because I had no idea how I would react under race conditions. I ended up doing it in 8 minutes, thanked my lap counter and went on to T1.

T1: This is where what I thought was my biggest mistake of the race came. I had brought an under armor tank top to throw on after the swim and wear throughout the race. I had dried off while trotting to my bike and once there attempted to put on the tank on. Needless to say, it got to about my upper chest and wouldn't come down. I got really flustered and ripped it off and just put on my wind jacket on without anything on underneath. Speedplay cleats are not the easiest to run in. Nothing else about the T1 went bad.

Bike: Like Jay said, the wind was from the North-North West, which was the way the bike headed out. The road was really smooth, which I loved. I didn't bring a computer or my GPS with me, so I didn't know how fast I was going. All I had was my wrist watch. I switched over to a easier gear with about a mile left to 'spin-out' as I have seen many people post about. On my way back towards the transition I noticed a man that matched the description of Jay, more on this later.

T2: Racked my bike, and switched to running shoes with no problem. Asked the guy watching the mount/dismount line where to start the run, which I felt a little embarrassed about and headed out.

Run: This is my primary sport so the 5k was no problem for me. Did some quick cadence to prepare my legs to move a little quicker. On my way out, I saw the same man I had seen earlier, and yelped quickly, "Are you Jay?" He looked surprised and affirmed, and I told him who I was. I had had some trouble contacting him before the race, so it was a true triathlon meeting. I held about a 7min pace which was comfortable and finished into the chute.

Overall I completed the event in 1:17 according to the official race results. Like Jay, I had timed myself at a better time of 1:16. If everyone was having that done to their time, then I don't mind, I know what I finished it in. I was in the competitive division 20-29 and got 3rd place. I was really happy with the results and the great time I had at the event. Everyone was really friendly and great way to start a Tri career and the season.

great repot guy, congrats