CraigB

Did the cycling leg of a two-man relay team in the olympic distance division of the Tri Indy this morning. Final, official results aren't up yet, but based on my own bike's computer, I'm happy with my time. 25.4 miles in 1:21:18, including running the bike in the transition area. I was hoping for anything under 1:30. Average speed worked out to 18.7. I passed a few folks, and was passed by more, but I expected that. All in all, I'm very pleased, considering that 2 weeks ago when I first scouted the course I did it at 16.5.

Beverly

Congratulations

berner

Wow Craig. I just noticed your Ticker Factory graphic. That is awesome determination on the weight loss. Andy Schleck is going to have someone else to worry about now.

JanMM

Those are some big numbers..............used to be some big numbers.

CraigB

Yeah, thanks...it's been a long process with a lot of intermediate setbacks, but I'm now in the best shape of my life at age 57 (birthday last week) and have no intention of going back where I was. Don't get me wrong, though - my work isn't done. There's still room for lots of improvement, in terms of both weight and conditioning/performance.

Rickochet

Awesome!!! Congrats!!!!

CraigB

A few shots from the event:

Immediately following the relay transition from bike to run - note one pooped cyclist, and the runner heading off into the distance on my left (right, in the photo):



A couple of shots with my partner, who handled the swim and run segments:





And after all the exertions, his belle du jour got this shot of me in the transition area:



And for fun, here's that same shot Blue-Moonified:

jppe

That is a great effort over that time and distance. Were any folks using aerobars or tri setups on their bikes?

bradtx

Congrats and thanks for the photos, Craig! HMMM, running in cycling shoes.

Brad

CraigB

I'd say that the majority of the 1100 or so participants were on either dedicated TT bikes, or very nice road bikes with clip-on aero bars. Then there were some that were just nice road bikes, and a smaller, but still significant, percentage who had older road bikes, like '80s vintage, some even with racks. And finally, there were a few in the sprint division that had flat-bar bikes - mostly hybrids, but one or two mountain bikes. My formal finish position for the cycling leg, among the 520 or so who did the 40k Olymic distance, was 402. Our 2-man team finished 8th out of the 12 male teams.

CraigB

Thanks. Yeah, the running had me a little concerned until I tried it - it was only on grass, and wasn't as difficult or slippery as I thought it was going to be. The worst part was at the finish of the cycling. I had used up just about all I had getting to the finish, but we were required to stop outside the timing gate and dismount to run or walk the bikes through it, and on through the rest of the transition area to where the run started, and I almost fell down when I had to support my own weight on my legs after getting off the bike. And the running with the bike through the transition area - well, that took two or three awkward strides before I finally got my running muscles under control.

sarals 

Congratulations! That's a very good time. Those are great photos, too. It looks like you really enjoyed yourself!

So - has the Tri-Bug bitten??

CraigB

I don't know that I'm interested in doing tris by myself. It's been many years since I swam at all, and I wasn't good at it then, and running is something I just started this year and I'm not sold on it yet. Maybe if I could find some local bike club or a shop that has weekly TTs, that might be all the competitive outlet I need.

sarals 

There you go!

I find that triathlon with it's multiple disciplines gives me something to work towards. I didn't like running, either, until I started training for my first tri last year. Now, I'm training for a half marathon in November! The swim portion has never really taken hold, except that I do enjoy a swim early in the morning at the community pool. Nevertheless, I like participating in triathlons. The atmosphere, the gifted elite athletes; the regular folks trying it, and giving their all - wow - it's so uplifting.

You just never know how something will strike you - if it takes hold, great, if not...well, you did it!

CraigB

That part of it was impressive to me. People of all shapes, sizes, ages and genders, out there doing it. It was genuinely inspirational.