Re-Cap: ROCHESTERFEST TRIATHLON

UPDATE: The results have been corrected and finalized - click THIS

Ok, so its been 4 days that I have had "coming soon" posted here.  I have been waiting for the correct results to come thru at onlineraceresults.com, but they're still messed up.  I didn't want to put something here with a link, only to have said one thing with the 'official' results telling another.  But now I figure I should put something up... We'll start with the real TOP 10 in the Olympic distance Rochesterfest Triathlon:

NAME              SWIM   T1   BIKE  T2  RUN  FINAL

1. Alex Hooke     19:06 1:47  59:00  0:52  36:32 1:57:14

2. Devon Palmer  18:59 1:43   59:11 0:44  37:29 1:58:02

3. Mark Carey     19:50 1:25 1:00:36 0:46 37:51 2:00:25

4. Scott Penticoff  22:14 1:54 1:01:16 0:43 37:25 2:03:29

5. Ross Weinzierl  23:42 1:49 1:00:39 0:39 39:16 2:06:03

6. Scott Marsh      22:57 2:01 1:05:49 0:40 40:06 2:11:31

7. Joe Caturia       23:30 2:16 1:05:41 1:09 40:30 2:13:04

8. Mario Minelli    27:23 2:15 1:01:40 1:07 41:03 2:13:26

9. Jason Sinnwell   24:35 3:05 1:06:17 0:55 39:04 2:13:53

10.Luke Gruhlke   21:14 1:46 1:09:10 0:51 43:06 2:16:07

The main goal for me was to come in under the time I posted here last year, which was 2:19:05 and placed 20th overall.  Barring any issues I figured I should be able to do that as Rochesterfest 2009 was my first attempt at an Olympic length tri.  Secondary goal was to post a top 10 bike split.   I had a bad run last year and bonked, so riding harder this year could mean the trouble in the run, but I had to risk it.  My plan was to come of the bike and start the run slow then pick it up if I'm feeling good.

The SWIM: Messy start.  Instead of waiting for the bulk of the crowd to go, then drift in behind them, I threw myself into the chaos.  I was plowed, kicked, swam over, but probably did some of the same to others.  Its like total confusion all going the same direction.  This was a two lap swim--coming out of the water, running across the beach, then getting back in for lap two.  During the first lap, the excitement had me breathing a little hard, and I had to stop and tread a couple times to catch my breath.  After the first lap, the second one felt smooth and I calmed down a bit.
Swim time- 27:23 (over 1.5 minutes faster than '09)

T1 (where you Transition from the swim to the bike): The new Blue Seventy wetsuit makes for smoother transitions.  I had the top half down quick during the run up thru the beach and slipped it off pretty easily once I was my bike.
T1 time- 2:15 (18 seconds better than '09)

So far, so good...

The BIKE: I started a little slow, but picked it up after the main climb.  This is sort of a lollie-pop out-n-back. you go out about 11 miles, do a loop thru Oronoco, then back the same way.  Just short of entering the loop in Oronoco, I saw the first two guys (who started the race 6 minutes before me) coming out of the loop and back on the main route.  I did the math and figured I was not doing to bad.  They obviously gained some time due to the swim, but weren't that far up on me.  I hammered the rest of the way, but not quite at time-trial pace--I needed some juice if I wanted to better my run. As I entered Rochester, the ground was wet.  It sprinkled a little bit as the clouds overhead decided to cool things off.  As I was in the last mile I was still under 1 hour on the bike.  I knew I wouldn't get under an hour, but thought it was going to be close.  At the last corner, just a hundred yards or so from the transition area, people were yelling for us to slow down as there were several wipe-outs due to the wet ground.  It got a bit backed up and I had to weave a little, but got to T2 without incident.
Bike Time- 1:01:40 (in '09 it was 1:03:27)

T2 (Transition from bike to run): Nothing of interest to report.  I was in and out pretty quick.
T2 time- 1:07 (it was 1:06 in '09)

The RUN: I started out on the conservative side, not wanting to burn the last couple matches in my book.  My right shoe felt pretty odd--as if I was wearing a left shoe on my right foot.  A 1/2 mile in I couldn't take it anymore.  I stopped.  Yes, I did.  I pulled my shoe off--the insert/orthotic was a little crooked.  I straightned it out and got back in the race.  I watched for the people that passed my while I was fixing my shoe, then caught back up.  I got next to a guy that was moving pretty good and asked him what he thinks he'll run the 10k at.  He said "Under forty, trying for thirty nine [minutes]."  I figured if we were moving at a 6 to 6:15 pace, I am sticking with him.  However, I had GPS going on, so by mile two I checked it and found we just did the first two miles at about a 6:50 pace.  That ain't gonna cut it.  I increased my pace, leaving my running mate behind.  I ran solo until the last mile and a half.  Before that, one of the miles I clocked at 6:19 and felt like I could keep this going.  I gained on a young kid who looked familiar.  It was the same kid I met at about a mile to go in the run at Trinona the week before. I say 'kid' because his ankle had been marked with a "17" so technically, he was a kid. I got next to him, confirmed that he raced Trinona, and we chatted a bit about that.  Not paying attention, and not even thinking about it, I slowed to his pace.  If I caught him, I was moving faster, so I should have kept it up.  But I felt content with what we were doing and we ran until together until the last couple hundred yards.  He said he likes to 'kick it' in the last stretch so I said "See ya at the end."  He (Luke--see placing above) left in wave 2, I was in wave 3, so just getting even with him I was 3 minutes up.  Plus-- different age groups.  I didn't need to contest the finish line with him.  Later I learned that I should have ran past him where we met and kept my pace...(you'll see why below).  I finished the run and the race solid, not sprinting, but crossing the line at a steady clip.
Run time- 41:03 (run time in '09 was 42:04)

TOTAL TIME- 2:13:26 (Is that, if my math is correct, 5:39 better than 2009?!?!)
OVERALL Place: 8th with the 6th fastest bike split.

I knew who my competitors were in the 40-44 age-group, knew how they perform, and realistically, figured I'd place 4th in my AG.  Maybe 3rd, but probably 4th.  However, with a 2:13, I thought I had done better than expected.  When the results were posted I was 8th overall, and 4th in AG 40-44.  If you do the math, that means 4 of the top 8 were age 40-44.  Not bad for "older guys".   Now flashback to the run...  Had I only stayed on track, kept my pace I would have taken 3rd as my overall time was only 22 seconds short of the time that took 3rd in AG 40-44.  Could I have ran 11 seconds faster per mile for the last two miles instead of runing with Luke? Ahhh, YES!   Oh well.  A 6:37 pace for the run isn't bad; missing 3rd by a small margin is nothing to lose sleep over; I didn't have any major screw ups (well, the insert/shoe thing) so I can't really complain about a top 10 finish in a race in which a PRO took 2nd overall....  I feel good, didn't crash, and can race again.

Evetually the results will be corrected and can be found here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/ . Then scroll down for the Rochesterfest Triathlon.