We headed down to the Lake Michigan beach and started walking the 1km or so to where we would start swimming. My dad had already gone out and fixed up a buoy for us to sight, which was great. After a day of very strong east winds, the big lake was freezing cold. Very glad I had a wetsuit! Once we were all in the water, we wasted no time getting started. Everyone wanted to get out as soon as possible. My dad kayaked along with us, and JR was long gone. I swam in on the sandbar most of the way, under the mental game that the shallower water would be warmer. Ha! Ultimately, it ended up meaning more time in the water since the buoy was back out in deeper water. On well. Glass-like conditions are rare, so no complaints here.
After climbing back up the dune, I made a quick transition, told Kristin thanks for watching the bikes while we swam, and took off after JR, who was easily 2 minutes ahead.
I quickly realized that I did not have the power in my legs to fully pursue JR, but I wanted to at least make up some ground. I ended up averaging 21mph on the way out, which I was pleased with. The 2 hours I spent the day before battling the wind back from Grand Haven definitely taxed my legs. After the turnaround to head back north, I saw how close Phil, Matt, Tim, and Jeff were. I thought about sitting up and letting them catch up so that we could work as a group (the HHH is "draft legal"), but this is part of my training and I decided to see how long I cold hold them off. Turns out, that was another 4 miles. When we grouped up, I had been solo for 18 miles at 21.1 avg., which I was happy with. We grouped up and chased after JR. It took a lot of short pulls at high pace, but we finally managed to pull him back with 1 mile to go. This meant I would be battling Tim for the win on the run.
After another quick transition, we were off running. Tim closed the 5 second gap in no time, and we ran together for the rest of the way, both trying to concede to the other. Tim had run 25km the day before, so his legs were just as tired as mine. Why do we do these things to ourselves? We hit up the cooler my folks kindly placed out on the run course, waited for Phil and Jeff, and headed off for the last 4 miles. Phil and Jeff dropped off again, so Tim and I ran it in together. In the end, Tim would win the battle of conceding and I would take the win by a couple strides.
All in all, a fun race. I was very glad that my legs held up on the run! Just 19.5 more miles for an ironman marathon! Sigh...
Post race festivities were great as always fun for all the families and significant others to get to relax, eat, swim in the pool, etc.together. Makes the triathlon world smaller and smaller.
A huge thanks again to my parents for hosting, for everyone who came, and to PowerBar for being an awesome sponsor.
Next up: Lumberman 70.3 in Cadillac,MI.
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