Things Gained (and Lost) From the Portage Lakes Olympic Triathlon

Thing Gained #1:  Look how huge my quad is in this pic...

Moving on

No, but seriously, There are definitely a few little nuggets of experience that I gained from the Portage Lakes Triathlon that could pay off in a big way in the future.

The first of these stemming from the fact that this was my last triathlon of the season.  What better way to fuel the long, cold winter months  of training (often indoors) than to have quite a significant PR at the distance as my last racing memory?  That was rhetorical; no answer needed.

Perhaps the biggest boost came when I learned how much I can really throw it down on the bike and not be any worse off for it for the rest of the race.  I was obviously a bit upset that this was going to be my last race and it was only the beginning of September.  I wanted more than anything to go out with a bang.  The last thing I wanted was to leave anything out on the course - any part of it.  So I absolutely drilled it on the bike and once again had the very satisfying feeling of passing a few hand fulls of people and not getting passed by anyone.  My slower than average swim time may have been the culprit in allowing that to happen, but in comparison with the swim times of others, it was not so bad.  In the past, a sort of half-iron mentality has prevented me from leaving everything on the bike course, so it was nice to finally see what I really need to do to keep myself at the front of the race. 

It was also valuable to reap the benefits of a revamped nutrition plan that led to finally having confirmation that I can indeed run a sub-40 minute 10k somewhere outside the theoretical plane.  I believe I was only two minutes behind the winner (a professional) in my run split.

I know that the end of the year has not even really begun to wind down, but I'm excited at the energy that I will be carrying into the off-season.  For sure, the 2009 season will be an extremely crucial one in my development as a triathlete and I should get a much better sense of exactly how realistic my goals are.  Judging from how this year has gone, I would say that it seems pretty favorable, but I still have to settle for nothing less than putting everything I have into becoming a better athlete to have a chance.

Having the knowledge that this is now the distance I must concentrate on will let me further specifically tailor my training to it.  That's about it for last impressions following the last triathlon of the year, but before I forget...

Things lost in the Portage Lakes Olympic Triathlon:  Another toe nail has fallen off.

Cheers!