Carl Schneider – General Smallwood Tri – Saturday, May 21, 2016

Another bad night's sleep but Jawbone says 6:05 (3:31 Sound, 2:34 Light). Nora was missing Valerie, who slept in the spare bedroom. Woke at 5:05, left with Valerie at 5:40, arrived at 7:05. Cinnamon bagel and coffee for breakfast before leaving. Packet pick-up, porta-potty, bike racking/setup, then wetsuit, then body-marking and finally the chip. PowerGel before swim start and during run. MMTC tri shorts/top, Garmin HR strap, sleeveless wetsuit and clear Aqua Sphere mask. Quick spit before, rinsed in the bathroom. Shoes clipped on bike. Only Aero-bottle with honey & one Nuun Tubular tires at 160 psi, rear tubular no tape or glue. Swim: Downpour during swim reduced visibility, but boats w/lights helped 2 laps. Passed by 1st pink cap (back 4:00) at 2/3 buoy, then the pink peloton before 3/3. On the outbound leg, waves came from the far right, mostly had to work hard and breath every 2 strokes, which I don't practice. T1: Put Fix-a-Flat in tri-top. Put on socks and pre-rolled MMTC arm-warmers, which did little to keep me warm. (no gloves) Bike: Wet, cold & windy. Feet mostly numb that entire ride. Had to hold back on the downhills due to cold shivers/shaking. Passed many, quite a few flats too. T2: Shoes and hat and go. Doubled back a few steps to drop off Fix-a-Flat Run: Few thawed out after about 10 minutes, tingling at mile 2. Passed some, passed by the winners (on lap 2 while I was on 1st lap). Knew that I was running slow, but didn't see any in my AG and lost motivation. Given the poor swim and post-op lack of training.