Well nothing glamorous or wonderful about this race. Nothing to inspirational happened like the first one. Things tend to become less exciting after the first BIG thing, but I still had a blast and did better than I did last time. I ended up with 5th in my division out of 8, which I am still very happy with. Everyone in my division around me finished within 5 minutes, so I know I am on par with where I need to be. I am not doing to bad considering it is the first real athletic thing I have ever done. Most of my times improved and with a longer course I still managed to stay under my goal of an hour and 25 minutes, with an hour and 24 minutes: Indian Springs Mistletoe Swim Time - 0:16:12.232 0:15:57.637 Transition 1 - 0:01:24.595 0:02:17.179 Bike - 0:40:48.945 0:37:13.323 Transition 2 - 0:00:32.879 0:00:59.345 Run - 0:25:23.279 0:27.06.536 Overall - 1:24:21.930 1:23:34.020 Most of the race went pretty good, got up on time for this one and got there 2 hours before the race. Did not have a cheering section this time, which was all right, no big deal. The sport really is not a spectator sport, it is an individual sport and what you can do personally. The swim portion I was hyped and ready for it, but once I got out of the water I was sure that I was the last one out in my division. But after reviewing the time tables I found out I was the third person in my division out of the water. The longer and more difficult path up to the bikes than last time I believe to be the reason why there was a negative difference in my swim times. This bike course was 1.2 miles longer than the last one and had speed bumps near the start and finish. These did not slow me down to much, but caused me to loose a water bottle at the beginning of the ride. I also encountered something new for a bike ride, a Charlie horse after about 4 miles into the ride. I had to stop, rub it out, and shake it off, which slowed me down a couple of minutes. I will say this though, pretty much everyone that passed me asked if I was all right, now I don�t know how quick they would be to stop, but I am thankful for the thought. The rest of the race was uneventful, I feel I completed the run portion with a lot more ease and a lot stronger than my first race. My next race is in 2 months, unless I find another one to compete in. This leaves me loads of time to train and pull off a superb finish to the Tri The Parks race series. Thanks everyone for thinking about me and giving me the support I need. Gene Lary Jr.
