My '96 Litespeed Tachyon and HED Jet front, HED Disc rear was spectacular. I PR'd and qualified for Kona!

I don't mean to brag, I just feel like the guy in the commercial going around telling everyone he lowered his cholesterol. ;-)

Wow sounds like it was a PR kind of day. Same here, but without the Kona slot! That's great to hear. If I had qualified, believe me the entire world would know about it. Be proud, you've earned it.

---

- Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P. J. O'Rourke

Had you done Eagleman before? Did you think the swim was slow? Comparing times from some guys around me who did it last year, it looked a little slow.

The pro times were slower than last year. I didn't do it last year, but a friend has done it the last 6 years and said everyone including himself were 3-4 mins slower than before. And this is from people who had better swim times this year at Columbia. I'm a boat anchor in a wetsuit so I'll take my horrible 44 min for now.

---

- Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P. J. O'Rourke

The locals down here are calling it a slow swim as well. Having played around in the Choptank just about all of my 36 years, the conditions were certainly less than ideal for a fast swim. When it's flat, of course it's fast. When it really blows, you get some 2'+ waves that are more like rollers with a longer wavelength (or distance between waves) that you can just sortof roll with. But what we had last Sunday was right in between where the water seems to slap at you. This happens with medium wind and a 8"-16" chop. I have always had trouble making headway with seas in that range. I inhibits your recovery, slaps your face when you try to sight, and just smacks you off course. But, it's really great if you can get downwind of someone off their hip or thigh. You just have to hope they are in control of the course. I was in just such a spot until I figured the guy had no idea where he was going. Shame, it was comfortable there in his shadow ...

Steve

I had a horrible time sighting the buoys/boat. Every time I tried, the guy drafting me plowed into my feet! Of course when he got sick of me slowing down and went around me, I lost him among all the women from the previous wave. I really appreciated the volunteer on the boat ramp calling out positions.

I know how you feel. I got a GREAT deal on car insurance the other day!

(congrats on your PR)

---

--------------
Elivis needs boats.

Yeah, but don't tell the other P3 owners that Lance was five minutes faster than Tyler on a TT a few days ago, otherwise they'll all be trading them in to buy Trek's.

Let'em swap bikes, and it might've been 5+ :-)

PS -- more seriously: in fairness, Tyler is riding Dauphine Libere sick (intestinal bug) at the moment, so the 5' in the DL's TT is probably not a completely fair balance sheet. Lance is admittedly raging, however, and Tyler, though often good, was never quite his match TTwise.

While we're introducing empirical info of dubious relevance, lined up right behind an exact replica of LA's TT Trek that the number #2 age group seed was riding in my state TT championship race week before last. 30 second staggered starts. The P3 passed that sleek Trek within the first 5km of a 40km race -- so consider it tied :-)

One of the local tri guys that swims with us regulary had to stop 4 times to clear out his seal mask. That has never happened to him before. I keep telling him he should wear goggles. But, many times on the return leg he got smacked when he was sighting and his mask got knocked loose. He is now searcing for a lower profile mask - not goggles of course.

Another problem that I noticed and was wondering if anyone else ran into the same issue. When we made the turn at the boat and headed back in to the park, we were getting pushed left by the seas and tide. Many of the folks I was swimming with headed toward the wrong set of buoys. That's when I had to drop that nice fellow who was blocking all the seas for me. Of course, I swim with the slow guys. Maybe I should get faster, hugh?

Steve

I noticed people veering left on the return leg, I wondered what they were doing. It was pretty crowded at that point, I was coming through the women 35-44, and I ran over a couple as they cut across my path. There was a lot more chop out by the boat, and then again pretty close to the boat ramp. I started in wave 10, so things might have been different at the front.

Did anyone else get hot during the swim? It was my first race in my new T1, and the first time in a sleeved wetsuit, but I felt really warm the whole time.

You don' think the heat had anything to do with you swimming over the women, do you? Those who you say were crossing your path. Hey, if you can have that kind of fun and still get a slot, more power to you. Congratulations!

I figure if I can just live longer than all you fast guys, maybe I can go to Kona some day. 2068 Headline: "Local EagleMan Participant Qualifies for Hawaii in the +100 Age Group". I wish you well.

Luckily I didn't run over my sister. She did see me go by near the end of the swim, good thing I got the silver top for my T1. ;-) I heard someone yelling to me in T1, and turned around and it was her running behind me.

Joey

How'd you get so fast? ;-)

1 - Secret Training?

2 - Hard work?

3 - Smart Training?

---

Mike Ricci
2017 USAT World Team Coach
USAT National Coach of the Year
Coaching Triathletes since 1992.

Amen, brother.

---

Mike Ricci
2017 USAT World Team Coach
USAT National Coach of the Year
Coaching Triathletes since 1992.