Spirit of Morgantown

Well I finally got a chance to see how fit I was with my scaled back training due to business, life, and other interruptions. If I won the lottery (which I rarely play) I would really have a chance to see how good I could be as I would work out very often. Working out is not drudgery or "something I have to do" but instead an integral part of my life that I enjoy greatly and helps to keep me in a good place mentally and physically.

The Spirit of Morgantown in Morgantown West Virginia is a fun race and I did pretty well taking into consideration the heat and the fact that I drove fifteen hours to get there and started the race with about four hours of sleep. There were also a lot of Cleveland Triathlon Club members there and it always makes for a great race when you have your local "homeys" to rely on for motivation during the day. My son Michael and his girlfriend Ashley also attended and brought along Conor "the BIG C" Luskin who has been cheering me on for years and always give me a lift when I see them.

The swim went well 39:15 which is OK for me. The bike was a little slow for me this year and I did feel kind of fatigued on the first lap. Second lap I was more awake and I was a little quicker. I was not as prepared as I should have been and forgot the straw to my aerodrink and then like a dummy poured it full of the race drink they were handing out and it splashed me in the face the whole ride and made me sticky. The bike course is really bumpy so there was no lack of splashing. The run was slow for me and hot as hell with a few brief respites of chilly rain that were very welcome. I began to cramp in the first mile which brought back a horrible memory of two years ago at the Greater Cleveland Triathlon where I cramped up very severely in every muscle below my waist for two and a half hours. The worst run of my triathlon career. Fortunately I was able to run through them this time and I immediately increased my water and food intake to make sure I was not lacking nutrients which is what I believe the problem was at GCT. I didn't cramp again until the top of "Devils Hill" which is a nasty ascent that I stubbornly decided to run up the first time around the two loop course. I finished the run with a 2:20 which was very slow and included some walking but overall I was happy with my effort and although not my best I was able to push myself through some pain and fatigue and keep moving forward which is the key at Ironman Louisville which is a short six weeks away.