Pic Spocket

Last Wednesday, we headed to Brighton Michigan for my 3rd triathlon race, Pterodactyl 2009. It is part of the T-REX series organized by RunningFit. This is the same course than last June (Triceratops), which is very nice since you can measure your improvement.

This time, I was not alone: my Friend Craig also signed up for the event, and our wifes came for support and pictures: Awesome!! Our friend Sam also joined us over there. It was really nice to race with friends. There was a lot more of participants this time around: 334 finishers!

The whole day, it seemed like rain was about to fall, with some forecast for thunderstorms. The rain actually started just before the race for pretty much just the duration of it. I am glad I had a plastic bag with me that I used to cover my transition gear during the swim so everything kind of stayed dry. I was also very inspired to bring 2 pairs of socks: after the bike, my feet were soaking wet. It was nice to put dry socks before jumping in my running shoes. Besides that, the rain did not seem to bother me much during the race. I guess it was worst for the spectators (Corinne and Tracy…).

I’ll spare you the details of the race. You can check my race report on BeginnerTriathlete.com if you would like some details:

>>http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=171267

The link to the results is below (you need Internet Explorer or Opera). I finished in 48th position out of 334 participants.

>>http://www.tguertin.com/pub/blog/raceresults/090722_Ptero_extra_results.mht

Needless to say, I am ecstatic about the results. I shaved a good 6 minutes compared to the last race on the same track. My biking rank is most impressive with a 16th position over 334 people. That’s clearly where I am the strongest, somehow. I really need to work on the swim and on transitions though if I want to do better.

Also, I have recently developed a problem when running with a band of tissue called Iliotibial Band (ITB) that runs from the hip to the bottom of the knee. I have worked on it with exercises and stretches, and used a special strap for the run. I have to say that my ITB syndrome did not bother me at all this time. There is hope!

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Swim Start for my wave. I have my hands in the air in the first picture. The 2nd picture is after the gun.

All 3 of us during the bike leg…

The run… as tradition want, Craig does a few moves to impress the girls Pictures on the second row are taken a 100 m before the finish line.

There is always a good snack after the race.

More pictures in the album below.

Pterodactyl 2009

Up to the next race…