Sept 2013
RIM Racing

The Muncie triathlon was my 3rd Olympic distance triathlon this summer. Now that I have done several triathlons I am much better acquainted with the overall strategy needed and physical endurance. An Olympic distance consists of a just under a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bicycle ride and finished up with a 6.2 mile run. New for this race was sponsorship from HED Wheels which were outfitted with ceramic bearings from World Wide bearings and lubricants from Poldyn. I was very excited coming into this race because of the possibility of a stronger finish then my previous attempt at this race back in June.

Now that I understand better what I need to do before the start of a race I was able to get in a good swim and start at the front of the pack. This helped out immensely and as I exited the water I was the 4th person in what is considered age groups. I was also racing against college athletes in this race, as part of the college triathlon series. So my swim went considerably better than last time and I was able to finish just under 30 min.

The bicycle portion was flawless and with the new HED wheels, ceramic bearings, and Polydyn I was able to consistently pass other people and ended up being the 2nd fastest bicycle on course with an overall average speed of 23 miles an hour. Only the first place overall winner had a faster average pace of 23.8 miles an hour. I was extremely excited to see this result and my overall finishing position. I was even able to outpace several other cyclists with full disk rear wheels and larger aerodynamic front wheels. The Jets 6 wheel offers a great combination of aerodynamics and light weight so you can climb hills easier. And this bicycle course has several small climbs throughout the 12.5 mile loop. My overall bicycle time was 1:06. To put this in perspective my bicycle time at the same event in June was 1:13.

Coming out of the transition into the run I was feeling relatively good but it took me a bit of time to get my “running legs” after putting in a pretty decent effort on the bicycle. My Achilles’ tendon on my right foot was still giving me a bit of problems but it did not affect my run that much. But I was not able to run at the 7:14 per mile pace that I had done in the previous race. One thing I have learned is that you cannot compare race course to race course because they vary so much. This running course has some very long gradual hills to go up and one is just before the finish line. My runtime was slightly slower at 7:38 per mile. I would like to be in the sub 7 min. mile and closer to 6 min. flat. This would help me a great deal in overall finishing results. A bit more practice and I will be right there.
I was very satisfied with the overall result finishing 5th and finishing 2nd in my age group! This is the highest finishing positions that I have ever achieved in an Olympic distance triathlon. 4th place was just ahead of me and with a bit more of a push during the run and swim I could’ve easily been there. There may be one other additional triathlon I can do before the season is finally over for my first year of doing triathlons. My total overall time was 2 hours 27 min. and if I can hold this pace for a half Ironman I would finish under my goal of 5 hours. So now I have something to shoot for in 2014.

Thanks to all the sponsors and all the people who came out to cheer all the triathletes on! And special thanks to new sponsor HED Wheels!

RIM Racing is sponsored by World Wide Bearings, Zola acai drinks, Polydyn, HED Wheels, SRP Graphics for this triathlon endeavor. NE Designs provides webpage support and layout.

For more on RIM Racing’s Mike Morgan please visit www.mikemorganracing.com

Mike Morgan
RIM Racing

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