RIM Racing

The last triathlon of 2013 was my 4th Olympic distance triathlon this year.
A little more fine tuning of my nutrition plan with Zola and some gels and a new bicycle seat were a few tweaks before this last race. The HED Wheels which were outfitted with ceramic bearings from World Wide bearings and lubricants from Poldyn continue to impress.

My swim went well, but an area I still need to improve in, and I was able to exit the water in 8th place. My time for this 1000m swim was 18 minutes. I do much better in the transition areas and it only took me just under 2 minutes to get out of the water and onto the bike. To explain how fast this happens, I have to run from the water exit to the bicycle area. I also have to take off my wetsuit, put my helmet on and get the bike out of the transition area before I can get on it. The same thing happens after the bike portion before the run.

The bicycle portion again was flawless and with the new HED wheels, World Wide ceramic bearings, and Polydyn lubricants. I was able to consistently pass other people and ended up being the Fastest bicycle on course with an overall average speed of 23.8 miles an hour. The pavement was also wet because of morning rain showers which made the pace a bit slower. So it could have been a 24mph average in better conditions. 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 again in this race. I love these wheels and the build I did to them. My overall bicycle time was 55 minutes.

Coming out of the transition into the run I was feeling really good and was able to take off. My Achilles’ tendon on my right foot was still giving me a bit of problems and this run course was totally on trails (which I don’t like) and that did not help. I was able to run at a 7:30 per mile pace. I still want 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 no injuries and I will be right there. During the run I was able to judge what place I was in and a few other athletes told me in passing. Also myself and a few others were the only athletes out at the 3 miles turn around. And to my surprise and excitement only one other athlete came back past me just before the turn around.

This was my first Overall podium this year and I finished in 2nd place and only 5 minutes behind 1st place. I was very happy with this result!!! Ending the season like this is awesome and I totally look forward to 2014 and the expectations I have are much higher for myself. I’m thinking a Pro license might be in my future, time will tell. My total overall time was 2 hours 3 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!

RIM Racing is sponsored by World Wide Bearings, Zola acai drinks, Polydyn, HED Wheels, SRP Graphics. 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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