DMZ Tri Recap

[barney]

TLDR: Very fun. Decent swim and bike. Tough run in the heat. Huge thanks to our volunteers. Huge congratulations to all finishers, especially to our members who podiumed.


I went into the event well fed and well rested. Check. Not terribly nervous, no more than usual at least. My only big goal was to not have a terrible run. Everything else was negotiable.

1.9km Swim: The swim was pretty normal. Visibility was bad and the water temperature seemed a bit high. I could feel myself sweating in my wetsuit.

I started nice and easy planning to hold off on pushing myself until after passing the first buoy.

The swim leg doesn’t really start until you’ve been hit in the face. Within the first few minutes I get elbowed in the forehead by another swimmer, Connor McGregor I assume. It was unpleasant but fortunately didn’t dislodge my goggles. Gave me a nice shot of adrenaline and got my head in the game.

There was a lot of congestion at the first buoy. I made the mistake of trying to plow through it rather than swim around it which cost me precious time and energy. Note to self for future reference: swim wide on the buoys. After the first buoy I pushed a little harder. Things went smoothly. There was congestion at the finish point too which made the swim exit a bit messy but a race volunteer kindly grabbed my arm and helped me onto the platform. The steep incline out of the swim area made any hope of a good looking swim exit photo impossible but I hobbled up and did a brisk waddle to T1.

90km Bike: I got to T1 and wrestled myself out of my wetsuit and into my socks and cleats then headed out to the bike course. I felt sluggish on the bike at first and couldn’t seem to catch my rhythm. I kept telling myself: “Be patient. Don’t get greedy. Don’t look at the speed; just keep cadence above 80 and let the speed land where it lands.” I wanted to average 30kph but at the 30k mark was already 2 minutes behind with a hilly section still ahead so I gave up on that plan early-on. I took nutrition at 30k, 60k, and 80k as planned. I started getting hot so tried to unzip my jersey just a little but it dropped all the way down on its own so I spent about 10k riding with my jersey puffed out flapping in the wind like a parasail. Definitely not aerodynamic.

21km Run: Finished the bike and waddled up another incline into T2. I wanted to walk but our Hana Tri Club volunteers were there with cameras so I tried to look faster than I actually was.

I would rather run uphill into a headwind carrying a wet bag of rocks than run in the heat. The run was, as expected a scorching hellscape. I had a wide brim Veterinarians without Borders hat gifted to me by the good doctor Munseok Kim and so every aid station I’d stick a few ice cubes into it and pull the strap tight. It helped. I will keep using the ice-on-head trick in future races. My plan on the run, a plan I first used on the Jeju King course and have used since was: get in half the distance without walking. Negotiate with yourself about walking after that if you really need to.” I managed to go the course without walking expect for the main hill but I definitely spent too much time hanging around the aid stations. Next year will try alternating long and short breaks at every other aid station so as to maybe trim some fat off my run time.

Jaehee and Wooyong were on top of the main hill. On top of being at the toughest spot in the course they were also equidistant from the aid station before and after. Having them there was a complete life-saver. Knowing they were there I was able to mentally pace myself a lot better in that section of the course. The contrast of the gentle support of Wooyong: “What can I get for you?” vs. the tough love of Jaehee: “Hurry up and get going.” was great too. It reminded me of good cop/bad cop scenes from vintage detective movies.

When I crossed the finish line my ears were buzzing and I couldn’t really focus on much. I’m always amazed that professional athletes can finish a race, a boxing match, a soccer game, whatever, and then give a full length and mostly coherent interview to reporters. For a good 15 minutes after finishing I don’t think I could have told you my street address if you asked. I rinsed off with some cold water and just lay down in the grass and let the ants crawl over me.

It was another great year at Ye Olde DMZ. Hana Tri Club volunteers made it all the better. Can’t thank them enough for their support and encouragement. I was delighted to see all us of all finish and even more so to see Sunok, Eunji, Misuk, and Nayeon podium. Woot!

[성기혁]

음~~~ 우쨋던 you have good job, Barney!

[장창호]

바니 더운데 고생 많이 했네~
역시 하나철인클럽 자봉의 위대함을 느끼게 하는 후기 ~^^

[손홍섭]

형님 후기 잘 보았습니다.
정말 고생 하셨고 수고 많으셨습니다.
I appreciate your vivid review. I read it thoroughly.
You have worked really hard and put in a lot of effort.
Thank you very much.

[김문석]

혼신을 다해 좋은 기록으로 레이스를 마친 바니에게 박수를~
또 모자 잘 사용한 생생한 후기에 박수를~^^

[정규형]

영어 시험보는 느낌입니다,, 아무튼 Amazing ^^

[권건우]

아...그랬군요 ㅠㅠ

[김문석]

윗글에서 알 수 있는 글쓴의 마음은?

1. 건우의 뒤통수를 팔꿈치로 날리고 싶다.
2. 건우를 뜨거운 아스팔트에 눞혀 놓고 밟고 지나가고 싶다
3. 건우의 윗도리를 벗기고 싶다.
4. 재희와 우용이는 서로 사랑하는 사이다.

이정도면 킬러문항이다~~~ㅋㅋ

[권건우]

5. 바니 형님이 나빴다

[천우용]

완전 반대 성향인 재희와 우용의 환상의 콜라보 자봉 이었습니다>_<
T1, T2 빼고 최고의 경기였어요ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
완전 멋진 바니형님~앞으로도 멋진 경기 많이 많이 보여주세요♥