Looking for a great sprint trip to kick off your season? #gotthenerve is for you! http://gotthenerve.org/ #tri #sprinttriathlon #sprinttri #triathlon (at Peak Coaching)
On Saturday I competed in my first sprint triathlon of the season. I raced my first sprint triathlon in October of last year but due to weather they cancelled the swim portion and shortened the bike so while that was my first this race was my first full triathlon. Here is the race report, if you like the details read along if you want the highlights read the quick stats and scroll through to see the pictures.
Quick Stats
Total Time = 1:46:02*
Overall Rank = 250/438
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 30/41
Pre-race
The night before I set out all my gear, doubled checked everything and packed it up. I had ordered some race gels from Amazon but they hadn't arrived yet so I found some glucose based gels in the diabetic section of CVS. I can't process fructose so my selection of gels, protein bars and energy drinks is quite limited.
Race Day
Woke up at 5:20 and had a breakfast of Rice Chex, loaded the bike and headed to Gretna.
Arrived around 7:20 and registered, got body markings and setup my transition area. Once 7:30 hit the lines got quite long, it's amazing what ten minutes will do.
Swim / Distance 500 yards / Time 10:10* / Pace 2:01 / Place 114th
It was a wave start and when I got to the beach I realize I hadn't double checked with wave I was in and couldn't remember if I had signed up as a beginner or regular age group. *Turns out I had signed up as a beginner which was wave 5 but I swam with my regular age group which was wave 8. Since the waves went off every 2 minutes I subtracted 6 minutes to get my swim time (which matched my watch).
This was my first time doing an open water swim with a bunch of people in a race setting so I started off slow and after rounding the first buoy at 130 yards I settled in and kept a steady pace to the second buoy (about 400 yards) and picked up the pace heading back to the beach. Overall I am pleased with the swim and next time I will start with the correct wave and try to sprint out to the front earlier.
T1 / Time 2:09 / Place 34th
The first transition went a little slower than practice but when I saw my place later I can't complain.
Bike / Time 59:53 / Pace 16mph / Place 254th
My goal was to finish the bike leg in under 1hr and I was able to hit that with 7 seconds to spare. Gretna is a hilly course and my strategy was to take it slow and steady up the hills and go as fast as possible downhill and on the flat section. Overall very pleased with my bike performance as I was able to follow my strategy hit my target time.
T2 / Time 1:15 / Place 137th
My feet had fallen asleep on the ride so I had a little difficulty putting my shoes on and I stopped for some water on my way out but overall a solid transition. I think I could shave off :20 seconds pretty easily.
Run / Time 31:35 / Pace 10:10 / Place 358th
I came off the bike with my feet asleep so I spent the first mile running like I was hobbling on wooden legs, if you could call what I was doing running. The second mile my feet were pins and needles so I knew they were still attached and my left IT band was hurting. The third mile my feet and IT band started to feel okay but the rest of my leg muscles started fluttering and feeling like they were about to seize up. I managed to finish without pulling anything but this is an area for improvement. I see hill sprints and brick runs in my future.
Overall / Time 1:46:02 / Age Group 30/41 Total 250/438
My race strategy was simple. Swim at 80-85%, transition well, hit the bike as hard as I could and hang on for the run. My target time was between 1:45 and 1:50 so I hit that and now I have a baseline to beat next year. My watch time was 1:45:04 so there was either a time discrepancy or an extra wave that I didn't count. I plan on upgrading to the PolarV800 for the next race so I won't have to guess next time.
It was a great race and a fun group of people. I will definitely keep it on the calendar for next year as a great way to start the season.
My wife was on the "Unstoppable Triad" relay team and did the run portion and my mom and brother showed up to cheer us on.
Next year I'm going to see if I can get her to do the whole thing. We'll see.
