North East 2009 Sprint Triathlon Race Report

So last Sunday, August 16, I completely my second official sprint distance triathlon. I am liking the sprint distance. It fits well with my life as of late - as I can train, work, and take care of my child without too much craziness. While I do have goals of completing longer distance triathlons one day, I am enjoying the sprint.

I was happy with my performance. The weather in Maryland finally turned to the three H's of our normal summer. HAZY, HOT AND HUMID. It was that an more in North East! The water temp was 85, no wetsuits for this race. Thank you CGI Racing for having a practice swim time in the morning! I think that truly alleviated any open water anxiety I would have possibly encountered at race start. The river felt like a bath tub and it was smooth as glass.

The sprint race had 4 waves. As I am in one of the older age groups, I was in the fourth wave wearing our bright pink swim caps. It was a floating start. I did get caught up with a bunch of women at the start. It was tough to get a swim rhythm going as I kept bumping up against feet and bodies. Finally, after the turn I was able to really concentrate on swimming and siting my way back to land. This swim was a breeze compared to the swim I did at the dextro energy race in June. The run back to transition was long, thus I wasn't expecting a short T1 time. I got on the bike and out on the road. I had a bit of trouble getting my heart rate down once I was on the bike and it took a bit for my legs to feel good. It was a smooth, but hilly course. No giant mountain type hills, but plenty of hills. I took full advantage of any downhills to generate extra speed and also try to catch my breath and lower my heart rate. I felt good about the bike, although I do think I need to work on going up hill a bit faster. I would pass the same people going down hill...zooooomm.... and then they would some how pass me on the up hill.... I was poking I guess! It was getting hotter as the bike continued, I was happy that the bike course was fairly shaded. Coming into the dismount, I lost my mind because I unclipped out of both pedals before I stopped. Then I was having trouble trying to stop and dismount. I am so lucky I did not just fall over! There were tons of spectators at this point! I just shouted, " Man I suck at the dismount!" and ungracefully got off my bike and began the run into transition. T2 wasn't too bad. I ran out onto the course and the heat was awful, my legs felt crappy, my heart was pounding. I just did my penguin shuffle. The course was boring. It was an out and back and it was a slow incline going out. It sucked! The volunteers were the best though. They cheered and cajoled! I actually started walking at one point and a volunteer yelled, "Get Moving 361! No walking!" I thanked him as I passed....running once again..... The best part of the run was coming into the finish and my wonderful daughter was on the side lines and ran into the finish with me! That made me so happy! This race had some awards, but no general bling for finishers. I kind of missed getting the medal at the end. It was a well run event and I will probably do it again. Perhaps I'll be up for Olympic distance next year.

750 m swim: 17:15 A new swim PR!
I shaved over 6 minutes off my swim. I think the calmer river helped and not having a panic attack at the start!
T1: 4:27 Nothing stellar, but it was a long jog to go from swim exit to transition and get on bike, etc. Still faster than my lovely 5:18 T1 in June! So I am moving in the right direction.

15.5 mile bike: 1:00:32 (15.4 mph) I was happy with this as it was hilly. It is slower than my June race, but that was a super flat course.

T2: 2:16

5K run: 37:06 (11:59 per mile) Nothing stellar on this run. I ran a bit faster in June, but the course was flatter and it wasn't nearly as hot as this race.

Overall 2:01:34 (June race I was 1:46:55) I will take both! I would like to get all of my sprint races to under the 2 hour mark consistently. But considering how my training went during July , I will take this race and be very happy with it all!

I didn't take any pictures. My daughter did take a couple, but she is away with her camera, thus I don't have any photos to post!

Okay back to the search for pet friendly rental housing that is not is scummy part of town!

Dextro Energy Triathlon Race Report

So here is my rambling race report! I apologize now for any grammatical errors! Here are the silly pictures.

Born Not To Run and I looking tough! Ha ha. Check out my guns! Jeanne is a great cheerleader! Thanks Jeanne!





I seriously need to do my hair color! Ha!











They put your age on your calf!

It was still dark when I arrived in transition!

The swim dock. This was taken on Saturday. The Potomac was VERY choppy on Saturday. Not so choppy on Sunday but the current was strong! It looks so angry in this photo!

I was pumped on Sunday morning. My heart rate was up before we even jumped in the water. I jumped in and felt fine in the wetsuit and the water. Once we were given the go I had trouble getting going. My chest felt tight, I couldn't catch a good breath. The current was tough. The water was murky. I just doggy paddled/breast stroked until I felt better. I even felt like I might not be able to do it, but I talked myself out of that notion. I think of myself as a strong swimmer. I have snorkeled in the ocean, no land in site, why can't I do this! Once I got around the first buoy I felt a little more in sync. I did keep veering right away from where I should have been going, but the helpful men in the kayaks made sure I didn't get too far off course. Now I know I need to work on my open water swim and starting from a floating position.

I tried to run from the swim to the transition area, but I did have to walk some of it. I think I did pretty good getting out of the wetsuit, but I'm not sure what else I was doing for over 5 minutes. Contemplating Life??? Once I got on the bike I was feeling in the groove. The bike course was awesome. It was great to ride on the roads I have driven on so many times and to have nothing but other cyclist around you. I felt strong on the bike. T2 wasn't as long as T1, but still! I got running and it didn't take too long for my legs to feel okay. Those brick workouts have been helpful! I felt good during the run. I may have been able to push myself a bit more, but I think overall it was a good run. I meant to grab my camera for the run, so I could take pictures as I went past the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument and then as I was coming down the finish line with the Capital behind me, but I forgot!

It was a fun race! I am so happy I decided to throw this one into my line up. I was awesome to see the pros racing in the ITU Championship! They were so fast! I was also inspired by the older women that were doing the age group race. There were a handful that were over 60. Many former iron man distance competitors. Post race I walked back to my car (several blocks away from transition) with Mary who is 68. She is amazing. She was coming back to triathlon after nearly a 2 year break due to illness. I hope that I am still doing triathlons at 68. She said she used to do mostly iron man and half iron man distances, but that she really enjoyed doing this sprint distance.

I will say all of the women that I have met thus far in connection to triathlon have been super!

When I get my official race photos I'll post them too.

Here are my stats for the Dextro Energy Triathlon

• Overall time: 1:46:55
• Division: 14 out of 17
• Gender: 142 out of 169
• Overall place: 425 out of 477

• Swim (750m): 23:27 (3.08 per 100m)
• T1: 5:18!!
• Bike (20k): 41:13 (18.1 mph)
• T2: 2:44
• Run (5K): 34:15 (11:03 per mile)

I was penalty free! Now I have a PR for a Sprint Distance. I came into this event without any expectations in terms of time. I just did it for the experience, but I am pretty happy with it overall! I really liked this distance. I didn't feel all beat up when it was over, which is good!