Appleman Sprint Triathlon Race Report
On Saturday, the day before the race, we went to register. After getting a bit lost we found out way to the venue.
Very easy to register and preview the course. Music and people were milling about and I was able to test the temperature of the water. Everything looked like it was going to be a good race.
On Sunday, woke up and got ready. I felt good and ready to take on the course which I had read was a pretty difficult and hilly route. The family got ready, I finished packing and putting loading the car. There is something about getting ready for a triathlon that is so different than a running race. So much gear and the need to make sure you do actually get everything. Being the veteran of the sport (ok, not really this was my second race) I got all my stuff packed and we were off to the race.
40 minutes later we were parking and dragging all my stuff to the starting line. The 1/2 walk to the starting line felt good and I counted it as my warm up.
I was not nervous and there were only two things on my mind.
- Only three port-o-potties so need to find the right time to get in line
- Should I wear my wetsuit
I picked the right time to get in line for the bathroom and continued to wait in-line until about 5 minutes before the race. At that time , the decision on the wetsuit was kind of already made. I did have time, but I thought to myself “Nah, lets do this thing without it.”
The water was warm so the decision wasn’t based on the temperature, but my being comfortable in the suit. I decided against the suit only because I think my swimming was more natural without it.
I was in the third wave and as the first two waves went I got nervous. I didn’t want to panic like I did last time, but something happened when those words came out the directors mouth “Read, Set, Go”. I went into a state of calm. I walked further out into the water and calmly fell onto my stomach and began to swim. I didn’t rush myself and just tried to get in a rhytm and breath. I saw that I wasn’t the last one in the pack and just kept going. I found that rhythm and it really felt good. I did get bonked on the head, kicked in the face and drank a lot of the seaweed filled water, but I was comfortable.
I didn’t tire and actually ran into other swimmers who were swimming slower than me. What someone was swimming slower ? I couldn’t believe it.
I came of the water and began to run on the sand to the transition. I felt awesome. My goal was to swim around 20 minutes (slow , but for me fast). I glanced at my watch and had to look twice. It read 18:30. Crap, I actually beat my goal. Funny thing is that half-way through the swim I thought I could have picked it up and swam harder. I’m going to leave that for next season or my next sprint. Today was all about getting a bit faster than my last triathlon. I beat my last swim by over 5 minutes.
This was going to be a good day. Coming out of the water I heard my family yelling for me. What a great feeling and I was sure my wife was surprised how quick I swam.
T1 was fast for me (3 minutes) and I’m assuming b/c I didn’t have to take off the wetsuite it saved me a bit of time. I felt strong and ran to the mounting area. Jumped on my bike and heard my name. What a nice surprise. With my wife, son, and daughter was my dad. Very nice of him to show up and support me in my little adventure.
The bike course was very hilly, but I really felt it on this day and I pushed as hard as I could, even up the hills. I hit 35mph on occasion down the hills and 20-22 mph up the hills (a few times). I got my groove and felt stronger and stronger as the miles ticked away.
Coming up to T2 I unbuckled my cleats and dismounted and ran to my transition. Of course I missed my row. DOH. After 2 minutes of refueling and getting all set for the run , I was out of T2. I forgot my hat, but felt very good.
The run started out nice and flat and then a gradual hill four about a mile. I did start to feel the burn in my legs and the heat did seem to start to suck some of my energy. I was well ahead of my goal time and actually the bike I averaged 18.35 on the hilly course which exceeded my expectations by quite a bit.
The run is my strongest event and I knew I had to push it. It was only 3 miles. I knew there was a big hill in the trails ahead but I continued to pound as hard as I could. Once hitting the trails I was a little surprised by all the rocks and mud. Once I hit the 300ft climb I realized how difficult this hill was going to be. Hills, rocks, mud and dodging the walking athletes. I pushed up the hill as best as I could. Within about 75 ft I had to stop. I’d like to say it was because of the slow walker in front of me, but really it gave me about 30 seconds to refresh. Once at the top I put on the steam and became to really run hard.
I was unsure how far I had to go but I pushed it. I came down the hill as hard as I could and I passed about 10-15 people along the way. Once I hit the flats, I could feel the burn in the legs. It hurt but I wanted to make up time. I passed about 3 people in my age group and that just seemed to pick me up even more.
I finished in 1:20:46. Strong and 20 minutes faster than my last triathlon. Fantastic experience and I’m hooked. I want to do another one next week, but I won’t. 35 more days until my big 70.3
Interesting that my wife heard that the bike course was 2 miles shorter because the course was so difficult. It is one of the most challenging courses in New England and I did extremely well in it.
Great race.
