Spring Sprint Triathlon

The Spring Sprint Triathlon was a lot of fun on Sunday (5-2-10). This race is in the midst of my biggest month of Ironman training. I did a four-hour bike ride and a 30 minute run on Saturday, but regardless, I felt really good during the entire tri! I placed third in my age group with a time of 1:09.

My swim time was 11:44. The course was definitely longer than last year, comparatively speaking, because last year my time was 9:43, which would have kicked everyone's butt in this year's race. I felt like I was swimming faster than usual, but my time was 7th in my age group. I always feel like I don't get a good start and it takes me 25 yards or so to get going, and then I can't catch up to the leaders. Also in retrospect, I think because I was trying to go so fast, I had shortened my stroke which caused me to go slower. I remember about halfway thinking about this and trying to lengthen my stroke a little bit. When I got out of the water, I looked at my watch and saw that it had shut off, so I had no idea how long it took me. When I got back to the transition area, I knew that I was off to a good start because there weren't many people there, but then I had difficulties getting my wetsuit off. Then I put my foot down in a big pile of dirt and got dirt in my bike shoe! Well, I wasn't about to ride with that uncomfortable dirt, so I took my foot out and wiped it down on my towel and then put it back on. By then, I saw that others in my age group had already gone out on the bike! Hahaha!

My bike ride felt really good as well. I pushed hard the whole way keeping my cadence between 85 and 95. I never rode on my aerobars, however, because it was very windy on Fiesta Island. I am a very cautious bike rider (it comes with age), and I do not wish to crash before the Ironman! I also felt cautious because the course was very crowded. My bike time was 33:26, which was third in my age group. This time was slower than last year's 30:55, of course, because of the winds.

My run was the best! I got off the bike and took off very fast. I remember hitting the one-mile marker and thinking to myself that I should slow down because I would never be able to keep the pace that I was at, but I never did slow down. I felt great the whole way! My time was 24:29, five seconds faster than last year, and second in my age group. My pace was 7:52/mile. This is a VERY good time for me, especially considering my long brick workout the previous day.

After the race, I rehydrated, ate a muffin and a banana, went home and ran for another 2:08 at a 10:45 pace to simulate what it will be like running at the Ironman after swimming 2.4 and biking 112. The slow pace made the run easy, but once again, as usual, I had an upset stomach for the first hour, and the second hour was great.

Lastly, Monday's day off from training was nice, and I'm ready to go again today!