New Town Triathlon Race Report

When I saw this race at the beginning of the season, I told myself I wanted to be in peak fitness and do awesome at it. At some point in the past few months I forgot about that goal, lost my desire somehow and found myself going into this race thinking I would be fortunate to even make the top ten. Sunday morning found me un-enthusiastically getting up at 3:00 AM to make the two-hour drive to the race site.

I really didn't think I would be the first in line to enter transition, which opened at 6AM, but somehow I was, though by the time transition opened a line of 50 or so athletes stretched out behind me. Having studied the flow of the transition, I quickly headed to what I had deemed the best spot and unloaded my gear. Since I was number 178, it would be a while after the 7:50 start time for me to go, so I took my time and relaxingly setup my stuff. I'm kind of a solitary guy, triathlons are an individual sport, and this race was a good reminder of how nice it is to not have someone who needs me to hold their hand while they gets ready for their race!

The swim was a time trial start; every 5 seconds a swimmer would run onto the dock and jump into the lake. I spent the first 10 minutes or so watching the first 120+ swimmers start. Finally it was my turn and I sprinted down the dock and jumped in. I quickly realized how nice a time trial swim start was compared to a wave start where I'm typically kicked and elbowed dozens of times! While it is impossible to say for sure, I didn't see anyone pass me but I found myself passing quite a few swimmers. For having only been swimming an average of 500 yards once or twice a week the past several months, I actually felt like I was having a pretty good swim. Ended up averaging 1:35 per 100 yards, not exceptional but definitely not as slow as I would have expected!

That's me in the background by the water

The swim to bike transition went well, my decision back in June to cut the leg length to mid calf has really helped speed things up! In about a minute, I was out of T1 and onto the bike.

I purposefully have my bike computer miss-calibrated. It tells me I'm doing 23 something when I'm really closer to 24 or faster. Not sure if it really helps, or if it's just a silly gimmick like setting your alarm clock ahead to try and fool yourself you need to get up quicker. Anyways, the course was flat and fast. Biggest complaint I would have is all the left hand turns. A left hand turn is inherently unsafe in a bike race or triathlon, it means you're crossing a lane of oncoming traffic, plus if you take the corner too sharp with an oncoming vehicle it's head on collision time! Despite all the turns, I was pleasantly surprised to see I had averaged 24 mph for the race, my fastest bike split in a triathlon in since 2005!

I had actually thought going into this triathlon that I would take it easy on the bike and really focus on running sub 6:00 pace for the four mile run. However, once out on the bike and having a constant stream of earlier starters to chase down, taking it easy on the bike wasn't really an option for me! Coming in to T2 though, I figured I might as well give the sub 6:00 pace goal a go. A super quick T2 wasn't in the works as a fellow competitor had racked their bike on my transition gear and I lost a couple of seconds having his bike so I could grab my race belt. As quick as possible I was out of T1 and running.

It just so happened as I was heading out for my first loop, Drew Greaves and Kim Earnest were both finishing their first loop and heading out on their second. I considered slowing down slightly and seeing if I could help either up their pace. But then I realized Kim was a full two miles ahead of me and I couldn't quite figure out how many minutes ahead she had started. Since I knew I would never hear the end of it if she beat me, I pushed on, redoubling my effort for sub 6:00 pace. According to my Garmin, my first mile was 5:56 and it felt like sub 6:00 was doable. The following mile was considerably slower, a 6:07 and then a 6:11 and I felt my goal slip away. But I had noticed the loop was slightly less than 2 miles and since I'm flexible, my goal changed ever so slightly: Not a true sub 6:00 minute pace, but sub 6:00 pace in the results!

Final result, 10th overall, 24mph on the bike and 5:58 pace on the run! I had achieved my flexible goal, my real goal I missed having run 6:07 pace according to my Garmin… L Maybe my Garmin was wrong? Turns out Drew Greaves beat me by fifteen seconds and I was only two minutes and change ahead of Kim. I'm sure Drew will finish ahead of me a lot in the years to come and if I'm not on top of my training, Kim will too. All in all it was a great race, I was really happy with my performance, especially with my training in perspective.

Hopefully my mentioning a lack of training doesn't come across as a lame excuse. Truth of the matter is I probably train similar amounts as what others do. Only I tend to dream big and start the season out thinking I'll be running 60 miles, biking several hundred, and swimming 10k every week. Naturally I'm let down when I reach mid season and am running 30 miles, occasionally breaking a hundred on the bike, and swimming 1k weekly. So I tell myself right now, next year will be different; I will build a huge base this winter and smash the competition next season!

Have I mentioned that teardrop trailer I'm going to build after I finish my house?