Race Report - Wendy's Triathlon

Or, "Charlie Brown vs. the Internal Combustion Engine"

I was looking forward to this Sunday's race. It's a lot closer than the race we did last week, and it's a much bigger race. That means less time all alone out on the course, and the prospect of actually passing some people, which is always fun. :)

We had the good fortune to be in the very last (or first) rack in transition, which meant plenty of room to set up, and no trouble in finding your spot. You'd think that would make for quick transitions...

The water was noticeably warmer than last time we swam at Alum Creek two weeks ago. Meredith and I were both in the 5th wave of the day, which was the largest of the race. After a kiss for good luck, I lined up a little farther out, in hopes that we wouldn't be running into each other during the swim. Better to be kicking people you don't know, right? Even though this swim was only half the distance of last week's race, it seemed long due to the lack of landmarks along the way. It was just a straight shot down the beach, with only two yellow buoys to guide you. Since there weren't any turns, there wasn't nearly as much contact as last week. Other than one flip to my back when I choked on some water, I stayed in pretty good motion the whole way. The only flaw in the swim was at the end - I thought we had to go out even with the yellow inflatable buoys, then make a 90° turn. Instead, we could cut over to them as soon as we passed the last orange boating buoy. (Green: ideal line, Red: me)



That certainly added a bit to my time, but I was still happy with my watch when I hit the split on the way out.

Swim: 14:44

Okay. The transitions are supposed to be the easy part, right? You come out, you change gear, and you go!

For some reason, I can't seem to do it. First, I couldn't get my wetsuit over the chip on my ankle. I should have taken it off first. Then, I managed to put my new bike jersey on inside out. After pulling it off, turning it around, and putting it back on, it managed to get all rolled up, and I couldn't get it on all the way. By this time, Meredith had entered transition, gotten all ready, and headed off with a "Good luck out there!" All I could manage in return was a sound of frustration. To top it off, I realized on the way out that a sock had gotten bunched under my foot, so I had to stop and pull it out.

T1: 3:13

I decided to push myself on the bike in this race. At the OSU triathlon, I was really just getting used to my bike, and I didn't even put it into the big gear. On Sunday, I only left the big gear to get up the park road to the main road at the start, and then up the big hill at the end.

I got my speed up around 20 mph, and tried to hold it there for the first part of the course. Other than a bit of unwanted headwind, it was a successful effort. As we turned south for the second half of the course, it went through some gentle rolls, and I found myself behind...a car! Some woman had managed to get her car in the middle of all the bikes, and was going about 15 mph. That was bad news for me, going 18+.

Are you allowed to draft off a car during a triathlon? I wasn't sure. Instead, after throwing a hand up in the air at her, I hit the pedals hard, and passed her on the left. After a couple minutes, she decided she would pass me, and others, back, and finally got off the course.

The course at Wendy's ends with a fairly good hill, which I was prepared for after riding it a couple weeks ago. After the hills at Deer Creek, it didn't seem so bad. However, when I turned onto the last road, what did I find in front of me? Another car! This time, I cut around it on the shoulder. I wasn't about to waste the momentum I had built up in preparation just because a car decided to be in the way. The hill was fun this time around, because I found myself passing all sorts of folks on the way up. Once up at the top, it was less than a mile back to transition. I felt like I raced this part well - not too tired, but I definitely pushed myself harder than either race to date. I think the course was long, as both Meredith and my bike computers had a much higher average than was listed in the results.

Bike: 54:00 (18.7 mph chip time, 19.5 mph on bike computer)

I may not be able to get through T1 to save my life, but I'm pretty good at T2. I took an extra swallow of my Nuun water before heading out on the run in hopes of not repeating last week's debacle.

T2: 0:59

The run was a little more cross country than I expected. Probably a full mile of the race was through some muddy and rough trail. I went out a little easier than last time, hesitant to push too hard. My body held up better this time, though. I got a little stitch again, but was able to run through it. I know I got passed by at least a couple guys in my age group, but still, I think I had a decent run. In retrospect, I might have been able to push a little harder and still hold it together.

Run: 27:26 (8:51/mile)

Total: 1:39:21 (18/26 age group)

Though I didn't quite make the top half of my age group, I was only 3 minutes from the 10th place finisher. It's encouraging to think that there's that many people in range of some small improvements. I was in the top half overall though, finishing 142/451. By this time next year, I think I'll have a good shot at getting in that top half.