Colonial Beach Triathlon

My second triathlon ever (my first was a sprint in May of this year) Coming back from packet pickup I was walking along the beach when a young man stopped me to ask where the packet pickup was. I gave him directions and he headed back to the beach. I then stopped and said, hey that was a French accent (sometimes I’m a bit slow), I wonder if that was Fabrice, sure enough it was, he and his family were staying at the same hotel and we had a nice conversation. My alarm was set for 4:50 am and I was up and shaving by 4:51. I grabbed my transition bag and bike and headed out to the start, arriving at 5:15, 15 minutes before the transition area was set to open. They let me in and I chose an end rack that had pretty good access to the bike start, and not too bad to the run start either. They were using the new USAT bike rack system which you have slots for your wheel. These have up to seven bikes per box and don’t leave much room for your gear so I was really glad to have an end rack. The USAT Ref was walking around and making sure that things were correct (you must rack your back wheel) I asked here if having my gear outside the box and potentially in the exit path was ok and she said sure and commented that I must have gotten here early to get an end spot. After leisurely setting up my transition stuff, I headed over to porta potty call #1 and then to body marking. Next I registered my champion chip. I went back to the transition area and just chatted with other guys while I filled my two bike water bottles with a mix of power aide and water. I met Tim, a bit younger than I and we helped each other zip up our wetsuits.

The water was on the edge for wet suits (78F) but with past jelly fish problems I went with the suite for armor

At 6:40 we made our way to the pebbly beach and got last minute instructions, that varied from swim all but the last buoy to swim all the buoys and back and forth before we were straight with swim all buoys to your right. This was a triangle course in the Potomac river that would have us swimming slightly up current for two of the three legs.

My goal for the swim was sub 18 minutes and not drown. I was in the second wave, of three, and the starter was desperately trying to get us in the water on time. I think we made it and before I knew we were off and thrashing. The swim was not as rough as I thought, I did get a couple of slaps but nothing like the war stories I had heard about. It was crowded at the first turn, much like at a sailing regatta with people coming in at all angles and cutting each other out, but after that the field seemed to thin out a tad. No jelly fish were spotted or even felt. I exited the water and into T1 with a swim time of 15:38 well below my plan and I actually think I could have swam this a little harder. I saw Reese as I got out of the water and crossed the timing matt, and I saw Suzanne near my bike.

Racing into T1 and getting the top part of the wet suit off went well, and I had a pretty good transition except for loosing a sock for a brief instant my T1 time was 1:50 which is 10 seconds faster than my last Tri.

Now I’m on the bike and boy is it different than the last Tri. Much more crowded and a lot more competitive! Going out I had a SUV on my left and I kept hoping that it would pass except with all the bikes (2-3 across) I assumed it was having a hard time. Then the SUV passed and slowed behind another bike group. As it passed I noticed it was the USAT Ref and she was actually taping the bikes with her camera phone. I assume she was document drafting penalties. With the congestion I was wondering if I would get a penalty so I tried really hard to not draft, but also wanted to go at my own pace. I ended up not being assessed with a penalty so I must have been doing something right.

I thought the bike was fun but was not mentally prepared for how much the course rolled. I thought it would be much flatter. At the turn around I took a ClifShot. I really didn’t notice anyone else taking any nutrition, but I want to take no chances with not having enough energy for the run. At about the 18 mile mark my upper hamstrings were a bit sore so I stood a few times to stretch them out which seemed to work. It was some nice country side but a bit lonely as well. I got passed a few times but also did a fair share of passing myself. Coming back to the transition area was a bit like being in the Tour De France, Lots of cowbells and cheering, made me feel like a star. I saw Suzanne and Reese which was really fun.

Back at the bike rack, someone put their bike into my slot which really screwed up my area, I now had to take the next rack in which puts my bike directly on top of someone else’s gear! I wasn’t sure what I should do so I tried to move the gear a bit so he could still get to it but this really bothered my and slowed me down by 20 seconds or so. Should I have moved the bike in error to the proper slot and rack my bike in t he proper slot? This would have taken much more time, but what was I ethically to do? I hoped I didn’t mess up the next guy and transitioned into running gear. T2 time 1:39, 37 seconds slower than my last Tri, but not too bad considering the bike rack situation.

The First half mile of the run felt rough as usual but the crowd was very encouraging, and I seemed to get up to speed fairly well. I began to pick off other runners, being passed just one time by a young woman who was really moving! At about the 3 mile mark Tim passed my so I just tried to keep his shirt in sight, I saw Suzanne and Rees three times on the run, once just before mile 1 which was a surprise, then at the end of the peninsula at mile 1.8 and lastly at the 3.1 mile turn around. Seeing them really meant a lot tome and also kept me focused at the task on hand. I saw Fabrice fly past me gong the opposite direction a good 1.5-2 miles a head of me Keeping to my nutrition plan, I took a ClifShot just before the 4 mile water stop and started to reel Tim in. I think I spotted JeffW in his trirat jersey, I shouted out Go RAT, because in my O2 depleted state I couldn’t remember his name! I passed him focused on the next shirt. At the 5 mile mark I picked it up a bit but not too much so I could save for the final sprint. With just a half mile to go I picked it up a bit more and then at the last turn and into the final stretch I sprinted as fast as I could. Crossing the finish I had no idea of my time, there was no clock!! My run time was 44:51 a new 10K PR by 1 second,(I’ll take it !)

Final overall results: Total time 2:14:10.75 just about 16 minutes faster than I hoped. I was 6th in my age group 87th overall and the 77th male to finish.

Hugely happy with this “Day at the Office”!!!!

important edit, both the swim and the run courses were not as advertised, the swim ended up at 800 meters and the run was measured to be 6.0 miles. Still a good day for me but no PRs which is a tad disappointing. I wish there was more truth in advertising as the website lead me to believe differently

Becasue I "Tri"

So my latest endeavor is triathlon. I completed my first tri, a sprint on May 20, 1007 and I have to say I have found a sport to beat all others. This is so much fun, I can't wait until I do another, which will be on July 15 at the colonial Beach Triathlon. I am signed up for another on Sept 9, 2007 and will do the run portion of a triathlon relay the following week at SAVGEMAN!!!

Check back next week for a race report from Colonial Beach!