Sprint Tri #1 - Race Report

I got up early Saturday morning to close up the house, pack the car, get my gear ready, eat breakfast and drive to the race location. It was a nice looking day with few clouds and no rain, finally!


After the hour drive to Williams Lake in Rosendale, I spent some time walking Chief and getting ready for the race. It was a low key affair in a really beautiful location: the old Williams Lake Resort.


I got in a 10minute swim warm up and felt pretty good considering: #1, I had not been swimming since St. Croix; and, #2 this was my first time in my wetsuit since Alcatraz last June.


We lined up on the dock for a pre-race briefing and then it was a diving start off the dock. I lined up next to a gentleman who looked to be a good swimmer and seemed to be the one everyone had their eyes on as the top swimmer. The horn sounded and in we went; I surfaced and quickly took the lead although I could feel someone on my feet.


At the first buoy I could look over and see that I had gaped the field with one other person. I could feel my shoulders starting to heat up and fatigue from the lack of training, but I managed to power to shore and out of the water neck and neck with the gentleman I started next to - .5mile swim 9:41.


T1 was just plain silly...I was lightheaded from the swim and must have looked like an escaped mental patient in a straight jacket trying to free myself from my wetsuit...note to self: practice wetsuit removal!!!


I finally escaped the black neoprene hell and got out on my bike about :15 behind my swim buddy. I put the hammer down, quickly made the pass and set into a good rhythm. I was soon passed by a guy who was smoking on the bike; I kept on him the best I could and had realized that I had a gearing issue and could not shift into my lower 4 gears. So, on the downhill sections I would lose some ground as I would spin out of the gears I had available.

Into T2, I had a great flying dismount and into my running shoes, had to be less than :15 seconds into T2, certainly made up a little for the T1 fiasco.

The legs felt a little heavy heading out on the run, but that was in part due to the slight incline that greeted us right out of transition. I felt much better once we hit the jeep trails and some flat terrain. I really had a good cadence going and could see the #1 position about 200 yards down the trail. About a mile into the run, a came around a bend and my ankle did the twist and pop on a rock and some mud. I was startled and hobbled for the next 100 yards wondering if I should stop, but as I kept on pace my ankle loosened up and here was little pain...onward.

My pace probably dropped a bit and I knew that the guy ahead of me had turned on the gas once he saw me closing in on him earlier. I kept a strong effort to the line and finished in 2nd place; 1st place in my age group.

A great training race, other than the ankle misstep, but felt really good about my effort and all disciplines; just need to work on T1.

I'll be putting the Tuesday night bike race on hold this week as I rest my ankle and look forward to another sprint tri on Father's Day.
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