June 29, 2014 - TriBoulder Sprint Triathlon
I finished my first sprint Triathlon of 2014 on Sunday. TriBoulder was a fun event and I finished faster than the time I predicted for myself. The race was held at Boulder Reservoir. The weather (70) and the water (72) were perfect.
For the swim start we were facing right into the sun. This made it impossible to see the buoys so we were pretty much hoping the faster folks led us in the right direction! The wave before mine veered way to the left away from the first buoy and probably cost themselves a minute or so getting back on track. It was quite entertaining watching everyone follow the leaders in the wrong direction.
The start for my wave was announced by a countdown and then we ran into the water and began swimming. Personally I found the entire swim to be quite congested as I was constantly either smacking, kicking, bumping, or getting it done to me. The leaders in my age group took us in the right direction and the swim went OK for me. I was slightly disappointed in my time (17:21) but it was within the 16-18 range I predicted for myself. After touching land I pulled my goggles onto my forehead and stepped out of the water. Next I took out my earplugs and unzipped my wetsuit. Next I attempted to run and pull the upper part of my wetsuit down to my waist.
Once I reached transition, I pulled off my wetsuit, put on my bike gear and ran out to mount my bike. My transition time was fairly slow (2:48). I'm not sure why other than it takes time to get the wetsuit off and the other gear on. Also trying to do this in a hurry is not easy. Perhaps I need to practice more! Perhaps I could save some time by getting a one piece Tri suit but other than that I think it's just hustle more.
The 17 mile bike ride felt fantastic. I passed lots of folks and felt like I was kicking butt. At the end my time was 54:38 (19 mph). I thought this was fantastic until looking at the leaders in my age group all averaging over 22mph. I really don't think I could have gone any faster.
Transition 2 was fairly quick at 1:32. I thought this was good until comparing it to the other men. My time was 74/108. So obviously I need to improve here.
The run went well. I was hoping to be under 27 minutes and finished in 26:39 (8:36 per mile). After getting out of T2, my legs felt tired and I thought for sure I was running over 9 minute pace. When I looked at my watch it showed 8:43 pace so I was thrilled. I worked on maintaining this pace for the entire run and it worked well.
Overall I was thrilled with my time (1:42:56). I really thought I would be around 1:48. For some reason I felt slightly disappointed since I finished 4th again in my age group, 10 minutes out of 3rd place. I beat all but one of the folks I knew at the race and all of them finished in the top 3 in their age groups. Just once I would like to have a top 3 finish.
What's next for me?
5 July - Cancer Sucks 1.2 mile swim at Grant Ranch. (This will be my longest open water swim ever!)
20 July - TriRock Olympic distance Triathlon at Aurora reservoir. (My first Olympic distance triathlon!)
For the swim start we were facing right into the sun. This made it impossible to see the buoys so we were pretty much hoping the faster folks led us in the right direction! The wave before mine veered way to the left away from the first buoy and probably cost themselves a minute or so getting back on track. It was quite entertaining watching everyone follow the leaders in the wrong direction.
The start for my wave was announced by a countdown and then we ran into the water and began swimming. Personally I found the entire swim to be quite congested as I was constantly either smacking, kicking, bumping, or getting it done to me. The leaders in my age group took us in the right direction and the swim went OK for me. I was slightly disappointed in my time (17:21) but it was within the 16-18 range I predicted for myself. After touching land I pulled my goggles onto my forehead and stepped out of the water. Next I took out my earplugs and unzipped my wetsuit. Next I attempted to run and pull the upper part of my wetsuit down to my waist.
Once I reached transition, I pulled off my wetsuit, put on my bike gear and ran out to mount my bike. My transition time was fairly slow (2:48). I'm not sure why other than it takes time to get the wetsuit off and the other gear on. Also trying to do this in a hurry is not easy. Perhaps I need to practice more! Perhaps I could save some time by getting a one piece Tri suit but other than that I think it's just hustle more.
The 17 mile bike ride felt fantastic. I passed lots of folks and felt like I was kicking butt. At the end my time was 54:38 (19 mph). I thought this was fantastic until looking at the leaders in my age group all averaging over 22mph. I really don't think I could have gone any faster.
Transition 2 was fairly quick at 1:32. I thought this was good until comparing it to the other men. My time was 74/108. So obviously I need to improve here.
What's next for me?
5 July - Cancer Sucks 1.2 mile swim at Grant Ranch. (This will be my longest open water swim ever!)
20 July - TriRock Olympic distance Triathlon at Aurora reservoir. (My first Olympic distance triathlon!)
Kickass, Bob!! Congrats on the finish...you'll nail a top 3 some time :)
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