Race Report - Tri 2 Win Sprint Triathlon

While most of my tri club (TriUnify) was down in Washington D.C. braving the Potomac's waters, I opted instead to head north to Westminster, Maryland and participate in the Tri 2 Win sprint triathlon. This race is special to me for a couple of reasons. It was my first triathlon and it also raises money for melanoma research which means by participating I can give back to those in need. This race has become a staple event on my race calendar and I usually bring a few friends along. This year I brought a couple of my old training partners, Mike and Melissa, plus two new participants. One was my boy, fellow Tri Unify member, and first time triathlete Dustun. The other friend, Sean, I met at a Tri Unify training event I led, and he caught the "fever" when he heard us talking about participating in the event. He was so excited he signed up on his iPhone as we spoke! Sean had been out of the tri game for a few years but after his great experience at the training event he decided to get back in the game. Welcome back Sean!

The Tri 2 Win triathlon is a lot of fun and a good event for those just starting out. The pool swim takes alot of the anxiety out of a new triathlete's first event, and for that reason I highly recommend it for those looking to get into the sport. The event has a wide range of fitness levels, so no one will feel intimidated by the field of athletes, while at the same time those looking for good competition will find that as well. Since the event is always on Father's day, there is a nice family aspect to the competition as there is a father/son and father/daughter competion in addition to the indiviual age groups.

I have been doing this event for about 5 years now and I have been steadily moving up in my age group, to the point I can now start looking to get on the podium. I had finished 5th and 6th the last 2 years and since I had limited training time this year I decided to make this my goal race for the year. After carefully studying my results and the results of the last couple of years I figured I would need to do about 1 hour and 17 minutes to make it on to the podium. After having a great outing at the "Flat as a pancake triathlon" 2 weeks prior, I thought I was ready. Although I should note that Tri 2 Win is definitely NOT flat as a pancake.

The Swim:

One of the victims of my reduced training schedule this year has been my swimming. Since I had less time to train early in the season (due to my future triathlete son crawling all over the place), my swimming, which is my weakness, probably suffered the most. I tried to rationalize that since the swim is only 400 meters in this race, its effect would not likely be the deciding factor. I would reassess this point of view during my post race analysis. So as you might have already guessed, I swam slower this year. Not a lot slower, just 18 seconds off last year's pace, but still, I hate to regress. I got out of the pool and hustled my way over to the transition area.

The Bike:

After a fast T1, I hopped on my bike ready to make up some of the time I was sure I lost during the swim. I had ridden the course the day before, so I knew where all the hard climbs were, and I was relying on all the hard work I had put in over the winter and spring. My cycling has seen a noticable bump in terms of power output and coupled with the new bike I worked all spring to get comfortable on, I was sure I could better last year's bike time. The question was, by how much? I averaged 19.3 mph over the 13.5 miles and while that was a nice bump from last year I knew I had my work cut out for myself on the run. I was going to have to run right around 21 and a half minutes for the 3 mile run to get me around the 1:17 time goal. I was trying to not think about that as I entered T2, because I know the last time I ran a 5k that fast I was about 10 years younger (if not more). I had my work cut out for me.

The Run:

I left T2 (after briefly running the wrong way trying to get out of the transition area) with an ominious feeling in my left quad. I've had this before, it's that feeling you get right before your muscle cramps. It's kind of like a warning signal, telling you to slow up or else! I ignored it. Quad be damned, if it was going to cramp so be it, I was going to run hard, until I couldn't run hard any longer. I was feeling pretty good until I hit the steady 1/4 mile uphill on the run. That and the "I'm gonna cramp, I mean it" feeling took a bit of wind out of my sails. I knew right then 1:17 was probably not going to happen, but I remained focused on maintaining my pace. As I hit the turn around, I heard heavy breathing coming up behind me. So far, no had had passed me the entire race, but I knew now someone was definitely trying. With about a mile to go in the run said heavy breather moved past me. I tried to pick up my pace and stay with him, that worked for about ohhhh 15 seconds, nope he was running WAY TOO FAST! I dropped back down to my original pace and held steady to line. A pretty good run, faster than last year and I didn't cramp, despite the warning.

Post Race:

I got some food, as well as some water, to ward off any impending cramps and try and replenish my energy stores. All in all, I felt pretty good. I knocked about a minute off last year's time, but I was about 3 minutes shy of 1:17. 6th place again. Not bad, but after looking at the times of those who beat me the biggest disparity was, you guessed it, the swimming. In fact, the 2rd place finisher in my age group and I had almost identical splits throughout the race but his swim time was over 3 minutes better than mine! I know where I will be spending a lot of time this winter! After a bit of recovery, I watched as my friends came in and cheered them on to the finish. When everyone was done we traveled over to Great Sage restaurant in Clarksville for a great nutritious post tri meal! Hopefully some of you will join us next year for this great race!

Coaches Corner:

I just want to give a shout out to one of my athlete's (and TriUnify member) Derrek Sanks, who broke the 3 hour mark at the Columbia Triathlon. Columbia is a challenging race and Derrek worked hard over the winter and spring to achieve this goal. I also want to wish him a safe return home as he prepares for a deployment in Afghanistan. My thoughts are with you and your family Derrek.