Login
Reston Area Triathletes RATS.net Logo

Race Result

Racer: Stuart Brandt
Race: Luray International Triathlon
Date: Sunday, May 14, 2006
Location: Luray, VA
Race Type: Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group: Male 40 - 44
Time: 3:24:24
Overall Place: 129 / 171
Age Group Place: 10 / 15
Comment: Tough course, but great first year for this race



Race Report:



Whole lot of negative factors going on the week before the race combined with the guilt over racing on Mother's Day almost spawned a DNS on this one. But being that this was my only chance to race before Eagleman (27 days away) I pretty much *had* to do it. With the weather forecast not looking good, we considered the risk factor of having to stand in the pouring rain for 5 hours on Mother's Day with two kids and a new puppy in tow vs. the chance to get out of town for a weekend...and the decision was that the cheering section would stay home. Of course that meant the weather was just fine for race morning. Grrr.

The morning started on the positive side. As I was walking down to the lake beach for a warmup, I happened by the race announcer who was giving away a $25 gift certificate to the first person who knew what band Ian Astbury fronted. I immediately turned, answered The Cult, and cha-ching...we have a winna. Who says I never win anything at these races?!

After that, it was a pretty typical race for me. A 5/15AG swim (31:36), an 11/15AG bike (1:37:18), and a 13/15AG run (1:11:01) influenced by the kryptonite I had to run through. OK, so maybe it wasn't kryptonite, but it was green and needed mowing in spots.

Course wise, the swim was a 2 lap clockwise swim in Lake Fairfield. Cleanliness and clarity weren't too bad, and temps were around 65...pretty tolerable. The bike was considered "rolling", but boy did it have the false flats. I'd come screaming down a hill (max was 42.5 this race) hit a flat section and soon find myself doing 10.5mph for the next 3mi thinking "man, I suck to be doing this badly on the flats". And then another hill would come and I'd be doing 30 for a couple more miles. Lots of 30+ but lots more 10. Run wise, it was a two lap course with each lap comprised of maybe 1.25mi on grass, .75mi on road, and a little over a mile on groomed gravel paths. I did fine on the pavement, but everything else was just plain rough.