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Race Result

Racer: Steve Smith
Race: Reston Triathlon
Date: Sunday, September 9, 2007
Location: Reston, VA
Race Type: Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group: Male 35 - 39
Time: 2:00:07
Overall Place: 1
Comment: 23:39 / 56:15 / 38:47 ... not bad for a drop-in race.



Race Report:



I was supposed to be back in Virginia for a family event, my sister's birthday. I left the bike at home and had no plans of racing. I'd put triathlon away for a few years and damn it, I was gonna hang out with my family. Of course, this realization came long after I decided that I was still a triathlete and registered for the race back in February.

Then again, much of my "family" would be out there on Sunday. And my sister's gig did not start until 4 p.m. FOUR! Jeez, I could squeeze in a half and still make it there in time.

So, I borrowed a bike from Dave Glover. And bike shoes. And, of course, a helmet. I had a DeSoto bottom 'cause ... well, 'cause I was gonna do some running and those are my favorite bottoms. (maybe I wasn't a triathlete, but I wasn't a sloth either). So with some borrowed goggles I went and picked up my registration packet on Saturday and showed up to race on Sunday.

So, summary: Apparently residual fitness can go quite far.

The swim split is about what I'd expect for a non-wetsuit swim at Reston. My swim fitness was actually pretty good going into this race. I suspect I would have been more like 22:30 with a wetsuit and a wee bit more training.

My bike split is about what I expected. In that same Mar-Sep stretch, I averaged about 100 miles/week. Not a ton, but enough to keep the edge of my cycling from dulling unduly. I suspect that riding a non-aero bike with non-aero wheels that was not "my" bike cost me about 1:30 ... a 54:45 would be about right given my fitness. I'll just say that to get down to a more STV-like 53:15-ish it would take a LOT more work. Back "in the day" I would average more like 250 miles/week in the six months before my A races.

My run split shocked me. I skipped Reston 2006 due to a stress fracture in my hip that became a problem three-days after my 2005 victory.

After three-months off and two days before I was to start my first baby-steps of a run program (run 1-mile, walk 1-mile), I tore the meniscus in my left knee, doing something around the house). Ughh. By the time I got all that squared away it was October of 2006. So I was 13 months without any running. Ugh. I slowly built up my miles through February and then burned out a bit. Between March and September I ran reasonably well, averaging about 30 miles/week.