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Race Result

Racer: Steve Smith
Race: Falmouth Sprint
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2002
Location: Falmouth, MA
Race Type: Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 30 - 34
Time: 0:45:49
Overall Place: 3
Comment: Course shortened due to construction



Race Report:



Just the facts:

Swim: 5:58 (13 OA); winner, 5:53, best 5:27
Bike: 21:17 (6 OA); winner & best, 19:54
Run: 18:33 (7 OA); winner, 17:47, best 17:38

45:49 3rd Overall (winner 43:35, by only 10 seconds over 2nd)

I traveled up to Cape Cod again this year for the Falmouth Sprint triathlon. There are a series of races around New England put on by these folks (http://www.timeoutproductions.com) and they do a great job.

The race is a .3-mile beach swim, 9-mile bike and 3.1-mile run. Sadly, they had to cut the best part of the bike course due to construction. The (full) bike course follows the coast for 3-4 miles, with some fun, tight turns and small hills, before looping around the Nobska lighthouse, into Woods Hole, and then up a tough hill for the return trip. You bike along a moderately busy road before turning once to descend back to the beach road. Most of the tight curves and lighthouse were omitted from the course this year, as was some of the hill. The run is fantastic, following the beach and perfectly flat.

The water was perfect at 68 degrees, and I had a good swim. Despite placing 13th out of the water, I was less than 30 seconds behind the lead swimmer. While I haven't had any major problems getting out of my T1 wetsuit, getting the wetsuit past my calves always provided a little bit of a time killer. In attempt to fix this, I tried covering my calves with some K-Y jelly (okay okay, you try finding Body Glide at 6 a.m. in Falmouth, Ma.) ... And it worked! The wetsuit came off without a moments hesitation.

I blasted out of transition barefoot (with the cycling shoes already clipped in) and quickly got up to speed on the bike before getting in the shoes. However, I futzed around with getting my feet into my cycling shoes for about 30 seconds, losing some valuable time. Something to practice. I quickly passed the six or seven people and was in third place by the first turn (about 2 miles).

The reconfigured bike course was about 8 miles. It's a tough little course, with some tough little hills oddly spaced out, at least for me. I could never really get a rhythm going. I really hammered the first few miles to pass the first group and try and make contact with the leaders. I never saw them on the bike. I was in no-man's land. Bike: 20

As I approached the transition area, I saw the race leader leaving for the run. I fumbled about in transition with my shoes and hauled ass out of there, grimacing horribly as my calves SEIZED completely. However, unlike last year, they ended their revolt before I had to stop and stretch them out. My run was off for the first mile (but my lingering hip problems wasn't proving difficult), and it wasn't until I could see the turn-around that I saw the two race leaders, running shoulder-to-shoulder. That was the last time I saw them. I managed to find some real running speed a few hundred yards after the turn and ran the last 1.1 miles in 5:45 or so, but I came in third a full two minutes behind the 1-2 guys (who finished within 10 seconds of one another) and almost a full minute ahead of fourth. No Man's Land indeed.

This is a really great race, especially with the full bike, and I'd highly recommend any of the Time Out! races. Maybe I would have caught those guys with a longer, hillier bike!

Lessons Learned:

* Practice transitions! I have, and I thought I had the "bike as I put on the shoes" thing down, but race jitters can provide some interesting challenges. I probably lost 30 seconds in transition problems. Just remember: Never Panic!!! Still, that's why I am racing a lot of "B" races this year, to shake out some of these issues.

* No Man's Land sucks! I spent the majority of the race by myself, trying to make contact with the race leaders. Once I got my shoes on I spent all of 45 seconds passing the 8 or so people ahead of me. It's hard to say which strategy is better: OTOH, if I had caught a glimpse of the leaders, competitive juices could have surged to help me make the bridge. OTOH, I probably hurt myself by pushing to hard and then easing up a bit. However, I think the latter option is the right decision in a sprint race; I just need to learn to stay motivated if I cannot see anyone that I'm racing with*.

* Race with people, not against them