 |
 |
 |
|
Race Result
| Racer: |
Stuart Brandt |
| Race: |
Spud Short Triathlon |
| Date: |
Sunday, June 13, 2004 |
| Location: |
General Smallwood State Park, MD |
| Race Type: |
Triathlon - Sprint |
| Age Group: |
Male 40 - 44 |
| Time: |
1:43:30 |
| Overall Place: |
122 / 393 |
| Age Group Place: |
19 / 47 |
| Comment: |
First Triathlon |
Race Report:
DATE: June 13 2004
RACER: Stuart Brandt (new RAT for 2004)
RACE: SPUD Short Triathlon - 0.75K/25K/5K
LOCATION: Smallwood State Park, Indian Head Md.
COMMENTS: My first Tri
TIME: Guessing around 1:43
Goal:
Learning experience in prep for Timberman Sprint in Aug. Hoping for
something 1:40ish.
Prerace:
Left late Friday afternoon for camping with family at Smallwood State
Park. After a 3hr rain soaked rush hour on DC Beltway, arrived at the
park around 7pm. Drove the bike course to show the family what I'd be
doing, set up the tent in a light drizzle, went to bed early and hoped
to stay reasonably dry. Spent a beautiful Saturday exploring the park.
Went for a 7mi ride to make sure all was in order bike-wise. My wife
then went for "a bike around the park" which turned out to be a full
preview of the short bike course. I think there's a closet Triwannabe
in there wanting to get out. Enjoyed dinner at a good Italian place in
La Plata (Gustavos?), set the alarm for 5am, hit the sack at 9pm. Got
maybe 4hrs sleep, assembled my gear, ate a bagle w/PB + banana, and
walked to the transition area. Found a good end spot and set up.
Couldn't believe how fast the time was going.
Swim:
Pleased with my swim. Race started late, but hanging out in the water
for about 30min really helped calm my nerves. Got a good warmup in.
Started *WAY* (too far) on the outside in hopes of avoiding the churn.
Found a nice line to the turn buoy, swam fairly straight, and used the
train of direct-line swimmers as my sighting guide on my left-side
breaths. This worked out nicely. Swim out was very relaxed with only
the exhaust fumes from the police boat serving as a minor distraction.
Swim back was less relaxed as I had to avoid a 2 or 3 wrong-side
swimmers on their way out. Stood up when I saw others doing so (bad
move), muscled my way out of chest-deep water, then ran up the hill to
T1. Grabbed my glasses from wife on the way ("follow my voice"...ah, I
can see again).
T1:
Uneventful. Very deliberate/relaxed pace. Even took time for bike
gloves.
Bike:
Ride out of the park is uphill followed by a quick roller and then a
left turn. From there, it's a great course on quiet, smooth roads. I
had previewed it a few weeks ago and felt very fast. Spent most of the
ride around the same 5-7 riders (two of which road on the left the
entire time). Tried a number of times to drop them, but they always
came back. Computer said avg 19.1, max 36.4. Redlined HR at 178 on a
doubleup hill...poor planning 'cause I knew it was coming but did
nothing about it.
T2:
Uneventful. Again, very deliberate transition.
Run:
Awful. Sucked some serious wind on the uphill out of the park. Legs
felt fine and they wanted to be pushed, but I couldn't manage it.
Feeling that my HR was redlined, I checked my HRM to discover I was
only 157. That's my typical strong run rate, but I was basically
waddling here. Made it to the first water station. Stopped long enough
for a gulp water and a gulp gatorade, then proceeded down the roller.
Up the other side, hit the turnaround, then halfway back down the hill
things click. Final mile felt great, but by that time so many people
had passed me it was a lost cause. I did manage to pass 3 people on
the run, but two of them didn't really count -- one was getting sick
and the other passed me back after his bush visit. :)
Thoughts:
I had a great time and particularly enjoyed (finally) meeting some
fellow RATs. Pretty remarkable performances by RATs this
weekend...certainly an inspiration to work harder. The race was well
staffed with volunteers and well supported by the local community
services. I didn't run into a single bad attitude the entire
weekend...from race officials, to volunteers, to athletes, to
spectators, to park service folks, to fellow campers. Great folks! If
my wife's not doing the Duathlon next year, I'll be back.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|