Race Result

Racer:	Jeff Wolfe
Race:	Reston Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, September 11, 2005
Location:	Reston, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Male 40 - 44
Time:	2:35:09
Overall Place:	163 / 508
Age Group Place:	34 / 82
Comment:	Another Reston PR

Race Report:

Splits:
Swim 0:33:38
T1 0:02:29
Bike 1:07:04
T2 0:01:16
Run 0:50:41

I wasn’t sure how I would feel since I had done ½ Ironman 3 weeks before and this would be my 3rd race in 5 weeks. My goals for Reston this year were simple – improve 2 minutes each for the swim, bike and run. I had a PR at Reston last year (2:39:33) so I was hoping to finish around 2:33.

Pre-Race:

This is my 3rd time doing Reston and its great since you actually get to sleep in your own bed. Woke up, had my typical pre-race meal of a PBJ sandwich and some Gatorade and headed over to the race. Got to the race, got my chip and an easy to find transition spot in T2 and headed down to the swim start. Got lucky again and I had a good spot for T1 especially compared to last year when I was way in the back by the swimming pool entrance. I moved up a heat from last year to heat 4 since I predicted a 35 minute swim way back when we registered.

Swim:

The swim was no problem. I have been working on this now for the last 2 years. I swam under 40 minutes for the ½ Ironman a few weeks ago so I thought I would do around 33 minutes. My wave did feel crowded and I was jostling with people almost the entire way to the turn around. The way back was better but like others, it did feel a little long. I got out around 33:35 which was 3 minutes faster than last year.

T1:
I had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off – this was only the 2nd time this year I had raced a triathlon using the wetsuit. I was out in 2:29 which was a minute faster than last year.

Bike:

My goal was to average over 20 MPH for the bike. I had only done this once before on the Lums Pond Tri last month but that course was almost totally flat. The first loop seemed to take me a little while to get started but I went thru both loops around 22 minutes each. I was passing a good number of people from the earlier swim heats and I only got passed by the “Big Dogs” who made me feel like I was standing still. I biked most of the course back and forth with one guy – I would take the lead on the up hills and he would scream past me on the down hills. I was hoping to break 1:07 but finished according to my watch at 1:07:04, a little more than a minute faster than last year. Still, I think that puts my time right at 20 MPH so I was pleased.

T2:

No issues in T2. I was 2 seconds faster than last year but I had no idea where the run actually started.

Run:

In the past, the run was always my favorite part. I had a terrible run / walk at Timberman so I was a little anxious here. I had only gotten passed one time on the run in my two previous Reston triathlons and that was last year on the track. I did learn a hard lesson this year… if you swim faster and bike faster, the people around you are going to run faster. I was passed about 5 times in the first half mile. I felt good so I just let them go. I settled into my pace (not knowing what that was) and started to pass more people. I was thrown off by the detour thru the tennis courts as I have run this course many times but not over this past summer. The water stops were great, especially the kids handing out cups. After the turn around, one woman started to run on my shoulder and we picked up the pace and ran the rest of the way in passing people all the way in. I felt strong, my heel didn’t hurt but I had no idea of the pace. My official run time was 50:40 which was about 1 minute 10 seconds slower than last year – a little disappointing but since I have had foot pain all summer I was pleased (especially if the course was a little long).

Overall:

I didn’t have any scientific reason for picking 2 minutes faster for my goal times this year so I was very pleased with the overall results beating last year by 4.5 minutes. I still think I can swim faster and I know I can run faster so we will see what happens next year.

Thanks to all the volunteers for a great race, especially for the weather.

Jeff