Race Result

Racer:	Charles Corbin
Race:	Greater Hartford Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, August 28, 2005
Location:	New Hartford, CT
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Male 45 - 49
Time:	3:05:48
Comment:	Miserable day; chalk it up as a training day.

Race Report:

Pre-race

My 15-year old daughter, Kelsey, and I decided that the right perspective on this was to have some quality time together, visit a couple of colleges along the way, and practice for the BO (Big One a/k/a Reston)under race conditions. The traffic up I-95 was awful, even with the planned stops at Princeton and New Haven. That said, we had plenty of time to talk, which is always time well spent.

I had signed-up for this race after the first two days of the horror that was the Reston on-line sign-up left me without a spot. This one made sense at teh time becuase it was close in time to Reston and becuase it would give me a chance to visit my sister and her family, who live right outside of Hartford.

Registration

Just one older, very nice lady with a handwritten legal pad of all the racer's names. No race number, just the tear-off portion of numbers from a previous 5K that were being recycled for this race. That and a "Why bother?" goodie bag, were a portent of things to come. That said, I was determined to stay with my plan of keeping this as a "C" race for me, and maintaining a traning pace throughout, no matter how much I was tempted or embarassed into pushing it.

Race

Swim (34:25)

Afterwards, everyone commented on the course beling "long." Maybe, but the water was the cleanest I've ever been in.

Bike (1:23:00)

Get this: the course was 23 miles long, and I turned the first 20 miles at exactly one hour. The next 3 miles took me 23 minutes, which gives you sme idea of the hills on the last part of the course. Plus, the rains came down very heavily throughout most of the bike.

Run (1:01:47)

Was supposed to be a 10K. At mile marker 6, I try to turn on the "jets" such as they exist within this 49-year old vehicle, only to discover too late that the course is closer too 6.6 miles than 6.2. That, along with it being a hilly run, left me hoping that this race was not a sign of disaster at Reston.

Afterward

Despite sticking to my plan, there was no hiding some disappointment. After showering and drying out (everything was a wet muddy mess) and an hour or two driving back, I felt better. IMHO, though, I would not do this race again. I'm afraid that it's best times might be behind it.

CC