Today I competed in the Peregrine Charities Olympic Distance Tri, the last race of my 2009 season. I hadn’t done any research into the race, such as previous years results or checking out the elevation, so I was pleasantly surprised last Friday when I finally got around to seeing that it’s a flat fast course. According to MapMyRide.com, there was around 200 feet of climbing, compared to around 500 feet of climbing at the Capital View Tri, my first race of the season.

The race was very well organized, and started out with an informational e-mail sent out on Wednesday. I really like getting a communication the week of the event, as it actually makes you think the race director is working. All bikes had to be checked out by a on-site mechanic the day before, and they also put the race number on. With many first timers coming into the sport of triathlon, I think this is a really good idea. We also got to check our bikes in the day before if we wanted to, and I took advantage of this.

Pre Race

Transition was open from 6:00am to 7:15am with a race start of 7:30. The transition area seemed a little cramped, and I feel they could have opened it up a little bit more. Another option would be to use assigned spots, as everyone was trying to fit into the spots closer to the transition exit, with more openings further away. Even though there were only about 115-120 people starting the swim (includes some relay teams), we had a wave start due to the narrow entry into the water at the boat launch. This was another chance for a small improvement. The elite men (about 10 athletes) and women (4 athletes) got their own waves, while I was in wave 3 with about 40 people. Combining the elite men and women, and shorting the time between waves from 4 to 2 minutes would allow more waves and less congestion at the start.

Swim

The swim was 1 mile, out and back. Thankfully they had a rope line all the way out so that you didn’t accidently drift into on-coming swimmers. It also made it easier to site by just checking your position to the rope line when you breathed. Of course it wasn’t a straight line, so you still had to do some straight ahead sighting. I had a goal of 24 minutes for 1500m, but the swim was 1600m, so my time of 25:50 was pretty close.

T1

This was the closest swim to bike transition, so my T1 time was going to be (hopefully) a lot less then my previous three (of course this benefit was not limited to me). I ended up with a 2:13 T1, which was still one of the slower times, but I was only about 1 minute slower then the average.

Bike

Starting out on the bike, I had to spend some time getting my gloves on. I decided to put my gloves on, after I got on the bike to save on T1. This was the first time I did this, and had put them on the end of the aero bars, which could have worked better. I think I’ll attach them a different way next time.

There was a stiff south/south west wind of 10-15 mph, which gave us a nice tail wind starting out (about miles 2-6). I averaged around 25mph, but in hind sight, I should have pushed it a little harder with that tail wind. After the long north/south portion, we had some east/west riding, which wasn’t too bad. Again, riding west, I could have pushed it a little harder. Coming back into park we were shielded from the wind. I ended up passing one rider, but backed off from passing a second as I felt it really wouldn’t help my time that much and I wanted to be fresh for the run. My bike time was 59:43, which met my goal of finishing under an hour.

T2

T2 was the same deal as T1, slower then most people, but not as bad as the past. I probably lost 45 seconds in T2, part of which was grabbing my amphipod belt for hydration.

Run

I started out around a 7 minute/mile pace, and was able to maintain that for most of the run. I ended up with a 6:50 min/mile pace and a run time of 40:59, which was just a touch off my 40 minute goal. The run course was almost completely flat, with just a few very gradual slopes.

Post Race Thoughts

My final time was 2:10:05, and I pretty much met my time goals, but came up short on my other goals. One of my major goals was to work on my transition times. Considering this is a goal, I’m ashamed to say I just haven't put in the time to practice these. I really should, I know I should, and hopefully next year I will. I think I will go watch some triathlon’s next year and see what other people are doing different. I have some good ideas, but seeing them executed by others will help reinforce them I think. 

My second major goal was to not leave anything on the course, give it my all and really put forth a race effort. The wind on the bike threw off what little aggressive pacing strategy I had. I also started to feel a little gassed around the 1/2 mile mark into the run which made me back off just a little bit. Looking back, I think I could have pushed it harder with the tail wind (riding north and west), and picked up my run pace a the 3 mile turn around point instead of between mile 4 and 5.

This was my last triathlon of the season, as I don’t want to bike in the cold, and I don’t think there are many in the area left. I will try to fit in some running races, such as the Berbee Derby 10K on Thanksgiving. I’m thinking about shooting for a 6:30min/mile pace for that race.

Final Results (Online Results)