Monday, June 22, 2009

5430 Sprint

Well the 5430 Sprint Triathlon came and went with about the appropriate amount of fanfare. I arrived a little late, but fell into a reasonable pre-race routine. Men 35-39 were the second wave so I got an early start, but did end up being swallowed up by the waves behind me. After 21 minutes in the water, I entered T1 and ran up the shore and across the parking lot.

I got my wetsuit off OK and took some extra time to dry my feet and back. I got onto the bike OK, but wasn’t too thrilled about running to exit transition in my bicycling shoes. There are some fast riders in Boulder. I was getting passed like I was standing still, despite an average speed of 16.2 mph on the bike. The majority of the field was going 20-25 mph plus. After 63 minutes on the bike, I entered T2. Switching gear was pretty fast, but as I had to urinate for the past 3 miles, I did stop at the restroom before starting the run. I was already hearing about the various people finishing the race. I was pretty relieved to not have any mechanical issues, but was prepared with tubes, air, and mini-tool.

The run started off nice, but I noticed that I was getting passed by more and more women. For reference, the women started 20 minutes after I did and a handful had already passed me on the bike. My pacing was steady 10 minute splits, but I was starting to get fatigued. Fortunately I maintained fluids and did not experience any cramping or other physical ailments.

Overall it was a great first time out and I wouldn’t make any changes, except for pre-race. I should definitely have less stuff with me. That is, wear all of my run stuff, have bike stuff attached to the bike, and only have swim gear and miscellaneous items in the transition bag. It would have been nice to have a couple of gels on the bike.

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