This race, just outside of East Greenwich, RI, was my first Olympic Distance triathlon of 2014. It was also my second Olympic Distance triathlon ever. I was hoping to see some improvements from last years performance at the Monticelloman Triathlon, where comparisons could be made.
I enjoy the early starts, 630 AM in this case, mainly because the races are over with a large portion of the day remaining to recover from the race.
There was nothing unique or spectacular about the transition area. I got there early enough to get my bike on the end of the rack, walk through my transitions, and mentally prepare for the race. One of my favorite parts about participating in triathlons is the excited feeling I get prior to the start of the race. It reminds me most of the feeling I had prior to swim meets back when I was a kid.
Though cold enough for a wetsuit, the water temperature was refreshing once the race got started. Couldn't have asked for a better temperature, I believe it was around 70 degrees at start time. Each wave had about 30 people in it, and I was in the third wave. By far this was one of the most polite swim starts that I experienced in a triathlon. There was only one swimmer, who has a similar pace to me, that I repeatedly "bumped into" during the first leg of the swim. The distance of the swim is published as .9 miles, and my time was 21:32. This is about 8 minutes faster than my swim in last years Monticelloman. I don't think I am six minutes faster than I was last year. There was also no discernible current. I believe there was some difference in the lengths of each course, and I probably took half that time off due to increased swim fitness.
After completing the swim there was a longer jog back to the transition area than I am accustomed to. I experienced no significant issues here, other than pressing 'stop' on my Garmin instead of 'lap.'
If there is a Triathlon feature on my Forerunner 310XT, I should figure it out prior to the next race. The data I pulled from this race was basically unusable.
The bike portion of the event was shortened to 20.1 miles, so technically this wasn't the Olympic distance, but long enough to tire me out. I did not feel powerful, or fast, during this 20 mile ride. My quadriceps were sore, as if I had completed a long ride or squat workout the day before. Neither of which I had. I did not employ my legs during the swim in a manner that would have depleted quad strength for the bike portion of the triathlon. I also believe I had generally good nutrition prior to the race. I'm not exactly sure where that soreness came from.
The ride had uphills and downhills, and was shaded for most of the ride. I was cycling by myself for most of the course until the Olympic Distance athletes merged back with the Sprint Distance athletes with about 5 miles left on the course. I felt like I had to weave in and out of a couple of riders on mountain bikes cruising in the middle of the road. My overall time was 1:05:25, which is about 18 miles an hour. One of my slower performances on the bike, and relative to the rest of the field one of my poorer performances. With the volume of bike training I put in so far in 2014, I'm not exactly sure how I managed to pull this off.
Entering into the transition area for the second time and departing on the run I experienced no significant issues.
I made the conscious decision to bike and run without socks. No issue during the bike. Because the run was essentially a trail run through the Goddard State Park, I managed to get a couple of twigs in my left shoe that resulted in a nice blister on the bottom of my foot. No big deal, but definitely uncomfortable after the race. This run was painful, as all 10k efforts are for me. But, I was pleasantly surprised at my time of 56:14. This is a decrease of about 6 minutes from my effort during the 10k in last years Monticelloman. I'm still a ways off from the 48 minutes, which appears to be the average for normal athletes in the 35-39 year old category.
Overall I was pleased with my improvements in the swim and run. Though baffled by my bike time, I think my overall performance warrants mild enthusiasm as a result of my efforts!
