The J.F. Hurley Triathlon in Salisbury, NC was a great race! It was a Formula 1 sprint, which consisted of a 375m swim; 1.5 mile run; 20k bike; 1.5 mile run; 375m swim. It was a well organized event and a pleasant course. I chose this event for several reasons:
- it fit into my summer plans
- the run course and bike course seemed interesting and not too hilly
- the lake was described as clean
- it had a low race cap and did not even fill up (some events fill up 1 week after registration starts! I figure those are the high power events that I’m not ready for.)
- the formula 1 sprint format appealed to me because I thought it would be easier for me (mentally) to handle my first open water swim in two smaller segments.
- it was within 2 hours of my home.
The run was on smooth trails and in the shade. The bike was a lovely ride on rural roads with lots of lake scenery. Not many hills, which is always a plus! The swim was in a small lake …the water was murky, but smelled clean. I noticed dirt stains on my swim suit when I was all done.
All in all, this was a great event for a beginner.
Note that on race day, they announced that the run distance was 1.9 miles instead of 1.5 miles. Normally that would not bother me at all, but I’m nursing a knee injury š
Here’s how I did.
Swim 375m: 9:46
Run 1.9 miles: 26:05
Bike 20k: 49:07
Run 1.9 miles: 23:58
Swim 375m: 11:43
Total Time: 2:00:37
They didn’t split out the transition times separately for this race. I don’t know which set of times include the transitions…?
I came in 74th out of 89 in Female Overall results (bottom 17%). In my last tri, I was 149 out of 162 (bottom 8%) . I did move up in percentile, and I feel good about my improvement. I am still way at the back of the pack…and still feeling like a slow fat triathlete. I will keep tri-ing!
Here are my thoughts:
Swim
It was my first open water race. The swim start was not like the Clif bar
commercial that my brother Mark told me about! (I chose a small event with a low race cap, so that probably makes a big difference). The swim start was off a dock. I was in the 5th wave (all women were started in this wave, except the elites). We had to jump in and hold onto the dock until the start horn sounded. There were three orange buoys that we had to swim around. The only place I felt crowded by other swimmers was going around the farthest bouy. There were about 10 women going around it at the same time, and rather than swimming around the crowd like I had originally planned, I just dove right into it. It was kind of fun actually. I kicked someone (not too hard I hope)….then I altered my stroke and just used my arms and let my legs flop for a few moments until the crowd thinned out. I didn’t want to kick someone in the head.
My swim times were pitiful (tho maybe I am comparing it to when I was in high school and swam 500yards in 6:24) I had trouble keeping up my speed while sighting. I had practiced swimming in a nearby lake one time, just to make sure I wouldn’t panic while swimming far out into a lake. But, I need to figure out how to train so I can sight while still swimming fast!
My perception was that I swam much faster on the second swim than on the first. I thought I had done a much better job sighting and keeping on course . In reality, though, my first swim time was much better. I’m sure that was due to fatigue.
Bike:
I had planned on going all out on the bike, which I did. I had filled up one 32 oz water bottle with ice and gatorade, and the other bottle with water. I have a nalgene tube with a bite valve that I stick into my water bottle, and velcro over my handle bars. So I can just reach down, grab the straw and put it in my mouth for a drink. It’s really great. I drank the entire 32 oz gatorade/water mixture (the ice melted quickly). I know from training that the gatorade/water mixture gives me good hydration and energy.
During the whole bike course, I watched my AVS with the goal to keep it above 16mph. For a while, it was even above 17mph. At the very end, it was 16.8mph. All in all, I shaved 7:46 off my bike time compared to my last race, so I was happy for
that.
I’ve been feeling bad about having a crappy bike lately, so I was thrilled to find myself passing alot of people who had a much better bike than
I have. š At the very end of the race, I slowed down for a turn into the
parking lot, and a guy passed me and said “Man you are really good. I’ve been
chasing you the whole way.” š As I thanked him for the compliment, I glanced at his bike and noticed it, too, was much better than mine! Then I felt a little mad at myself for easing off on the final stretch and letting the guy pass me!!! šæ
Run:
My run times were better than my last tri, but not as fast as it could have been, because I know I can do an 11.5 minute mile in a 5 mile race!
But, I had injured my knee running the Monday before the race, so my Run1 time was pretty slow, as my knee was hurting, so I was going easy on it. During Run2, my knee felt better (i love those endorphins), so I was able to do almost a 12/m pace. Funny, today my knee feels totally fine.
I was so tired after the race, that I had a really hard time
driving 2 hours home. I think that means I did well on pacing myself. (no
energy left over afterward??) Next time I will have to drag my hubbie along with
me to drive me home.