Race Report: Hagerstown Triathlon

Better late than never, right? Or in this case...3 weeks late.

The night before the race, I went to a party some friends were hosting. This was the second time I've attended a party at their place when I have a race the next morning, so I heard all of the usual complaints about my sobriety and early bed time. I take my racing seriously, which means that in addition to training and resting properly for a race, I also refrain from the temptations of libation 10 days out from the date. It sucks, especially since the summer is a time for cold beers and happy hours, but in the immortal words of Chuck D, I have learned how to "fight the power." Apparently, I'm growing up.

Ranting over. Getting down to it...

I arrived late on race morning, as usual. I hate having to throw down cash for a hotel the night before a race, especially the shorter ones, so I try and wake up early to drive/arrive the morning of the race. Since this course was almost exactly the same as that of the duathlon I competed at here in April, I didn't need to preview it. Of course, I didn't count on the fact that there would be nearly 3 times as many people competing in this race. We parked what seemed like 3 counties away from the transition area, and by the time I checked in and got my body marked, it was 10 minutes until the start of the first swim waves.

Fortunately (and later I'd find out unfortunately) I was in one of the later swim waves. By later, I mean two and a half hours later. The first racers were in the water at 7am. I didn't get my toes wet until almost 10am. I tried to relax and stay focused, but it was pretty difficult. Three hours is a long time to wait to do a one hour race. Many competitors were already done, home and showered before I even put my cap and googles on my head. Having said that, this was really my only major complaint about the race. During my little three hour wait, I happened to glance down at my right calf, where they write your age when you sign in during the body marking. The woman asked how old I was, and I said "twenty seven". For some reason, she decided to write "47", spotting me 20 years. The rest of the day, I received awkward glances from everyone who looked at my "age group". I sure kicked a lot of near-retirement ass. Too bad I can't beat people my own age.

The swim itself was only 300 meters (which is 100 meters less than the average sprint tri). I knew I had the endurance to swim hard and still have plenty left when I got out of the pool, given the short distance, so I hit the laps with speed and shot for something in the 5 minute range. The swim seemed longer than what I expected, but I was out of the water in 5:10, and I ran the 150 yards to the transition area in about another 30 seconds.

Swim Time/transition run: 5:38

T1 was pretty abysmal, to be honest. In my mind, as soon as I got out of the pool I should have been thinking " helmet, socks, glasses, shoes, go!". But I lost focus on the long run from the pool to the transition area, and found myself fumbling away precious seconds. The tongue to one of my shoes got folded into the shoe as I put it on, and I spent probably 15 extra seconds trying to fix it while I balanced my bike. Not good.

T1 Time: 1:12



Having ridden the same bike course a couple months earlier was a nice advantage. I knew exactly where to push, where to conserve, and when to gear up appropriately for the hills. The bike flew by, and I passed several people from the earlier swim waves in front of me, averaging 19.5 mph.

Bike Time: 34:45

T2 was a lot quicker, as I had my cleats unstrapped and jumped straight off my bike a lot more focused than before. Shoes on and out the door in half a minute.

T2 Time: 30 seconds

The 5k run course was also the same as the duathlon, so I knew it was reasonably flat. I also knew I was in better shape that I was in April, but I held back at the beginning so that I could gauge my strength over the first mile. I didn't exactly put on a speed clinic, but because I had to wait so long to begin the swim, I did pretty well running in the hottest part of the day. No puking, upping the degree of difficulty and leaving me with less laundry to do. Mile splits were right on 8 minutes. Good fight, good night!

Age Group: 7/33
Overall: 38/270