The Last Tri

After last week’s disappointment with the aborted attempt of a 50 mile trail run, a little success at yesterday’s sprint triathlon was just what the doctor ordered. The FAST (Fishers Area Sprint Triathlon) consisted of a 500 meter pool swim, a 10 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. The weather could not have been better. It did rain a little, not until after I finished the bike segment. I was faster in all three segments, but the swim and bike segments can’t really be compared with the previous events. The swim and bike courses at this venue were definitely easier and there was less distance to travel in transition. The run course was probably the most similar and I was about a minute faster there. My total time of 1:04:26 was good for 37th out of 246 and 3rd in my age group.

The swim was in a 50 meter, 10 lane pool. They were sending us off at 5 to 10 second intervals. I’m not a very fast swimmer so I don’t rush to the head of the line. A few swimmers passed me, but I also passed a few. I didn’t use breast stroke nearly as much as I do in the lake swims. I’m guessing I swam freestyle at least 70% of the time which probably accounts for my faster than normal time of 12:14. When I exited the pool there were no more participants waiting to enter the pool. Swimming is by far my worst event. My swim time was 157th, but I’m happy with the progress I’m making.

I felt a little woozy coming out of the pool, but I quickly regained my senses and ran for my bike. I had a little trouble with one shoe, but still this transition time wasn’t too bad. The bike course was a 5 mile rectangle with a few slight inclines, no hills, no hair pin turns. One of the corners was a little tight. I pushed pretty hard in the first lap and continued pushing hard in the second lap. I was passing slower riders most of the way. I think maybe two faster riders passed me. I averaged 20.8 mph.

As I approached the dismount line I slipped my feet out of my shoes and in the process came close to clipping the curb. This slowed me a little, but it’s still faster than running with the shoes on and then having to take them off in transition. I racked my bike slipped into my shoes, grabbed my race number belt, and off I went. After all the hard pushing on the bike, I felt sluggish starting the run. By the time I made it to the 1 mile mark I felt like I had been running all day. I was starting to loosen up though and mile marker 2 seemed to come up pretty quickly. Time to start pushing it to the finish. With a little more than a quarter mile to go I kicked it into high gear. Of course this only made me think that I should have been running faster a lot sooner. My run time was about a minute faster than at the last event so I can’t complain.

Sadly that’s the last sprint triathlon for this year. I can’t wait for next summer though. I hope to continue regular swim workouts through the winter and be ready for an Olympic distance or maybe even a half IM next year.