Amica Series 19.7 - TriathlonSprint

Another AWESOME swim! I launched hard and held a fierce pace for the first 200m. The swim being only 800m, I didn't dial back as much as I am used to. I kept a pretty hard effort level all the way through. I didn't have an opportunity to draft because there was only one person in front of me and I couldn't catch him. I was out of the water in 12 and a half minutes averaging around a minute and a half per 100m. I am so happy with my swim right now. I will be starting IMAZ with a lot more confidence now!

Nada. I was the second guy out of the water (and not by much).

The transition area was a sand pit with no matting on the ground. Unfortunately, by the time I got to my rack, my feet looked like breaded chicken. I had to take a little time to get all the dirt and pebbles off my feet. Other than that, not too bad.

Maybe stash some flip-flops by the swim exit.

Being 2nd out of the water has it's benefits - for the first 2 1/2 laps I had a mostly clear course. Because of the nature of this bike course, which feels more like a crit race, I chose to ride my road bike. Because of the steep climb, sharp descent, tight turns and athlete congestion, there is not much opportunity to take advantage of aerobars. I am more or less satisfied with my performance. A couple of times on the 4th, 5th and 6th laps, I was forced to slow down to get through some crowded packs of slower riders.

Not much. Mostly, I was a bit fatigued because I am in the peak volume weeks of my ironman training program. I had put over 200miles on the bike the week before and my legs were just not in the mood to really push hard.

Luckily, I wear MTB shoes and running down a sandy, gravely hill is not as difficult as it would be in carbon road bike shoes. I'd say 24 seconds is pretty quick.

Nothing.

My ironman training fatigue was even more noticeable out on the run. Two days before I ran 16 miles and PR'd my 10K and half marathon times. Not exactly the best way to taper for a race. Considering the fact that on fresh legs I have run a sub-19 minute 5K, this run was dismal. I pretty much cruised the entire way.

Not run 16 miles in under 2 hours only 2 days before the race.

After the event, I Hung out with friends and family, ate some great post race food and stayed until the awards ceremony.


Training fatigue. This was not an important race for me. I just want to get as much race experience as possible before IMAZ so my confidence level is high. It seems to be working.


Considering how blah I felt during the bike and run, 1st in AG and 8th overall is not to0 shabby! With the exception of the sandy transition area, I think this is a really well organized race. The post race food was EXCELENT! Also this is the first time I have ever actually seen a USAT marshal on the course!