Crystal River Triathlon Series - Sprint #1 - TriathlonSprint

This was the first time I've ever started in the front row. I positioned myself to the left of center, thinking I would head to the outside to find some clear water. I should have started farther to the left. Once we hit the water everyone started to compress toward the center, resulting in an incredible amount of contact. I'm sure it didn't help that they had all the men go in one wave, unlike last year when M40+ were in their own wave. After 125 yards, those who went out way too fast started to struggle and I was suddenly going much faster than most of the people around me. Alas, this was only 25 yards from the first turn buoy, and where the current really started to get strong. I knew where I was and where I wanted to go, but couldn't get through the mass of bodies that was drifting too far right with the current. I wound up being forced into the buoy (and hit the chain with my arm), but after that corner I was able to get into clear water and settle down in a steady stroke. It seems I was one of the few people who actually navigated well, as I made a line to the next buoys like I was swimming it alone, but everyone else drifted wide with the current. Alas, that meant nobody to draft, but at least I got to swim the shortest distance.

Start farther to the outside since I knew the current would push everyone into a clusterf**k at the first turn buoy. Otherwise, good swim.

Had goggles, cap and earplugs off before I reached the swim exit balloon. Unremarkable T1 otherwise. They moved the bike mount line about 25 yards away from the transition exit vs. last year. Almost everyone, myself included, was stopping, having the volunteers yell (You're not at the mount line yet!) and having jump back off and push the bike a bit more. They had some very good pre-race announcements, like the swim current, open course issues, etc. The moving of the bike mount line seems like something that should have been included there.

Nothing.

All in all this was a pretty unremarkable bike. I stuck to my hydration plan, drinking a little bit every 2.5 miles (total was about 20 oz.). Before I knew it I was at mile 6.5 and the leader went by in the other direction, with a HUGE gap over second place. Passed a few people, particularly those who obviously went out too fast. Got passed by a few, but not so many as I expected. I guess with the 40+ men in the same wave, there are fewer of the really fast guys coming from behind.

The BT standard options for this course are pretty useless, as there are no turns, no corners, no hills. The only times I shifted were at the turnaround (for acceleration power) and I dropped down one gear briefly going over the bridge (though I didn't need to, just looking to keep my legs fresh). The wind was definitely there, but less than 10mph even in the open, so I really didn't notice it for much of the course. I suspect the tailwind/headwind difference in time was less than two minutes, but I didn't hit the lap button at the turnaround so I have no splits.

Nothing, although I may have been able to push a little bit harder given how good my legs wound up feeling for the run.

This went very well. A guy who powered by me in the last 25 yards before the dismount line did his flying dismount, but then walked so slowly into transition that I ran past him (after stopping, unclipping, then continuing) before we even got to the first set of racks. Everything went smoothly except for getting my running shoes on. Turns out that my new favorite running socks hold a lot more water than my old ones. That extra wetness made getting into my relatively tight speedlaces much harder than I anticipated, and astronomically harder than getting into them with dry socks.

Go back to my old socks.

What's this? Why don't my legs hurt? Either I paced the bike perfectly, or not hard enough, because I hit my regular running stride before I even made it out of transition. I still felt pretty slow, being toward the front of the field coming off the bike, but I actually passed TWO people. I haven't passed somebody on the run in since two races ago. Took one sip of water at mile 1 and dumped the rest on my head. At mile two I drank a full cup of water, but never broke stride. The wind had shifted a little bit more to the south, so there it wasn't like running in treadmill-still air like I had feared on the way out. I kept my pace steady and didn't look at my watch until the ½-mile to go marker. It said 21:xx, and I had to look again in disbelief. I pushed as hard as I could to the finish and wound up with with a run split pace faster than my 5k PR. Woot! I crossed the finish line 4½ minutes ahead of my goal time, and was thinking I might have a shot at hardware. Alas, it was not to be as lots of fast guys showed up today. Looks like I'll need to find 5 more minutes from somewhere.

Nothing. Best tri run yet.

Dropped my chip, got some water, got my breathing and heart rate back under control (took a few minutes). Scott was done with his portion of the relay, so we went back to watch for Cville, Marc, Steph and Joanne to come in.

Cville's dad lost my car keys. There was a bit of worry for the next hour, although I had resigned to worry about it after everyone had finished racing. Turns out when he took Cville's keys out of his pocket, mine fell out and under the truck parked next to them. The driver found the keys, and after trying to find Cville (remembered him from parking in the AM), turned them into the announcer. Hooray for not having to catch a ride all the way home and then back up to Crystal River.


Nothing specific, outside of the swim traffic.


I said not on time, but the start delay was less than ten minutes. Post-race activities are nothing special, but I'm not really looking for much after the race, so I'm glad they don't waste money hiring a band or some other waste of time. The sandwiches to go with the fruit/cookies/etc. were a nice touch, especially since I saw at least four different varieties.

Results/Placing includes relay teams.
This is definitely one of my favorite races. It's a wonderful simple course, has a much more laid back feel than any other race I've done, and everything happens smoothly and efficiently. AND it's by far the cheapest sprint race series around. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Final thought: Had I in the clydesdale division, I would have gotten second place. On the other hand, that would have bumped Cville out of fifth. My goal is to get AG hardware before the series is over this year.