Riverwood Golf and Athletic Club Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

A PR 300 yard pool swim for me. I made sure to not push overly hard in the first 100 so I could avoid the HR surge. I caught a guy in front of me at the end of the 2nd lap - he let me go and it was smooth sailing after that. I felt pretty good through the whole swim and was able to flip turn the first 4 or 5 times on the open end, but did an open turn on the end going under the lane line. On the last lap or 2 I open turned both ends because I was pushing hard and didn't think I could hold for that long. Gah - need to keep swimming! My wife said I was out of the pool in 4:47 - up the ladder and out the door to T1.

Just swim more. This was a better swim for me than Granite Falls, but both were smooth. I'm slowly getting faster in the pool!

I ran into T1 and nailed this as fast as I think I can - goggles and cap were already off, so quickly on with socks, shoes, and helmet. Grabbed the bike, and made a long-ish run to T1 exit. Looking at the results I was smoked here - fastest T1 was 19 seconds! Holy cow - I need to learn the trick of leaving the shoes clipped and just running out with the helmet and bike.

Pre-clip shoes - just grab my helmet and bike and go!

Awesome ride at a PR pace. I figured I could do better than at Granite Falls since this course is a bit flatter. I got clipped in smoothly and was a little cautious over the exit/speed humps since I tweaked my bars there last year. Once out on the road, though, I settled in, put my head down, and just focused on turning the cranks. The first section of road is slightly uphill and was had a touch of wind, but I was able to pass a few riders. After turning onto Wendell the road drops away a bit, so I was able to get up in top gear and hammer away. It was a bit unnerving being passed by cars/trucks a couple of times, closely, but I managed to get up to Lake Wendell quickly. I knew from last year this road seemed to continue on, so I just focused on keeping my cadence up and legs burning. There wasn't anyone in front of me for a while, but I started realizing a couple of fast guys started just in front of me, so I kept thinking about catching them. After crossing over Buffalo the surface improved a litte and the route turns a little more rolling. I got out of the saddle a bit for a couple of the climbs and was able to bomb it down the hills before getting back to Smithfield road. The last section of Smithfield was a nice scenic ride, and the fast descent across the bride was a fun ride before the last, tough climb. I saw just before the climb a couple of numbers in the low teens, so I figured I was making good time. After the climb I turned back in towards T2 and pulled by feet out on the short ride in before the winding turns. I made a semi-flying dismount before heading into T2.

Nothing! A PR bike split for me! I wanted to go 39 minutes, and was happily surprised when my wife told me I was faster than that.

I ran the bike in, racked it, helmet off, shoes on, and then grabbed my glasses and race belt for the run. I was only a few seconds slower than the fastest here, so I was good with that!

Nothing

I started off the run feel good, especially after hearing that my bike split was better than planned. At Granite Falls I came out of T2 feeling a bit sluggish, but I felt good this time. I knew the course was downhill to the turn around, so I tried to push the pace a bit and figured I would do battle with the hills when I got to them. I knew a couple fast guys started a bit ahead of me, so I was hoping I would see them up the road, but tracing my eyes across the lake I didn't see anyone in what I figured was a 1-2 minute window. I kept pushing a pretty hard pace around the lake and skipped water at the first aid station. My mind darted back to how much better it made be feel at Granite Falls, but... too late now. I was down the steep hill to the greenway tier when I realized I hadn't seen anyone running the other way yet. I knew the turn wasn't a whole lot further, so I realized I must be doing pretty well when I saw the leader just as I got to the entry bridge. He was being chased by a couple dudes with single digit numbers who looked to be running faster. I kept my pace up while doubt about climbing back up the hills started creeping back into my mind, but I just pushed it away with a "do your best". I finally saw the guys I was chasing coming the other way, so now the only question was how far to the turn. After crossing the bridge I saw an aid station just ahead. I grabbed a water and was running past the trash can in the middle of the lane when I just happened to look down and saw a big orange arrow in a 180° fashion. Woah! That's halfway! I made a late turn and started heading back. Unfortunately the first steep hill was upon me in a hurry, and even though I felt slow going up I gave it all I had. I was pretty gassed at the top, but a swing by the aid station for another cup of water helped me feel better pretty quickly. Around the lake I couldn't spot anyone in front of me again, but I knew I was probably within the last mile, so I kept pushing. After coming off the lake path the trail turned upwards again and just kept getting steeper until the final kick which felt like it was a 10% grade. People were standing by and cheering and yelling good job which was awesome motivation. I knew the finish was close, so I pushed all I could to the finish line.

I was a little disappointed when my wife told me my run time because I thought for sure it would be faster than Granite Falls based on how I felt I did. After looking over the results I was only :20 seconds slower, but a number of people who did both races were 1-2 minutes slower, so I concluded that the course was a bit long.

Nothing - run training seems to be helping.

I walked around a bit to calm down and catch my breath. I grabbed a couple drinks and some snacks from the post race food tent - bananas and pizza were yummy. The volunteers and organizers were johnny on the spot with everything, and there were plenty of refreshments to go around.


Just more training, but at my schedule that's probably not realistic.


I think overall this is my favorite local (to Raleigh) race I have entered. The facility is nice, the bike course is fun (and smoother this year), and the run is challenging. The volunteers here are also very helpful and friendly. Very organized! I hate that the attendance has dwindled, but hopefully it will come back. I plan to be back next year!