Sprint Triathlon at Vistancia - Triathlon

The swim at this event is always (at least in the two years I have done it) chaotic. To compress time for the organizers, slower swimmers are started first, which means that the more skittish swimmers have faster people swimming over top of them and faster swimmers are frustrated with trying to get around slower swimmers. I just got in line and figured I would deal with it as well as possible. Just getting in line without much regard to self-seeding placed me in the first ¼ to ½ of the group, so I was one of the earlier people in the water. It’s a very short swim with a gap in the middle where you have to exit and go back to the start, so times are going to be a little erratic no matter what. For something so short, people aren’t going to gain or lose a bunch of time so it’s best to just get in and get it over with. I got a little out of breath trying to sprint and catch people at walls to pass them, but it was brief and just enough time to get wet and get the blood moving.

Exiting the pool and getting to the transition area was included in the swim time, so the swim time is a little long and the transition time is a little short. I was fairly efficient, though.

The nice thing about this event is that the bike is disproportionately long compared to the swim and run. The bike is longer than a normal sprint, the swim shorter, and the run the same. That plays well to my strength and helps me finish higher up in the overall group. Since I have trained pretty well on the bike and rode well a couple of weeks ago at SuperSeal, with an expected field between 100-150 people, I thought maybe if I pushed it I might be able to finish in the top 15 for the bike leg. Since I was getting out of the swim before most people, I would at least have a fairly clean bike course to ride, at least for the first loop. That can work either way – sometimes you go faster if there are people ahead to chase, and sometimes having to navigate around people slows you down.
I finished the first loop in 14 minutes or so. It was a good sign since it was much faster than the 17 minute loops I rode last year. I would try to maintain it for the next two loops and see where it put me when the results got posted. I kept passing people – a combination of swimmers who got out of the water before I did and people who were a loop behind me. Based on the number of people who swam before I did, and the number I had passed, I knew there would only be a handful of people who would get off the bike before I would.
I kept up the pace and rolled into transition in 42 minutes and change. I looked around and could count the number of bikes in the transition area on one hand. I was going to be one of the first people on the run course. I had turned in a good ride, but would have to wait until later to find out how good. I was very happy when the results were published. I finished 4th on the bike out of the 146 people in the event, and my average speed was 23.25 miles per hour. These are results that I will carry with me as points of pride.

After the thrill of the bike leg, I was anxious to start running. So anxious, in fact, that I took off with my bike gloves still on. I had to carry them for the entire run.

I have had many a decent day ruined by a slow run, so I kept reminding myself that it is only 3.1 miles – keep pushing as much as possible, and don’t relax. Race it, don’t just finish it. I was a little curious to see how many people I would count on the course ahead of me, and how many people coming from behind I would have to hold off. It is worth noting that where I stood in relation to other people on the course was not relevant to finishing order since everyone started at different times due to the pool swim. I was having a good race but not THAT good.
I only counted three people before I arrived at the turnaround, so if I could maintain my position, I would be one of the first people done. After I turned around, I could see a lot of people approaching that I would need to hold off. I would have to hustle to keep from being passed by too many. With about a quarter of a mile left, someone did pass me, but that was all. I crossed the finish line having maintained about 8:30 miles, which is great for me, considering the hills on the course. Once again, I would have to wait until later to see where that placed me overall.
Later in the afternoon, when the results went online, I was able to assess. I finished 25th overall, which I am thrilled with in a field of close to 150. The age group ranking is interesting. In typical USAT races, your age is considered to be the age you turn during that year, which means that I am considered 45 this year and race in the 45-49 age group. However, in this particular event, they don’t follow USAT rules – they go by current age. Therefore, I was still in the 40-44 group. It ended up being a little disappointing, since I finished 7th in the 40-44 group. The same time would have placed me 3rd in 45-49, so that ruling meant that I missed out on an award. It was a very good day nonetheless. I finished 12 minutes ahead of last year’s time – an eternity for a sprint race, and I feel like I am gaining a little bit of momentum for the season ahead.

I did not stick around after the race. I just picked everything up, went out the side of transition and to the car. As everything else with this race, it was pretty simple.


This is a fun race and a nice course. The field is pretty competitive for a local sprint, since a lot of folks use this one as an early season tune up.