Reston Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

my wife was starting right behind me and is an excellent swimmer. she routinely beats me in the pool, but for some reason (a combination of wetsuits and good luck) i have been able to beat her in races. i knew she was gunning for me this time so i had to swim well. i had to pass 1 guy, but other than that i had mostly open water. my first 50 was pretty fast, but then i could tell i was slowing. i could tell she was gaining and with 50 meters to go, she was right on me drafting. i took the right side of the lane so i could take the ladder and sprinted the last 50. so in the end, she had a better swim time, but i was able to keep from getting passed. i think that's a fair trade.

my goggles always fill with water on the first push off the wall in pool swim races. maybe i'm over-excited or maybe i always look up to see how much of a gap i have to the next swimmer. i need to work on that. otherwise happy with swim.

great t1. first in AG. running and jumping on bike was especially smooth.

nothing.

i think the course was short. probably ~11.5 and so my average was in the mid 21's. pretty uneventful bike. 2 guys passed me early and then i never saw any of the leaders after that.
it was a good course and i went pretty hard the entire ride. i usually give up a lot of time on the bike and after going down on the bike earlier in the week, i've had some sub-par rides over the last few days. i was happy that i was able to snap out of it and post a good ride.

nothing. very happy with ride.

i overestimated the distance between the turn off and the transition area, so i didn't have time to get both my shoes off. i only got the right one off so i had to run through t2 with one bare foot and one bike shoe. didn't really slow me sown though. had a solid t2 and 1st in my AG again.

take off shoes earlier.

i felt good but tentative at the start of the run. i hadn't run more than 1/4mile since my bike wreck, so i thought i would be ok, but wasn't sure. i went out pretty hard and had no idea what the course was like. it was a little twisty and very hilly. i thought it would be the usual inclines you get on these manicured walking trails, but there were legitimate hills you had to deal with. i usually run well on hills, but the twists, hills, and curbs/interesctions made it impossible to really settle into any rhythm.
i tried to stay steady, but got a side stitch after the first mile. i never get side stitches unless i try running to a song with an irregular beat (i know. strange). i slowed for the second mile and then pushed the end.

i should have scouted the course, but sat. was rushed and i wasn't interested in running 3 miles before the race just to see some trails.
i was a little disappointed with the run when i finished, but looking over the results, i guess the hills took something out of everyone.

grabbed some water and cheered on other finishers.


training volume and injuries from bike fall.


this was the first year of this race. i was skeptical of the 3 loop bike course, but looking back i really liked it. the run was challenging, but good as well and the swim was perhaps the best run pool swim i have ever seen. lots of good give-aways, good location, and well run race. they even had a massage tent.
problems:
- packet pickup: only sat.12-4. extremely inconvenient not to offer a fri. option or race day option. we are pretty local and it caused a lot of problems. i feel bad for people traveling.
- transition area: bike in/bike out should not be the same. i know it's minor, but it's a pet peeve.
- bike course: pretty sure it was short.