Pinchot Park Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Posted Below...

More swim training...

The wetsuit got stuck and it took a couple jumps to pop it off.

Not much.

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Nothing

Should have had a faster T2 time but I am not going to complain about it.

be a bit faster.

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nothing.

Just a walk


swim training


Blog from website...
I am back from my weekend trip out to Lewisberry, PA for my sprint triathlon at Pinchot State Park. The ride down wasn't too bad. It took about two hours to get there. I immediately went to the race site so I could get there before the cut off time to pick up my packet. I was issued everything except for my timing chip. The water was extremely choppy and COLD when I checked it out. I was hoping for a calm night and no rain so the conditions would get better for the race. I rode back to the hotel and checked in. My room was probably one of the worst rooms I have ever stayed at! From a crusty burn in the carpet from where someone plugged an iron in and left it sit on the rug, to a dirty tub, and bits of toilet paper left all over my room! Needless to say, I yanked off all of the sheets to the bed and slept in my clothes on top of the mattress. I left the hotel and went to go find some grub. I ended up finding this Italian place which looked pretty fancy. I had shorts and a t-shirt on but decided to go in anyway as I was looking to load up on my carbs. It turns out, the only thing fancy about the place was the look of it! The bread was good that they gave me, but my dinner pretty much sucked. I had to make up for it so I stopped at Rita's water ice and got a small desert for myself! After that it was back to the room for some relaxing. I watched "Hitch" on the television and then went to bed. I didn't get a great night sleep but that usually happens the night before the race. I got up at 5:30 and got my tri top and shorts on and headed back down to the race site. I met up with my friend Taylor and we were able to get a transition spot next to each other. This was her first triathlon so we went over a few things and what not. Went for a 1/2 mile warm up run and then made our way back to transition to get our wetsuits on. The start of the race was a little unusual because they had two waves... 39 years old and under and 40+. I have never had a wave start with males and females in it, but it was pretty cool. Both Taylor's and my game plan was to keep the swim slow and steady. I usually panic in the water and am just not good at the swim. The gun went off and my heart rate spiked and I could barely swim, for about the first 30 seconds I breast stroked until it opened up a bit. I stayed side by side with Taylor for the first 300 yards. There was a ton of seaweed in the water and the water was COLD! After we rounded the first buoy Taylor got into a rhythm and started to pull away. Being a swimmer, I expected that for her. I just kept my game plan and kept it slow and steady breathing every three strokes. I made it out of the water with a time of 15:51 which equates to 1:49 per 100 yards... This time is pretty slow for a 850 yard swim and I was hoping for better, but my swim training has been sub par and I can not expect what isn't there. I was out of the water and had approximately 150 yard run to transition. When I got there, Taylor was still trying to get out of her wetsuit. I yelled over to her to just jump on one of the legs and it would pop off. She did and it worked. We both crossed the transition mats to the bike at the same time. She got on her bike and took off, It took me about a minute to get my legs back together from the swim. From then on it was nothing but me flying for the bike portion! I said my farewells to Taylor and I was gone! It was extremely hilly and I climbed the hills like it was nobodies business. It was a two loop course which I think worked to my advantage, once I knew what it was like the first time around, I could hammer it the second time and know when a hill was coming. I picked off a lot of people who finished the swim faster than me ad was only passed by one person the entire 18 miles. After checking the results, I posted a bike split competitive to some of the top finishers which really made my day. The bike split was 56:26 which comes out to a 19.14 MPH average pace. I made it back to transition just as it started to pour with rain. This helped me as I felt a bit over heated. The run was an all trail run which was altered the day before the race due to some flooding. The rain made it extremely muddy and wet with tons of puddles. There were a few climbs on slippery stones. For some reason, I still had a good portion of juice in my system so I just went all out on my run (which I had planned to do pre race). I wanted to finish that race knowing I didn't have anything at all left in my system. I was a man on a mission and I picked off a few more people out on the run course. I ran a solid 3.5 miles and my run time is the best I have ever posted in my life. I ran a 22:38 which comes out to a 6:28 second minute per mile pace! My finishing time with transitions was 1:37:47... good enough for 28th overall! Last season I was averaging around finishing top 50% of the field. So far this season I am at the top 25% of the field. I can only attribute this to my more personal dedication to the sport and the amazing coaching I have received from Eric. Without his guidance, I would still be on the bubble of trying to figure out what to do. NEVER, in my wildest dreams did I think I could pull out a 6:28 mile pace on a run. This just comes to show how far I have really come.

After I went back to transition to get a bottle of water, I went back to the finish area to watch Taylor finish her first tri. She did amazing with a 1:51:xx race which was good enough for 2nd in her age group. She has done amazing so far this year with training and the results are the proof for her. With a couple of fumbles in both transitions, she could have saved herself and extra 2-3 minutes which would have given her a 1st place in her age group. She has the talent, over time she will become an amazing triathlete!

After the race was complete I headed back to the hotel to get rinsed off and head home. I checked out and proceeded to leave. I ended up getting lost coming home and I ended up about 10 miles outside of Baltimore on the 695 beltway! My two hour trip home turned into a 3.5 hour trip! I think I may need a GPS system :) Overall, I am extremely pleased with my efforts and race time. I know what I need to work on now and it's time to move on from there and focus on Belleplain which is in two weeks. This race will be flat and fast so I really want to test myself to see what I can do on both the bike and the run knowing there is little to no elevation.

Until then, thank you to everyone who has believed in me. I always find it encouraging and inspiring to get support from friends and family. I couldn't do any of this without you!