Reston Triathlon
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Reston Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic
View Member's Race Log
Swim
Comments: This went way better than I expected. The week before the race, the race director sponsored a practice swim over the race course, as there is usually no swimming in the race lake. It was a disaster as I had big problems with my wetsuit and only swam 3/4 of race course. Anyway, I watched the first 6 waves go off and waited for my turn. I got off to a good start and managed to control my pace over the first 200 meters. The race did a good job of keeping the waves small (about 80 people) and a nice wide race course. I was able to find open water and got into a good pace. By the time I got to the turn around point, I was in middle of the wave in front of me and had caught a few people from the wave in front of that. On the way back, I started having some problems with directional control and looked like I was leading a World War II convoy with all the zig zagging around the course. I felt good all the way to the end of the course and was able to run out of the lake. What would you do differently?: Learn how to bi-lateral swim and work on siting to reduce wasted time with staying on course. Despite that I was very happy with my swim time and even happier to be out of the water. Transition 1
Comments: After the run to my tranistion spot, I got my wetsuit off quickly and got ready to go. This was the best T1 tranistion I've had. My HR was a little high but came down quickly. What would you do differently?: Nothing Bike
Comments: This was the worst part of my race. It started with my chain coming off right at the mount line. So, I had to stop and put it on as I was barely moving and it was up hill. After I got going I wanted to pace myself and use the bike to hydrate. From looking at the times and rankings, I took it too easy. I never felt like I was pushing my self but I didn't want one of those death march runs, like in my last race. I also managed to knock the chain off a second time, something I need to fix, on the second loop. Overall, I was disappointed in the bike and it shows me what I need to work on over the winter. What would you do differently?: Push a lot harder which I could have done but I definitely need to increase my training on the bike. I thought that I was doing well with my cycling but obviously need to re-assess. Transition 2
Comments: This went well. Shoes on quickly and out of the transition area quickly as I had a good spot. Was able to drink some gatorade. What would you do differently?: Nothing Run
Comments: This was my strongest event during the day. I quickly got over that dead leg, brick feeling and settled into a nice pace. I passed a lot of people during the run but I had a lot of people to pass having started in the last wave of the swim and a sub-par bike. I could have run faster but I didn't know the course that well and they didn't have the distances marked. The finish was cool as they had the finish line in the local High School football stadium. I even won a sprint finish with someone I caught on the track. Overall, it was a good run. What would you do differently?: Know the course so that I could have paced myself better. I think I could have run faster if I knew where I was on the course. Post race
Warm down: They handed out towels soaked in ice water at the finish. Which felt great and you got to keep the towel. Found my family and got some food. They had bread from the Harvest bread company. A local bakery with great food. I also watched part of the wedding that took place at the finish. Two of the participants got married at the end of the race. They had met doing triathlons and as it was a second wedding for both so they wanted to do something different. What limited your ability to perform faster: My biggest weakness is on the bike. I don't have a problem with the distance but I need to increase my speed. Definitely something to work on over the winter. I need to be able to push myself on the bike without ruining my run. Time to "Ride lots". Event comments: The race was well organized, efficient and enjoyable. If I can get in, I would do this race again. They had pretty good swag, a nice sweatshirt, socks, towel, water bottle and some coupons. Overall a big thumbs up. I will update this when they post transition times. Last updated: 2005-09-13 12:00 AM
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2005-09-14 4:37 PM |
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2005-09-15 9:56 AM in reply to: #246908 |
2005-09-15 10:08 AM in reply to: #246908 |
2005-09-15 10:42 AM in reply to: #246908 |
2005-09-16 3:40 AM in reply to: #246908 |
2005-09-16 8:47 AM in reply to: #246908 |
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2005-09-16 1:07 PM in reply to: #247835 |
2005-09-16 1:36 PM in reply to: #246908 |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Reston Triathlon
83F / 28C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 247/517
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 0/
This was my "A" race for the year. It is the only Oly distance race in Northern Virginia and the closest to my house. This is my hometown race as I train over a lot of this area. It is also very hard to get into this race. They did registration over 3 nights allowing 200 entries a night and they usually filled in the first hour. The defending champion had to get an exemption into the race. Anyway, I signed up for this back in Feb before I had really started training. I guessed on my swim time as I had never swam 1500 meters before. My bad as they assigned swim waves based on estimated swim times, not by age or gender. I had put down some "hope to not drown time" and ended up in the last wave with people hoping to not drown. So, I ended up with a pink swim cap.
I got up at 4:30 and had a bagel, granola bar and orange juice. This race had two different transition areas, so I drove over to the T2/finish area. I set up my T2 area, picked up my timing chip and rode my bike over to the swim start/T1 area. The last wave's assigned transition area was as far from the entry/exit as you could get. Oh well, live and learn, although I did get a good spot on the rack. Did the usual waiting around, got my wetsuit on and went to watch the early waves.
Nothing beyond the one mile bike ride from dropping off my car and run stuff at T2/finish area.