Pirate Triathlon Race Report

Pirate Triathlon
Point Sebago Resort, Sebago Lake, ME
6/13/10

Swim: somewhere in the ballpark of 1/3 mile
Bike: 14 miles
Run: 3.1 miles (though advertised as and timed as 3 miles)

RESULTS:
Swim: 7:49 - 6th
T1: 46 seconds
Bike: 38:30 (21.8 mph) - 5th
T2: 37 seconds
Run: 19:45 (6:22/mi) - 8th
Place: 2nd Overall, 1st AG

REPORT:
Until about Wednesday of this week, this race wasn't really on my radar as I had been scheduled to race Mooseman last weekend. But when the weather caused that event to be postponed/changed/for me - cancelled, I needed a replacement early season race. Fortunately, this isn't too far away from me and even though it's a newer event - only in its 2nd year - it had a pretty good reputation. My fiancée and I spent the early half of this week moving and I just got over being sick, so I went in with limited expectations - or at least that's what I kept telling people beforehand!

Swim
I was in the 3rd swim wave - certainly not ideal as far as I was concerned, especially as I had my eyes on the overall podium, but someone's got to be there I guess! One guy and I got away from everyone else without any trouble very early on. I was content to sit behind and catch a nice draft/let him clear a path through the slower swimmers from the earlier two waves the entire way. It was a pretty solid swim overall and what pleases me most is that I executed my race plan perfectly. Good sighting, good pace, followed the draft perfectly, and set myself up to succeed the rest of the race.

Bike
The 14 mile bike course was fairly hilly. There were 1 or 2 significant climbs with countless others spaced between. There were also plenty of flats, rollers and downhills to contend with. I was pretty worried about my bike going into Mooseman and my worries carried through to this week. I knew I'd be okay, but I've been doing less bike work this year than last. The reason for that being that I've gotten back into the pool and have been putting a lot of focus into the run. I did well, though, averaging 21.8 mph. I'd say there's plenty of room for improvement, but that's also been the plan all along with my more important races -Timberman/Pumpkinman/Fisherman - all coming up in August and September.

p.s. I pretty much felt like I was going to throw up the entire time...somehow I'd managed to forget the pain of short course racing over the winter!!

p.p.s The 404s and new Wingspan Aero helmet from Rudy Project were nice additions for the 2010 season. They made for a very nice ride!

Run
I've been working pretty hard on my run this year. Relative to my swim and bike, the run has always been a serious liability. My ultimate goal is to be running in the 18:20 range for a 5k off the bike. Today was a decent run, but nothing to brag about. But I felt really comfortable and know that the hard work I've been putting in is paying off. My speed is coming around and I have no doubt that, if I'm able to keep at it, I'll have a breakthrough before the end of the season.

Transitions
After seeing the layout of transition this morning, I set a goal of keeping my total transition time below 1:30. I was happy with the 46 and 37. The only mistake I made, and I have no explanation as to why this happened, was that I took my sunglasses off and left them in my helmet in t2. I NEVER do that. I ALWAYS run with glasses. It was really cloudy and pretty dark, so I didn't actually need them, though. But if that's the biggest problem I had then it's no big deal.

General Thoughts
I'm very happy I ended up doing this race. Sure, I was disappointed after last weekend's weather/non-race, but this was a lot of fun and I executed well. Second overall is a great result and I feel like I'm exactly where I should be at this point in the season. With a few more weeks of solid training I think I can set myself up very nicely for the late(er)-season block of races I've really been targeting all year.

And finally, but most importantly, this race helped out a tremendous cause - Camp Sunshine (http://www.campsunshine.org/). The camp is dedicated to children facing life-threatening illness and their families. The race was well run and I would certainly recommend it to anyone, especially as it helps raise money for such a great place and cause.