Gloucester Fisherman Sprint Race Report

Gloucester Fisherman Sprint
Gloucester, MA
Sunday, August 8, 2010

Race Overview
Swim - somewhere around 1/3 mile
Bike - 11.65 miles
Run - 3.1 miles

Results
Swim+T1 - 9:47 (11th)
Bike - 30:58, 22.6 mph (41st)
T2 - 1:00
Run - 19:18, 6:26/mi (48th)
Final time - 1:01:04
Overall Place - 20th (once you take out the relay that snuck in ahead of me)
Gender Place - 16th
Amateur Place - 5th
Age Group - 1st (well technically 2nd as first took 2nd OA Amateur)

Report
This race, though only in it's second year (and first under new management), came highly recommended and I signed up early last fall. At first I was signed on as an Elite, but ended up opting out after the pro field started to come together. All along I was told that the field was going to be very deep, likely the deepest short course field in the northeast this year - they weren't kidding. Pros like Ethan Brown (U-23 champion in 2007 and 2008 and now doing some ITU world cup races), Australian Andrew Noble, Derek Treadwell, Chris Bragg, Dean Phillips.....and many more...including 1995 Hawaii IM Champion Karen Smyers, all started today. In total there were 24 elites and many of those were well-established professionals. And on top of that, there were many top regional amateurs there including Craig Lewin, Jeff Donatello, Kevin Gallagher and others. I suppose this is just the long way to say that it was a strong field and a race that offered a significant challenge to me. I'd had a nice stretch of good finishes - including 5 top 10s in a row (3 of which were 2nd OA or 2nd OA amateur) leading up to Gloucester, but I knew this would be an opportunity to really test myself against some of the best athletes around.

Swim
I broke rule number one of triathlon today. I tried something for the first time on race day, that thing being my new Xterra Vortex3 Sleeveless wetsuit. I was a little concerned given that I'd never set foot in the water with the thing, but it all worked out ok. My wave, males 39 and under, went off just after the pros which was awesome because it meant I didn't have to swim over or around anyone from earlier waves. Though I will admit that this was one of the more hectic starts to a swim I've experienced in awhile. It was like someone shot us out of a cannon - guys were flying for the first 150-200yards. Eventually a group of 4 of us sort of got away, though. Out front was Craig Lewin - a former BC swimmer and very good triathlete/open water swimmer. By the first turn he'd opened about a 20 yard gap on me and the 2 guys I was with and I decided it was now or never, so I took off in an attempt to close the gap. I never quite made it, but I did close to about 5-10 yards and ended up with some help from one of the other guys. It would have been suicide to try to make the final jump across the gap so spsiI ended up tucking in behind the guy in 2nd and just keep Craig a few yards out front. All 4 of us exited the water within about 15 seconds of each other and took off on an incredibly long transition that required us to run forever along the racks of bikes before entering and running all the way back to the other end to bike out. The layout made sense, but it just took forever.

Bike
I was second out of transition, with only Craig a few seconds in front of me. I ended up making the pass within the first mile and decided I needed make some sort of move immediately. I went by with as much speed as I could in an attempt to negate any attempt he might make to follow. It worked and I got away. I knew he could outrun me pretty badly, so I figured I needed 90 seconds by the time we got off the bike. No small task given that the whole course was just over 11.6 miles and he's a pretty good cyclist. By the time we got to the u-turn I had a decent gap, but one that he'd be able to overcome on the run. By the end of the bike I had about 1 minute - meaning I had a good bike, but probably not one that would allow me to hold onto a lead. I've got to say, I'm starting to hate the feeling I get on the bike when I know I'm going to be run down. I mean I played all the cards I had to play and I do not regret trying to get a gap on the bike as I'd never win a head to head footrace all the way through the run, but it's an awful feeling to know that you don't have the run split in you to hold onto a really high overall place. It's becoming especially painful as it's happened in 4 of my last 6 races!

Run
After getting off the bike and negotiating my way through another long (distance-wise) transition, I headed out on the run course. It's a pretty cool 2-loop course through the streets of downtown Gloucester, but I didn't really get to enjoy any of the sights! I got caught by the first chaser before the first mile marker. The guy ripped off a 16:11, nothing I could do about it other than watch him pull away. A few minutes later Craig showed up. I tried to hang with him for as long as possible, but slowly he pulled away. By the halfway point of the run he had a decent gap and I got back to running by myself. He ended up going 17:18, again, nothing I can do other than say congratulations on an awesome run. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I did manage not to throw up either time we passed the Gloucester fish market which I considered quite an accomplishment! Eventually finished things up and waited to see how the guys in later waves would do. Two more had outdone me and I ended up being the 5th overall amateur - less than a minute off the OA Age Group podium.

Just a little side note here - there were some REALLY fast runs out there today. Like 2 guys broke 15 minutes on a course that was like 3.05 miles. Many others were either in the 16 or 17 minute range. It was really impressive to see.

Post Race
Quickly got myself over to the massage tent after finishing just because there wasn't a line and I had some time to kill. Then spent some time talking to Craig, Jeff, a few of the pros. Saw Kat Donatello, Pumpkinman race director and really good athlete, and spoke to her a bit too. Eventually grabbed my award and headed home.

Overall it was a really good experience. Fun course, well run event and extremely good/deep field. I raced as well as I could have and ended up with a pretty good result. Even my run was decent (by my standards, at least). It still needs quite a bit of work in order for me to take things up a notch, but that will come with time and effort. That said, I have given thought to getting a coach. It will remain just that as there's no way I can afford it, but I think it would really help me progress. Oh well, maybe someday!

Up next: Timberman Sprint

As always, thanks for reading!