4:30 a.m. wake up call for my last triathlon of the 2011 season, a sprint distance at Crab Meadow Beach in Northport, Long Island. A lot of progress has been made this summer through hours and hours of training, and knowing that this was my last race of the season, I told myself I wanted to leave everything I had out on the course. I know that in my last post I said I wanted to finish under 1:30:00; well I did, and then some.
Swim:
A triangular out, over, and back 750 meter swim course. The swim has always been somewhere I have felt very comfortable, and this race was no different. Shortly after the race start, I found my groove and was moving at a really nice pace. I do not think that I inflicted any serious damage to any of the other racers today, but definitely had the occasional foot tap or grab. Feeling really good about my time and the race I exited the water and headed into T1.
Swim Time: 12:17 1:29 / 100yds
T1: 2:16
Bike:
A really nice bike course just short of 10 miles. It started with a short uphill which I powered through, then flattened out and had some rolling hills otherwise. Some of the uphill climbs were steep, but they were not very long, so I just grit my teeth and muscled through them resting the legs a little on the downhills. One thing I definitely want to change for next year is to get into some bike shoes instead of using the running shoes on the bike. I have heard nothing but good things about bike shoes, and by the end of the bike course today, the running shoes were already waterlogged with sweat. It would have been so nice to put on a pair of dry and light shoes after getting off the bike.
Bike Time: 33:19 17.6 MPH
Run:
The run has definitely been weak for me in the past. I had put it in my mind this morning before the race, that no matter what I was just going to give the run everything I had, and try to finish this race and my 2011 tri season on a high note. The first half of the run course was very tough. It shared its first road with the bike course, so we had that same uphill to start off. Then we turned onto another road which had a very steep hill to climb. We had driven the course yesterday, so I knew that at the end of this uphill, the course leveled off and then eventually would turn around and be all downhill from there to the finish. The uphill kinda sucked, but I told myself just get through it and work hard to the finish. Coming back down this big hill, I actually was passing a few people, which I am not accustomed to on a run course (usually I am being passed). As I passed the 2 mile mark, I turned up the burners a little and started cruising toward the finish, and at the 3 mile mark, I went into overdrive and powered to the finish. It was the hardest I have even run in a tri, and it was well worth the results.
Run Time: 27:08 8:13 Min/Mi
Overall Time: 1:15:58
I could not have been much happier with today's race. I worked my butt off, and it more than paid off. I still think that I have a lot of work to do, and know I have a lot of room for improvement. For now, I have a half marathon in three weeks, a 10k the week after, and am contemplating running a marathon in DC in March.
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