Sunday, August 26, 2007

SBR Sprint Tri

4:45AM and the alarm clock began to beckon. It was time to wake up, pack up, and head out for the 4th race of the SBR Triathlon Series (you may recall I ran race #1).

The frequency and intensity of my workouts has not been... uhh, er, well, let's just say that my training has been less frequent and less intense.

The swim went about as well as I could have hoped for. I set off in the middle of the pack and quickly moved over so that I was swimming a direct line out - just along the line of buoys. It got crowded a few times and I was kicked lightly but what else is new.

Heading back to beach I lost my line and veered off slightly. I corrected and ended up swimming shoulder to shoulder with another guy all the way to the beach.

My official time for the half mile swim was 15:16, a pace of 1:44/100 meters.

My T1 transition time was a bit slow at 3 and a half minutes. No real reason... I moved efficiently through the change - I just wasn't fast.

About 3 miles into the race I was just spinning along on a flat section of the course. I looked down and was only going 15 MPH.

"WTF, Josh! This is a race! Quit with the lolly gagging ya' effin' Nancy!"

Finally I engaged with the race and began working the bike. I dropped a couple of riders as the course made it's way into a long, twisting section of rolling hills. After 2+ miles of hairpin turns around blind corners the race makes a tight 180 degree turn on this time the turn goes up a hill. A 1.5 mile hill. And it is ALL UP HILL! Augh!

I passed a couple of guys going up the hill but my lack of proper training was catching up. I didn't have much juice left for the few miles back to transition. With about 3 miles to go the guys I passed on the uphill retook their positions ahead of me.

I cursed to myself and debated the merits of pushing too hard up a hill. I was awaken from my inner dialogue by the lead woman positively blasting by me! Geez, nothing left but a vapor trail, my deflated ego and my dropped jaw.

I rolled into T2 in 52:57 averaging 18MPH over the 16 mile course.

I ran out of T2 in under a minute and was on the 4 mile trail run when I was hit with stomach cramping again! I had to stop to stretch out my abs while holding back the urge to show my guts to the rest of the field... literally.

I finished the 4 mile trail run in 32:22 a pace of 8:06 per mile. I'm a little disappointed with this showing because I've run the same course at a 7:01 pace. Alas, my innards were out of it.

All in all I finished the triathlon in 1:44:53 which was good enough for 35th place and 4th in my age group. Full results are here.

I raced pretty well, finished with a strong kick and most important, I enjoyed every minute of it (even the near barf was good fun). So I can't be too unhappy with what is likely my last multi-sport race of the season.

Now I'll be focused on my next "A" race. Does anyone know a good 6-week training plan for fatherhood?

"Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance."
-Anonymous

14 comments:

Jessica said...

My Dad was always repeating that quote like a mantra to my brother and I growing up! Whoever came up with it had to be have been in the Army! Great job!! Especially right after a vacation!

Deene said...

good job! if it's a girl you don't need training, you'll just say "this high, baby?" she says "jump".

the_ubster said...

Great job, sounds like you are having fun.

A baby training schedule might consist of: wake yourself up at night, hold your breath for 2 - 4 minutes while changing Harry's diaper (he'll squirm as much as a baby will), then have Salena spit formula on you, rock in a chair for 20 minutes, use baby wipe to get some of the spit up off you, and go back to sleep.
Repeat every 2 - 3 hours.

DebbieJRT said...

great race report! mr. modest with 4th in AG.

can't help you with the fatherhood thing - never done it!

E said...

good job gutting through the race! you still managed to pull off a solid performance. i've been there, and i'm betting you had to many pete's this last week :-)

here's a 6 week plan for baby you may or may not want to use -

week 1 to 3 - 5 hours of sleep per night
week 3 & 4 - 4 hours of sleep per night
week 5 & 6 - 4 hours of sleep, with intermittent alarms set throughout the night. stay awake long enough to console your wife, or heat a bottle, whichever fits your plan.

you'll still have no idea what your in for, but you'll have good stories. :-)

A little about me... said...

Well, it's not fatherhood but I just got a new puppy and wow, my first night alone with her I cried for 45 minutes wondering what I'd gotten myself into, whether she'd get used to NYC, and if this really was the right decision. She's adorable but I think a psychological test would have been useful. And I heartily agree with the sleeping schedule. I think you should also find the most annoying noise you can find and play it for 2 hours at a time to get used to any crying.

Congrats on your great race BTW. Very impressive.

JustRun said...

Wow, that's you on a bad day? Nice work, dude.

Good luck with the baby training... or uh, training for a baby. From what I hear, there are no PRs in that race. It is all fast and the course always changes.

Morrissey said...

great job josh and awesome race report! :)

Bridges Runner said...

Great job under the lack of training! 4th in the age group is definitely nothing to joke about.

Good luck with the next phase...6 weeks? WOW!

Rich said...

That seemed like a pretty good race to me. 4th ain't too shabby!

Anonymous said...

Josh, 15 mph on the bike? That's my pace for god's sake. You did GRRRRREAT and coming in 4th place in your age group is not to shabby for a newbie to this stuff.
Peace out and now enjoy the upcoming festivities of fatherhood!!! How exciting. :-)
Janine

SM said...

Don't worry about training for fatherhood. It kinda just comes naturally. You'll know what I mean when the special day comes.

Shawn

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