Upper Dublin Sprint Tri - Post Race Report

Mike and I did the Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon on Sunday, May 18th.  It was Mike's 1st tri and my 4th.  I love racing with him.  The race was well organized and the weather was perfect.  This was a great race for Mike since he's not comfortable swimming in open water (yet!). I was really anxious to see how 6 weeks of working with a coach would impact my race.  

The course is close to our house so the convenience of rolling out of bed and driving 5 minutes to a race with one transition area is pretty fantastic.  We fueled up with a breakfast of fried eggs and avocado (and a sip of coffee - mental hurdle).  

I let Mike borrow my gas station sunglasses and I wore my Jackie O sunnies.  

I've been training with a Suunto Ambit 2S, which captures Swim, Bike and Run data.  It has a Triathlon option which I used for the first time.  Just one click of a button at transition and it changes sports.  I have turned into a data nerd.  

I used my Suunto watch to capture my leg times.  The watch only captures Openwater swims in the Triathlon option, but it was pretty accurate.

The swim was a 10 lane snake in a 50m indoor pool, bike was a 2 lap course that ended with a decent hill, and then a relatively flat 5k run through neighborhoods and Temple Ambler's campus.  I did a preview of the bike course twice and run course once.  This was really helpful come race day.

We borrowed Michael and Mary's towels for transition.

My swim and bike times were pretty much as expected.  However, my run time was about 3 minutes faster than I thought it would be! I'm crediting interval workouts from my coach balanced with rest and a guy who came to my shoulder around mile 2 and asked me to pace him.  At that point my pace was about 7:10 and I didn't think I would maintain it to the end.  Honestly, it was a little weird, but he definitely pushed me.  When the finish line came into view, he shouted, "Come on!  Let's sprint in!"  At that point, I didn't have much left in the tank and encouraged him to go ahead.  He left me in the dust and we talked after the race.  He apologized for messing with my race.  Luckily it turned out well, but I would have to think about accepting that kind of challenge in a longer race.  

Our places, times, pace, transition times, and finish times.

Mike finishing the bike.  

My run finish.  I'm determined to get an attractive race photo this season.  This is not it.

We celebrated with a hearty breakfast at Hungry Bear Cafe and overheard other patrons talking about the race.  It was a great experience and we're looking forward to doing it again next year.  Mike may even have caught the Tri bug.....  I'm eagerly anticipating my next race, the Mighty Montauk in Long Island on June 7th.  That will be my first time doing an Olympic distance and the kids will be there to cheer me on!     

I finished 2nd in my age group.  This was unexpected and I felt really proud of myself.  

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Next year I will put a faster swim pace in since I got stuck behind many swimmers which resulted in me waiting at times at the end of the lane line.
2. I'm unstable getting on the bike and clipping in and my hands were shaking tying my sneakers after the bike.  I need to practice this.
3 It's awesome to have spectators cheering for you on the course - especially when you know them.  I unexpectedly saw my coach at the end of lap one of the bike - which is at the top of a pretty good sized hill - and it gave me a boost.
4 I bought a Race Belt from a vendor after the race.  Fooling around with bibs and pins was frustrating and I lost time.
5 Trust the plan.  For me, having a coach has been really, really good.  You have to do the work in a smart way to reach your goals.