Race Report: Peterborough Sprint Triathlon

Defining characteristics of this race:

• The heat
• Weedy swim
• The heat
• Dull bike course
• The heat
• Running on grass
• The heat

... so while I had a good time, that was more a function of it being a triathlon and me loving the sport than this race!

The one thing it has going for it is the race site, it's in a nice park by a lake.  And it's pretty close to my house... which may or may not help you any!

Swim

As I mentioned here before, I haven't done much swimming this year... I got in about a half dozen swims in the last few weeks and nothing before that for months.  My swim time was pretty bad, but that was expected.

19:58 (334/439) 

(Worth noting - they include the long run from the beach in the swim time... but still, I sucked)

Transition 1

Got out of my wet suit quicker than expected, fumbled a bit with shoes and socks.  1:50.  Not fast, will practice before my next "real" race.

Bike

Heart rate was sky high at the start of the bike, mostly from my bad swimming technique.  Got myself into a rhythm though and started to pick off some of the people who had slipped ahead of me in the swim.  I really needed more hills, seemed like every  time we hit a long flat section I got passed by the fancy bikes with aero bars... but I'd pay it back on the hills.  All in all I was pretty happy with it.

Oh, and triathletes - learn some bike handling skills!  The turn-around was embarrassing to watch - riders down, crashing, just trying to make a U-turn.  A guy almost wiped me out and ended up in the gravel, two others were already down... it was a sad sight!  Lean in, pushing through your outside pedal (which should be down!).  Practice it in a parking lot! 

38:11 (117/439, 31.4km/h average)

Transition 2

0:49 - pretty good.  Shoes on, helmet off, go!

Run... did I mention the heat?

I didn't really notice the heat until the run, and then it smoked me... it was so hot, the sun was out, and the shade was sparse.  I tried to get under 5:00/km but at the start it was next to impossible, I just couldn't push through it.  The course is mostly on grass, which didn't help either!

I pretty much struggled through the first 3km or so, then finally found something extra.  The last kilometer and a bit was in the shade, I salvaged a sub-25:00 at least and charged past a dozen or so people in the last few hundred meters.  That at least felt good!

24:24 (137/439, 4:53/km pace)

Overall

1:25:10, 157/439, 20/38 M35-39

Not great, not horrible.  The competition at this race was stiff... it was a qualifier for the Sprint championships, so my placing is lower than usual.  My goal was to do more of a shake-down for my off-road tri in August, so accomplished that.  Hopefully I can get my swimming clicking a little at least before then, as usual it was a mess!