Nutmeg Sprint Triathlon-- August 11th, Warren, CT

Well, since we're still slacking on getting an In Transit out, I figured the least I could do is give a race report here...

This was a sprint tri (.5mile/9miles/5k).

The race was about a 1.5 hour drive, so I left at 4:45 to get there. Surprisingly, I was pretty awake. I ate a bowl of cereal before leaving home and a couple Clif Shot Bloks on the ride there. Luckily, I was able to carpool with my friend Allison, who happens to be a fellow member of the Shoreline Sharks (my multisport team).

Got there, picked up my packet, racked my bike and set everything up. It was kind of chilly, in the 50s. I decided to go sans wetsuit (I didn't even bring it with me). The field was split in regard to wetsuit use, about 50/50. The water was much warmer than the air temp, so as soon as I stepped in to warm up I was relieved. I think I would have been too warm if I would have worn it and I probably would have added on at least a minute getting it off. I was happy with my decision.

Swim: The half mile lake swim went well. I made it out of the water in 17:59. A little slower than my usual, but not by much.

T1: It was at least 1/8 mile from the beach to the transition area. I was able to pass a ton of people in transition. A lot of people were walking to transition b/c they were too worried about their precious tootsies and the little rocks they had to run over to get to transition. I was in race mode, so the rocks didn't bother me a bit. My time was 1:50.

Bike: It was a short 9 mile loop around the lake. Flat for the first 5 miles, then a hill at 5 & at 7 miles. Pretty tough hills. Non eventful bike, pretty happy with my time of 30:36. I have to say my bike times seem so slow to me ever since I moved to CT. But, I have to remember it is much hillier here than TX, so I can't really compare averages on flats to averages on hilly courses.

T2: Quick in & out. 42 seconds.

Run: This run was a b*tch for the first 1.7 miles! It was basically straight uphill. The turnaround was at the 1.7 mark and then it was a flying downhill from there. I ended up with a 27:20 time for an 8:47 pace. I was pretty satisfied with that, except for the fact that I lost an age group win the last half mile when a chick flew by me going at a 7 something pace. I knew I wouldn't be able to hang with her, but I pushed as hard as I could. She beat me by 38 seconds. Nonetheless, I ended up with a 2nd in AG placement. I was pretty satisfied.

Race nutrition: I had a GU on the bike with water. I also had water once on the run and did the 'dump water over my head' trick, which really helped b/c it had warmed up quite a bit by the time the run portion came up.

Overall, it was a challenging course and a fun race. Plus, we got wicking shirts! Woot!