Park City Mossman-- Bridgeport, CT 8/26/07

I didn’t wear a watch this race, as I usually do. I really had no idea what my times were throughout the race. I did this on purpose, so I could really just tune in and listen to my body. At this point I still don’t have my exact split times either, b/c they have yet to be posted on the web (or if they have, I can’t find them). All I know is my finish time is approximately 2:48 and some change.

Pre-race: I had a bowl of cereal before I left for the race. I also sipped on some Gatorade on my way there and ate a ½ a pack of Clif Shot Bloks on the way and ½ right before race start.

Swim: Long Island Sound, Seaside Park, Bridgeport
Wore the wetsuit. The tide was ‘on its way in’….which meant a good deal of aqua jogging at the start and finish and during the second loop of the course. Besides the lack of depth, the water was fantastically smooth. I think my swim went okay, besides the jogging through the water part, which slowed me down a bit.

T1: Longer than my usual times for 2 reasons: 1) Had to factor in wetsuit removal time. 2) Put socks on to avoid blisters on the run.

Bike: This was a 5 loop course, completely flat. I really disliked this course, mostly due to congestion. Due to the 5 loops, there was major mixing of fast & slow, experienced & inexperienced riders. This made it very difficult to follow the USAT rules (no drafting, passing on left only, 30 second pass, etc) and I’m surprised I didn’t see any wrecks. I ended up getting a penalty on the first loop. I was so pissed! I went into one of the corners with ~ half a dozen people. One of the ‘slow’ guys did not hold his line and ended up cutting in front of me. Another ‘fast’ guy cut to the ‘slow’ guy’s left and then there was me with nowhere to go except pass the ‘slow’ guy on the right or slam on my brakes. I went with the former, which successfully got me a penalty--my first ever. I was not proud. At the same time, I felt that this course would have been better for an ITU race, where drafting is legal. I’m also not sure I’m a fan of the completely flat course. I tend to be able to shut people out on the hills and this course did not offer that opportunity. Anyway…on the bike I drank more than half a bottle of Gatorade, had a gel, and ate half a pack of Clif bloks.

T2: Pretty fast, I think (Again, no timing available yet). Just switched shoes, grabbed my hat, race belt, and a gel and I was off.

Run: I thought it was just a standard out-and-back course until I noticed on one of the last laps of the bike that there were 2 turnarounds. This psyched me out a bit, mainly because I had envisioned it differently in my head. Nonetheless, I got through it okay. I have no idea what my pace was. It felt slow, but history has taught me that triathlon runs may seem very slow, but then you get your time and are blown away by the pace you ran. So, time will tell. By this time it had heated up quite a bit, so I did a combination of drinking water and pouring it over my head. I also had a gel about ½ way through the run.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my time and am anxious to see my splits and how I did in the division. I’m not sure if I’d do this race again, mostly because I wasn’t in love with the course—congestion on the bike, lack of depth on the swim, etc. The swag was pretty good though.