Mayflower International Triathlon –The Race That Wasn’t

I had been planning on doing the Mayflower international Triathlon pretty much since the day the race was unveiled. It was held in my hometown on the roads I grew up on. The bike course goes right by the spot where I waited for my school bus in middle school as well as going past my high school.

Unfortunately, other occasions got in the way, my brother’s bachelor party was planned for the day before and eventually the party plan got extended into Sunday, which meant I couldn’t do the race. It was an unfortunate turn of events, especially since I wanted to use this race to audition the organizers and the course for potentially doing my first Ironman at the race next year.

As it is though, I couldn’t do the race. I swung by early on Saturday to pick up my packet and schwag (I did pay for it after all). Packet pick-up was at 9 but unfortunately, the registration people were running late. Normally I would have waited, but I had a bachelor party to get to and when it turned out the registration people wouldn’t be there until 9:45, we left, schwag-less.

As a result, I had no first had experience to evaluate this first year race on for next year. Fortunately, my good friend Nicole did the Olympic distance and was able to provide some trusted insight. 

The swim is along the jetty in Plymouth harbor, making for a very calm ocean swim. It also provided the added benefit of allowing for a spectacular spectator viewing area. Her mother was on the jetty and was able to watch her for almost the whole swim. The bike course she was surprised to find was very hilly. Plymouth is right along the ocean so a lot of people probably expected it to be less hilly. having grown up there, I know better and knowing where the course goes it's no surprise that Nicole said "If you weren't going up, you were going down". She didn't have a lot to say about the run course as I recall, but there was nothing particularly negative. Overall she had been surprised at the lack of shoulders on the road and the amount of traffic.

Being the type of person who wants as much information as possible, I've also been scouring the triathlon messageboards looking for info and race reports.

KathyG at BeginnerTriathlete.com posted a great race report from her experience doing the race as a relay, she did the bike leg.

Patrick on Slowtwitch.com did the full IDT, his race report was very helpful as well since he did all three disciplines. Apparently the bike course was short when police pulled an out-back spur. Nothing the RD can do there. JoeO also had a review of the run on that same link.

Now that i know a bit more about the race, I'm having a tough time deciding which race I want to do, IMAZ or the IDT. i'd like to make the decision before I get to Arizona. If I wait until I get there, I'm going to get caught up in the atmosphere of IMAZ and register for it.

Bonk! Oops!

Went out for my bike ride this morning feeling really, really great. It was a beautiful day, warm sun, cool breeze, the leaves are changing color... the type of fall day you dream about.

I didn't ride with the BTC today since I got a late start, but I don't mind riding on my own. Some days I really prefer it. I did see Owen Hammond out on the road just about two hours into the ride. We caught up a bit and chatted, he introduced me to his buddy Jay (whose last name I won't try to pronounce, much less spell) and then they were off (they held back a bit to chat with me. owen and jay are speedy dudes).

About 2:15 into the ride, after one of my 15 minute hard intervals, I got really tired. Somehow, I had bonked. I knew it right away, but how could I have bonked, I didn't bonk during a 6.5 hour half IM, how did I bonk 2:15 into a training ride... oops... no breakfast! Doh!

I had been planning on making the ride a 3.5 hour one, but in light of my stupidity, I headed for home, arriving just after the 3 hour mark where I proceeded to do my best Eggheads impression... consume mass quantities!

Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon

After the Long Course, once I realized I wasn't going to be able to do the Mayflower Triathlon (more about that in my next post), Mark asked me "What next?"
What next was the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon in Longmont, CO. This was a new race and also my first sprint distance.
I got to Union Reservoir just before 7 and quickly got set up. There were no row assignments, it was essentially a free for all, but there seemed to be plenty of space so there were no problems. It was pretty cold so I lingered in transition as long as I could with clothes and a windbreaker on before pulling on my wetsuit and padding across the chilly pavement to the start.
The race was a little late in starting, but that's pretty much the only complaint that could be made about the organization of the whole day, and a very minor one at that.

The Swim - 750m
The water was a very comfortable temperature when we started. The sun was off to our right and was never a problem. In fact, I probably did better sighting in this race than I have in any other, including the Stroke n Strides, and I hope it's a good sign for the future.
I was wary of going too hard on the swim, I basically have three speeds in the water. Too easy, Normal and Too Hard. i tried to stick to 'Normal' for most of the race, and pushed it a bit harder in the final stretch. If I hadn't had to do a bike and run afterwards I could have pushed it further. but, of course, I did.
Time - 15:49 (official time 15:49, my actual swim time, 15:11, was from the sound of the horn to my actual exit from the water.)

T1
I had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off, but generally an uneventful transition. Only 16 men had faster T1's. This is definitely one area I don't need practice. Too bad it doesn't count for much :)
Time - 1:31

The Bike - 12.4 miles
The bike is essentially 3 loops of 4 miles each. The road was closed (my first race on a closed course) and this made for a much more comfortable race. The first loops I spent basically warming up (it was still cold), getting to know the course and trying to catch my breath. Apparently I HAD gone a little too hard on the swim. The second and third laps were much better and starting the third lap, I pushed it a good bit harder, quickly dropping another guy from my age group that I had been going back and forth with for most of the first two laps.
I felt really good leading up to the end of the bike course. Then I did something stupid.
When riding on my commuter bike, I often would do a rolling dismount. I never do this on my tri-bike because I have a Bento Box that gets in the way. Since this was just a sprint I decided not to bring the Bento Box. Coming down the road it occurred to me that I could do a rolling dismount from my bike. I got unclipped and got my leg over without problem. Once I hit the ground though I stumbled a bit, squeezed my hand... right on my brake lever, stopping it short and sending me and the bike flying.
I hit the ground rolling and popped up quickly enough that I wondered if I had hit the ground at all. Unfortunately I had and the people around gasped, asking if I was ok. I was, but was definitely embarrassed. I picked up my bike and headed into transition.

T2
I took T2 much easier as I was definitely shaken up from the header and didn't want to forget anything or do anything stupid in transition. I made sure everything was working and nothing was broken. i had some gravel burn on my hand and raspberries on the back of my shoulder and forearm, but nothing serious.
Time - 2:29

The Run - 3.1 miles
Once I got settled and knew I wasn't missing or forgetting anything, I headed out on the run. I was feeling good (aside from the injuries) but again, wasn't sure how hard I should go out. I had Mr Bleep Bleep with me (again) and settled into what felt like a maintainable pace. The course starts fairly flat as it goes around the edge of the Res, before doing a longish climb up to the first mile marker. There's then a subtle downhill to the turnaround, then back the same way.
The climb felt pretty slow and after the turnaround the more subtle uphill felt even slower.
I still managed to make decent time though and hold a solid pace any time I checked my watch.
Time - 26:41

Wrapup
My total time was 1:26:16. I definitely feel like I could have done better if I'd backed off a little on the end of the swim and not gotten stupid on my bike dismount, but not by a whole lot.
After the finish there was free pasta and beer, which was nice. I also ran into Jen Martinez, a BTCer who i hadn't seen since last year. I only saw two BTCers during the race, but I didn't know either of them, I picked them out only because they had the BTC gear on.

All told it was a very enjoyable race and probably just what I needed. After the Long Course, I got sick just as I was starting to get past being worn out from the race. Then, just as I was starting to feel better and starting to feel excited about training again I went away for my brother's bachelor party. I did very little training during the 6 days I was away for that
nd the race really kicked me into gear I think. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's workout.