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| Post-race, rocking my Storms Fitness tank top |
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| At the Alcazar in Seville, Spain |
Traveling over five hours to New York for a sprint triathlon might seem a bit cumbersome for most. We were two of four NH participants, so that is probably a fair assumption. Nonetheless, we made this trip for a variety of reasons. First, the race is well-organized, has fabulous goodies bags, and it is a relatively flat course. For those seeking an extremely challenging/hilly race--this is not the right race--but it is a great race if you have been a bit shaky with training throughout the year. While I did stick to my training plan, it was not as aggressive as previous years, so I was curious as to how that would all play out on race day. One thing I did differently with training is I spent more time inside attending spin classes vs. logging cycling miles outside. This was mainly due to time constraints, but I also find it is much harder to find workout buddies for my rides.
The afternoon before the race, we arrived at the Hobart & William Smith recreation center to pick up our packets and goodie bags (my husband is a Hobart alum). One thing I was unprepared for was having to weigh myself and record that information (for re hydrating purposes in case of medical emergency)--this made me a bit irritated, but surprisingly, the lingering effects of my June Arbonne cleanse paid off and this was not a self-esteem destroying experience. The t-shirt in our goodie packet was a nice wicking material, but ran very small--so that went into the donate pile when I returned home. Otherwise, there were some great items from sponsors.
After getting situated for the race, we checked into our hotel, grabbed a bite to eat in Geneva, and headed down to the race area to check things out. We caught a portion of the Musselfest activities (which were a bit bizzare, but very entertaining). It is a family friendly weekend, so I recommend this as a great destination race for triathletes with kids. We went to bed early to allow for pre-race fueling, and preparation in the morning. Mini Mussel starts at 9:00 AM, which is much better than those early starts, but then it heats up fast in July.
Our race morning was very smooth for the most part. I woke up and promptly had my Arbonne smoothie and gathered together my race fuel including Arbonne Fizz sticks, Huma gels, and Nuun hydration tabs. Sprints are great because you really don't need a lot of fuel items to sustain unlike the olympic and half iron distances. Parking was messy as the field was muddy and wet. Hopefully this feedback was provided for next year because several cars did get stuck. Fortunately, we were not one of those cars, but with a little Honda Civic, we were concerned. Mark and I were pleasantly surprised to find our bike racks near each other (this never happens!), so we were relaxed as we set up our stations. I made a last minute decision to wear my wet suit (glad I did) and then we plodded over to the swim start. The cobblestone/grass combo in the transition area was rather unpleasant, but we managed to get through the painful walk.
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| A little Gogi Berry Green Tea Nuun for the bike portion |
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| Transition area |
Mark was in the first swim wave and I was just 5 minutes behind in the second wave. I had a goal of catching him, but Mark's swim has improved considerably over the last few years. Also, my swim training seriously lacked effort for this triathlon, so his 50 sec faster swim was not surprising. I'll have to step up swimming if I want to seriously improve in that portion of the triathlong. Nonetheless, for not having done any open waters, I did OK with a 15:07 swim time. This was still 52 seconds faster than my time back in 2009 (no wet suit though).
For T1, I had a slightly faster transition than in 2009 (about 10 seconds). I think this could have been better if we had not had to hobble over the cobblestones. Now I know how those Tour de France riders feel!
The bike ride started out very strong. I felt like I was on track to crush my previous time, but I lost my chain during one of the hills so that lost me a few minutes. I continued to push on over the rolling hill course. I was happy to find myself passing other racers on the hills (those who know me know that I loathe hill training), so my spin classes paid off big time in this section. I was fine on the flats and overall, it was a good ride. One area where I was a bit confused is I thought we had to turn around and go back up a hill, so I conserved some energy where I otherwise would have pushed harder (it was the course with riders just starting, not a turnaround). The final bike time was nearly 2 minutes faster than 2009 (would have been about 4 without the chain incident!) and my pace was 17:29 mph, which is very fast for me.
In T2, I took way too long. And I knew it at the time. I stopped to dry my feet, blow my nose, put on my watch, and change into a running skirt because I could not stand my biking/tri shorts. This was a costly series of choices time-wise as I might have been able to catch Mark on the run. T2 was nearly 1 minute slower than 2009. I knew better and I am kicking myself for a few of those choices (but not the running skirt).
The run was nothing exciting. It is a flat run along the lake, so it is easy to be complacent. It was also very hot. I used my Inov8 sneakers instead of my heavier Asics and I was glad that I did. My run was 30 seconds faster than in 2009, but it should have been quicker. My average pace was 9:10, so not bad, but I did not put forth everything I had. I think I was enjoying looking at the people and the dogs while running. I smiled a lot, so that is important.
My overall time was 1:46:55 which was 3:28 faster than in 2009! While, I missed beating my husband by two minutes (and it was only my 2nd fastest sprint triathlon), I do think it was a successful race to show that my 34 year old body is stronger and faster than I was when I was 28. I owe the time improvement to my crossfit training at Crossfit Ironborn in Concord, NH and my spinning instructors at Storms Fitness in Hopkinton, NH.
Recommendation: I strongly recommend this race to beginners and those looking for a fun race with plenty to do post-race. Mark and I spent a fabulous day in the Finger Lakes region tasting wines and enjoying a top-notch meal at Stonecat Cafe.
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| Stonecat Cafe, Hector, NY |
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| Wine Tasting |
