Heartland Sprint Triathlon-Sebring FL June 20, 2010
I didn’t realize at first that this was father’s day! For many months I had planned for this race and didn’t realize that it would fall not only on father’s day but my second son Jacob’s 7th birthday. We celebrated Jakey’s birthday on Friday. And I celebrated father’s day way early with a new iPad several weeks before. So I had that going for me which was nice.
I made a reservation for the Residence Inn in Sebring. We drove down in the early evening. I was originally going to go by myself but I convinced Summer into bringing the kids since it was Father’s day and all. So we set off and got there around 8:30 pm. Luckily, the race allowed race morning packet pick up so we didn’t have to rush. I took a couple of Advil PMs and went to bed early to get up at 6 am for the race!
I got up and hit snooze on my iPhone several times, making me late. The hotel was only a couple of miles from transition. So I decided to go get signed in, set up transition and then come back and pick up the kids and Summy. Well that didn’t work out. I got there got my chip, and transition set up, and had a whooping 15 minutes to spare before the first swim wave took off. I called Summer and explained the situation and she wasn’t too disappointed. Since we find out we’re expecting our 4th child, she has had serious problems with morning sickness and nausea. So running around downtown Sebring stuck for the whole 2 hour race was probably not her most exciting idea. So I was on my own. Ironic I thought since I was expecting to do rice by myself anyway!
I made my way to the swim down the hill. The swim was in Lake Jackson, once out of the lake we had to run up a hill through sand to the transition area. I waded out to the swim start. It was very shallow for awhile and I had a chance to swim a little bit to warm up. I had a yellow cap so that meant I was the in the fourth wave. Each wave started four minutes apart with the start at 7:30 am. So I meandered over to the swim start. It was .25 mile square, that started and finished about 50 yards out in the water so I would have a little jog up the hill to the bike portion.
I went to the far right of the start since I didn’t want a mash up for the start. I knew I would swim a little bit farther but I didn’t want to get hit too much. The swim went great except I didn’t start my watch at the beginning so I don’t know what my true swim was since the race time is off due to all the running in from the water and beach to the timing mat. I didn’t go really fast, the race said 2:45 every 100 yards so it was 440 yards so the race way 12 minutes or so.
The T1 time was five minutes and most of that was getting sand off my feet. I hate the sand. I would go to the beach more often if it wasn’t for the sand! T1 took almost 6 minutes but again most of that was running to T1. I took off on the bike without much trouble and headed out.
The bike was a lap around Lake Jackson with some machinations at the end into some orange groves and then back into transition. I was ready to hammer and pound away in the big ring since it was race day and I had done SO much zone 2 little ring training sessions. My bike was tuned up and ready and no longer had the annoying click from a loose bottom bracket. I felt great on the bike. Things were coming smoothly and I was passing people. Pretty soon I realized I was over 21 mph for the first few miles. I didn’t stay in aero as much as I wanted. My HR was around 160 bpm for the whole bike ride and my mph was 18.4! A new PR for sure; one of my goals for this season was to average 17 mph for the whole bike leg in a race. I didn’t care if it was a super sprint, or the Olympic. But I did it! Feels great.
T2 went by in just a couple of minutes. Ran in dumped the bike switched shoes, put on my hat, ditched the iPhone and took off. The first mile was absolute torture! I was with some middle aged women who were complaining the whole time. One lady kept saying, “see you at the finish” as you passed her walking then she would start to run and pass you! And on it went over and over with several different people. She was annoying. Eventually she stopped running and started walking I guess since I never saw her again. The run was around downtown Sebring and then they ran us right by the finish, and back around to the finish line. I walked the aid stations at every mile. I ran the rest of the way except for a minute or two in a grass section after mile 1. It was really a gulch by the railroad tracks. I hate grass! I ran the rest of the way in and passed some more walkers, but more runners passed me. I even saw one girl who was doing the race as a relay walking! She was so skinny and walking a 5k. Here I am 300+ and running most of the way after doing the whole race. She still beat me. I made the final turn and sprinted through the finish. The 5k was done in 40:25. The time at the finish line was 1:59:30, but I knew since I was in the 4th wave it was quicker than that.
My goal for the race was 1:55 or faster, and I ended doing the race in 1:48 or so and with a new PR in the bike leg and run leg. The bike leg was 2 mph faster than ever before and the 5k was 15 seconds faster. The swim sucks at this point. I haven’t put as much time into as I’d like simply because it’s a hassle to get to the pool and work around pool schedules. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting slower with my swimming.
The rest though is going great. I am definitely in favor of zone 2 training for a base.
Next up is the Florida Challenge Olympic Distance in September which will be hilly and hot. But it’s my A race and I hope to be under 300 lbs for that race. That would be awesome!
I didn’t realize at first that this was father’s day! For many months I had planned for this race and didn’t realize that it would fall not only on father’s day but my second son Jacob’s 7th birthday. We celebrated Jakey’s birthday on Friday. And I celebrated father’s day way early with a new iPad several weeks before. So I had that going for me which was nice.
I made a reservation for the Residence Inn in Sebring. We drove down in the early evening. I was originally going to go by myself but I convinced Summer into bringing the kids since it was Father’s day and all. So we set off and got there around 8:30 pm. Luckily, the race allowed race morning packet pick up so we didn’t have to rush. I took a couple of Advil PMs and went to bed early to get up at 6 am for the race!
I got up and hit snooze on my iPhone several times, making me late. The hotel was only a couple of miles from transition. So I decided to go get signed in, set up transition and then come back and pick up the kids and Summy. Well that didn’t work out. I got there got my chip, and transition set up, and had a whooping 15 minutes to spare before the first swim wave took off. I called Summer and explained the situation and she wasn’t too disappointed. Since we find out we’re expecting our 4th child, she has had serious problems with morning sickness and nausea. So running around downtown Sebring stuck for the whole 2 hour race was probably not her most exciting idea. So I was on my own. Ironic I thought since I was expecting to do rice by myself anyway!
I made my way to the swim down the hill. The swim was in Lake Jackson, once out of the lake we had to run up a hill through sand to the transition area. I waded out to the swim start. It was very shallow for awhile and I had a chance to swim a little bit to warm up. I had a yellow cap so that meant I was the in the fourth wave. Each wave started four minutes apart with the start at 7:30 am. So I meandered over to the swim start. It was .25 mile square, that started and finished about 50 yards out in the water so I would have a little jog up the hill to the bike portion.
I went to the far right of the start since I didn’t want a mash up for the start. I knew I would swim a little bit farther but I didn’t want to get hit too much. The swim went great except I didn’t start my watch at the beginning so I don’t know what my true swim was since the race time is off due to all the running in from the water and beach to the timing mat. I didn’t go really fast, the race said 2:45 every 100 yards so it was 440 yards so the race way 12 minutes or so.
The T1 time was five minutes and most of that was getting sand off my feet. I hate the sand. I would go to the beach more often if it wasn’t for the sand! T1 took almost 6 minutes but again most of that was running to T1. I took off on the bike without much trouble and headed out.
The bike was a lap around Lake Jackson with some machinations at the end into some orange groves and then back into transition. I was ready to hammer and pound away in the big ring since it was race day and I had done SO much zone 2 little ring training sessions. My bike was tuned up and ready and no longer had the annoying click from a loose bottom bracket. I felt great on the bike. Things were coming smoothly and I was passing people. Pretty soon I realized I was over 21 mph for the first few miles. I didn’t stay in aero as much as I wanted. My HR was around 160 bpm for the whole bike ride and my mph was 18.4! A new PR for sure; one of my goals for this season was to average 17 mph for the whole bike leg in a race. I didn’t care if it was a super sprint, or the Olympic. But I did it! Feels great.
My goal for the race was 1:55 or faster, and I ended doing the race in 1:48 or so and with a new PR in the bike leg and run leg. The bike leg was 2 mph faster than ever before and the 5k was 15 seconds faster. The swim sucks at this point. I haven’t put as much time into as I’d like simply because it’s a hassle to get to the pool and work around pool schedules. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting slower with my swimming.
The rest though is going great. I am definitely in favor of zone 2 training for a base.
Next up is the Florida Challenge Olympic Distance in September which will be hilly and hot. But it’s my A race and I hope to be under 300 lbs for that race. That would be awesome!