2009 5430 Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I did my first triathlon today! The 5430 (elevation of Boulder) Sprint Triathlon at the Boulder Reservoir.

First off: that was fun. I’ve been training since January 1 so I felt strong and happy the entire way. Well, at least until the last half a mile when I said to myself ‘sprint you bigass runner.’ I passed ten people in the last hundred yards and 100% without any second thoughts did the ‘I just won the race arm pump’ at the finish line.

Yep, one of those days.

A sprint triathlon is roughly a half mile swim, 18 mile bike ride and a 5k run. The swim is what everyone generally fears. This was my first one, didn’t really know what to expect.

If someone knows how I started to think this was a good idea, please let me know. Funny how randomly addicted I have become.

My splits were:

Swim: 17:47
Trans 1: 2:25
Bike: 52.23
Trans 2: 1:15
Run: 26:47
Total: 1:40:35
Rank: 18/58 in the Clydesdale division

The swim was slower, as it was my first open water swim and I zig zaged and ran into people a bit more than I would like to admit. I took all the corners really well. Wasn’t too tired after. Felt really good about it.

The bike was fun until about the halfway mark, when I heard a little ‘tink’ and then felt my left cleat on the bike go really loose. At the end of the race I found that two of the three screws holding it onto my shoe were missing. I was scared of this happening, and didn’t do any pulling on the upstroke. I was passed by a fair about of bikes worth more than my car, and was alright with that.

The run was steady. I passed Rich (who had passed me on the bike). He was taking it really slow after injuring himself in the 120 day challenge. I started kicking at half a mile and has a super fast finish. Kick ass for finishing the run Rich, pushing through injury is tough!

The user experience of the non race frankly sucked. My race time was 1:40, and my time waiting for things like getting marked, getting a drink and banana after the race and waiting for the restroom took 1:45.

Yeah, I spent more time waiting for logistics than it took me to race 22 miles. This drives me nuts. If you have 1600 athletes coming through a line, perhaps you should have more than one table and three staffers. Just sayin.

I also saw quite a few tech folks out there.

So now is gut check time. Half Ironman distance or not. I guess I will have to see how I feel tomorrow as I get in touch with some coaches.