James Island Sprint Tri #1 Recap

It’s triathlon season again, which means it’s time for the James Island Sprint Triathlon Series.

After last years championship race, the series offered a significant discount if you signed up for all 5 races for the following year. Considering all I had to do was race 2 of them to get my money’s worth, I signed up for all 5. I doubt I’ll race all 5 (most notably the one on Fathers Day) but I hope to get 3-4.

The Swim

Distance: 600 yards 673 yards

Fastest Time: 14:03

I’ve spend quite a bit of time lately concentrating on form and technique. My practice swims, though shorter distances, were getting faster so I expected I’d be able to take some time off of my swim. It ended up being a bit of a snafu, though. I nearly ran into one person and actually ran into another, and ended up so far wide I touched the shore twice. I was disappointed when I exited the water and found that my finish time was nearly one minute SLOWER than last year, and cursed while I ran to transition and realized I had gone 73 yards too far. Later, it turns out that the buoys were likely placed too far apart as I wasn’t the only one who calculated a longer distance. On the plus side, I exited the water and jogged to transition without feeling like my legs were made of lead. And, my pace was actually faster than last year. Had the distance been correct, my exit time would have been 13:30 (30 seconds faster). Also, I really should have practiced some sighting.

Time: 15:02

Transition One

Fastest Time: 1:30

I hadn’t practiced transitions at all since I started training and it showed. I had issues with my helmet and had to put it on my head twice. I felt unorganized.

Time: 1:36

The Bike

Distance: 12 miles

Fastest Time: 35:15

I’ve never been very smooth at mounting my bike and getting clipped in and today was no exception, though honestly for the longer distances I’m really unconcerned about it, so there is a good chance not much practice will go into this this year. This course has quite a few hairpin turns and I’m pretty sure I lost time on them. Plus, I was back and forth with another girl in my age group for most of the ride, and trying to avoid passing each other constantly, I stayed back for a good distance. Does this mean I could have stayed in front of her? I’m not sure. I did eventually pass her near the end but I’m not certain I would have maintained it. I think more knowledge of the course will help my speed next time. Though it was slower, I wasn’t disappointed. It is the first race of the season, after all.

Time: 36:02

Transition Two

Fastest Time: 48 seconds

This transition was slightly better, but still slower

Time: 56 seconds

The Run

Distance: 3.1 miles

Fastest Time: 24:24

 

Finally a time I was able to beat! I had some leftover confidence from my fairly recent marathon time and figured a 7:50 average should be doable. My first mile was right on target at 7:50 and the second at 7:45. I stopped for water at mile 3 and lost several seconds (and ironically, a 23:xx finish time. ugh). I met up with Jason near the end and basically forced him to sprint with me, which I wasn’t sure he was super thrilled about.

Time: 24:00 

Overall

Fastest time: 1:16:12

This Race: 1:17:31

I’m blaming the long swim.

I had honestly hoped for a PR on this race because I figured it’ll be the only one I’m not too tired to actually race, but who knows. And I’m not disappointed. Plus, I won a mug, so who can be sad after that?