Webster Lake Sprint Tri Race Report

Two weeks after Rev3 I was back in action at the Webster Sprint Triathlon.  But not without more running troubles.  Right after Rev3 I was having a lot of pain with my hip flexor and I finally went to see a doctor.  While he couldn’t conclusively say what the issue was, I was put on rest for a week and then was allowed to slowly start running again, doing a run/walk combo.

 

So in the month prior to Webster I had only run four times, with Rev3 being one of the four.  The doctor said I could do the race as long as I took it easy on the run, since it was less than 3 miles.

 

Swim – 1/2 mile – 12:08, 1:23/100y (2010 – 11:36, 1:19/100y)

I got stuck on the outside going around the first buoy and the course seemed a little longer than last year, but certainly not a half mile.  I was not as fast relative to the field as I was in 2010 and I think a lot of it was not being aggressive enough to try to get on the fast swimmer’s feet.

 

Coming out of the water

T1 – 3:51 (2010 – 4:01)

Last year my feet were brutalized by the 1/4 mile chip sealed road to transition.  This year I tried leaving shoes at the edge of the beach for the run, but putting shoes on and off was only marginally faster than running on the gravelly road.

Bike – 12 miles – 35:25, 20.3 mph (2010 – 35:38, 20.2 mph)

The bike is a tricky course, with a fairly steep half mile climb followed by a steep descent with a 90 degree turn.  From there it is gently rolling back to T2.  It is important to go hard on the hill but leave plenty in the tank as 60% of the course is on the flats after the hill.  This year it was also a headwind on the flat section.  I had a strong rider pass me early on and I was able to use him as a carrot to keep my effort up.  I ended up with the second best split in my age group and top 25 overall.  I was pleased with this part of the race.

 

Checking for traffic before swinging out to cut the apex into T2

T2 – 1:00 (2010 – 0:40)

At this point I mentally shut down the “racing”.  I took my time getting my shoes on and elected to run in more cushioned shoes without speed laces on.  This slowed my T2 relative to the prior year. 

Run – 2.75 miles – 22:38, 8:13/mile (2010 – 23:04, 8:20/mile)

For the run my plan was to just cruise at 9:00 pace but I was creeping toward 8:30 unless I was staring at the Garmin.  My main focus was to just keep the effort in check and avoid any further injuries. 

 

Heading out onto the run

 

With about 1/4 mile to go I accelerated a little keep a few people behind me and ended up with a very comfortable 8:13 average and no issues with the leg.

Crossing the line

 

While my time was just about the same as 2010, I enjoyed a day racing and getting back to running without any pain. 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				15		217
Swim	12:08	1/2 mile	1:23/100yd	8	53%	78	36%
T1	3:51			6	40%	79	36%
Bike	35:25	12 miles	20.3 mph	2	13%	24	11%
T2	1:00			8	53%	112	52%
Run	22:38	2.75 miles	8:13/mile	11	73%	113	52%
Total	1:15:04			6	40%	53	24%

 

Here you can see the time lost on the swim and T2 against 2010’s performance, but with the faster T1, bike and run it was almost a dead heat!