Harriman Sprint Race Report

I'm a little late on the race report but my first triathlon of the season (5/5) got turned into a Duathlon! There was a crazy, thick fog that covered the entirety of Lake Welch up in Harriman Park.  You literally could not even see the lake from transition. 

See the lake behind us? Me neither!

The race was supposed to go off at 8am, but they wanted to wait it out to see if the fog would lift.  By 830, there wasn't a chance in that happening so TriRock wisely cancelled the swim and turned into a du. I have to give TriRock some props.  They communicated very effectively, had courteous people working and relaying information, despite being bombarded with questions.  Since there would obviously be a safety issue swimming with such dense fog, they 100% made the right call.  Was I disappointed about the non-swim?  Yes and no.  Yes because I wanted to get that precious 500 meters of open water swimming down.  No because I was coming off one of the longest, most stress-filled work weeks ever.  I was so stressed that the thought of racing literally almost brought tears to my eyes the night before.  So I kinda was relieved I didn't have to worry about swimming with all those lake zombies/monsters/fish/sharks/snakes. (Am I irrational? Completely!)

Fifth Gear Teammates!

The first run was just shy of 1 loop of the run course.  It measured out to be about 1.33 miles.  Fifth Gear buddy Brie and I took off, sprinting our way around the loop. The run course was pretty nice with just a few rollers.  There was one hill but it seriously doesn't show up on my Garmin elevation.  Was I imagining it??  I honestly couldn't didn't have any goals for this race.  Like I said, work was insane and I just needed to be happy with getting some fresh mountain air and some exercise.

T1 was uneventful and I flew through there, pulling off my speed laced sneaks and sliding on my pink Sidi's. Surprised I have pink bike shoes? Me neither. The run out of transition was a tad long and muddy!  So I did the best I could without slipping and made my way to the mount line.  I kinda wish I knew how to mount/dismount with my shoes on my bike.  But on the other hand, that may be a disaster waiting to happen!

Once I got on my trusty Roo I let her rip!!  I absolutely love riding and I figured since it was a short race, just to hammer the bike and survive the run.  Biking is now my favorite sport out of the 3 and I just wanted to hammer out some of the work stress. Hammer it I did!  I passed a ton of people and only got passed by one or two dudes and, I think, 2 chicks.  Where did I get passed?? Only on the uphills.  This course was kinda hilly, hillier than Central Park so it was challenging.  I felt like I had zero in the leg tank on the uphills but the flats & downhills I was cruising.  Note to self - ride more! and ride more hills!

Riding my ROO

I got to transition at the same time as a girl in my age group.  I dismounted, ran through the muddy transition area, plopped my shoes off and slid my sneaks back on.  I had the second fastest T2 time and I dropped the girl in my age group. 

For the run, the key word was survival.  I went out hard and I knew that on a "normal" day, my 5K pace should be around 7:50ish. Race day that translated to 8:00-8:05.  Not terrible, but I'm sure if I was more rested I would have gone a bit faster.  Mile one clocked in at 8:01.  I was hurting but this pace felt doable to hold onto.  The imaginary hill took it's toll on me the second loop around but I still clocked in at 8:05 for mile 2. 

The last mile is what cost me 3rd place.  I was breathing heavy, my legs felt like lead and a water station was calling my name, telling me I would feel sooooo much better if I got a drink of water.  So I stopped.  I freakin' stopped to grab water in a 5K.  I walked while drinking and as I did the girl who I beat out of transition ran right past me and never looked back.  Me?  I had nothing.  I couldn't respond.  I threw my cup down and charged ahead knowing I had a nice downhill to the finish.  Mile 3 was 8:15 (yikes) and the .11 came in at a 6:34 pace.  I had nothing more in me to fight for 3rd place.  I wound up coming in about 25 seconds after the 3rd place girl.  Doh.

At the time I really didn't care what place I came in.  I was tired, happy to finish and happy I was able to push myself after a crappy week. but -- when I saw the age group winners won a beer mug... I mean really?? Did you have to give out beer mugs the one race I don't place??  Oh well. 

I obviously have a little too much energy here... but the race announcer was pretty good!
And she liked my skull arm warmers!

Overall, it was a superbly run race and I was impressed with the high quality of "just a sprint" distance event.  I had fun racing with Brie and Jerome and the location was great for a tri course!

swim RUN1 1.33 miles = 9:56 (7:38 pace - 12th in AG)
T1 = 1:31 (3rd in age group)
BIKE almost 12 miles = 36:49 (4th in AG)
T2 = 1:26 (2nd fastest in AG)
RUN 2  3.1 miles = 25:07 (8:22 pace - 13th in AG)

TOTAL = 1:14:50

Up next... we're heading back up to Harriman for the Olympic Distance Race on 5/19! Then on Sunday I'm driving up to Quassy to ride the monster of a bike course!  #ALLIN