Race Report: Brierman Sprint Triathlon, October 12, 2008
Format: .45mile/21mile/4.9mile
The last race of the season – Hoorah! After much hemming and hawing about registering for the race, I signed up last Monday. I waited until the very last minute before I had the pay the extra, extra late fee. I was concerned about the water temp, the air temp, and the degree of difficulty for the bike and run course. However, Coach signed up (this being his first ever) and so did fellow club members, Dave Miller and Mike Matney. Being in good company, I decided to join the fun.
Sunday am came early as it always does for race day. After making sure our babysitter was on board at 6am, we headed over to the course. What a pleasure having to race so close to home. Since we did packet pick up Sat and transition spots were assigned, we didn’t have to get there any earlier. Once we were all set up, wetsuits on, we waited on the beach area for our start. The sun was coming up and I’d say we started out in the mid 50 degree temps. The guys headed out promptly at 8am, I was staged for 8:05.
The water temp was recorded at 66.5 degrees and it felt it. I had a layer of Vaseline on my arms and feet, just as a little insulation. And then we were off. The swim was pretty straightforward. I am happy to report I had no wet suit issues this time around. After the second turn, I met a few obstacles, but taking a moment to stay calm and restart slowly, helped me keep it together. The sun was providing a strong glare to the finish. Thankfully, the Piranha Sport inflatable archway really stood out.
There was much deliberation on the beach before the start – what do you put on for the bike? By midway of the ride, you will have warmed up, but you were going to start cold. Turns out, I got to transition not feeling too bad and decided to just go with my sprint suit and socks, nothing extra. It was a little chilly, but by the end, I was glad for my decision. The course was pretty hilly. With Half Liters and the Sprint men already on the course, it was hard to tell where you were in the placement. I rode back & forth with this guy, which was fun. I’d leave him on every descent, he’d pick me back up and drop me on all the climbs. This went on for the whole race, neither of us being able to shake the other.
Back into transition, I racked and headed out for this pretty demanding out and back run. I learned at about mile one I was in the lead, but had no idea by how much. The first hill wasn’t so bad, the downhill let you pick up speed. Here was my first sighting of Coach since the beach. He and another guy were running 1 & 2. I hit the turn around feeling pretty good. I saw some women approaching, but again, I had no way of knowing if they were Half Liters or Sprinters. So I had to step on the gas, which was getting progressively harder as I started back up the hill. That was tough and I was really digging deep not to get caught and to also not completely run out of steam. Finally, the top and a 1mile downhill finish. I stayed in the lead and finished 1st for the women at 2:07, 8th overall. Catching up with Coach at the finish line, I learned that he got 2nd for the men! Woohoo! Hmmm…If Coach stays with the tri thing, I may be out of a coach and will be lucky to keep him as Mechanic. And since he raced today, I had no support crew to take pictures!
At the awards ceremony, another participant happened to be from the Frederick News Post. Catching that we were a couple, he asked us a few questions and posted this nice little article about us. During the post race, we caught up with Mike and Dave. Both it seemed were having good days. Dave unfortunately had a mechanical that set him back, but still raced strong. Mike got 2nd in his age group.
