Yup...did my last tri of the "season" yesterday. Another sprint: 600yd swim (but was shorter, just not sure how short), 14.25 mile bike, 5k.
Here's my race report:
Wading in for a "warmup" swim was a good idea. It was chillly! I at least knew what I should expect when I hit the water for the race. Low 60s at best for a water temp, I think. It had been cold for a few days and rained that night and into the morning. Thank Dog for my wetsuit! The start was 5 at a time every 5 seconds. The water was PACKED. We ran about 100yds before we got to water deep enough to swim in.
Whay have it there? I was swimming around and over people. One of the worse swim portions I've seen, though I finished well, and was pleased with my overall placing for that portion. I ran up on shore, feeling good about my time on the swim, and didn't feel the chill in the air as I stripped off the top half of my wetsuit. Ran to my bike, got my shoes and shirt on and took of to the mounting area.
The roads were wet from the rain from the night before and what was still coming down. But as I got going, I felt good and was pushing the pace fairly decently. My cyclocomputer was reading 24-25mph for the first couple flat to stlightly downhill miles. I was feeling good. The hills weren't too big and not overly challenging (plus my training rides had some decent ones, at least). The worst part was how far we had to slow down on the turns (which were rather sharp). Took lots of the momentum away, and I need my momentum, being a bigger rider. Finished the bike with what I calculated later as a 20.4mph average for the course, which is a record pace for me.
Back to the transition area, chugged a little sports drink and pounded a goo, threw on the running shoes and off I went for my last 3.1 miles. It's always a little odd when you get off the bike and hit the run, but I felt stranger than usual this time. Just into the run, I realized my right foot was numb, and wasn't getting any better. That sucked, but I kept pushing through it. We had to stop for bikes to cross in front of us on the run portion, which hurt the time a bit. I kept going, still with my foot being numb. There was some running on a wet trail, and a guy next to me bit it, so I stopped to help him up. It wasn't until about halfway into the run that the numbness in my foot started to let up. When it finally did, I was onto the trails for the rest of the race. There were some spots with poor footing and unevenness. Then a final uphill that threatened to cause my quads to cramp. I fought that off to the final turn and was able to "sprint" the remainder of the race to the finish line.
My time ended up as 1hr 20min 33sec. Good enough for 125th overall, out of ~500 entrants. My best finish yet!
I'm not the best or fastest out there, but I love doing them, and will keep at it as long as I can. I'll never win one, but I might be able to win my age group when I'm 70.
On to planning next year's schedule now.