CATS Sprint Tri- AR State Championships

I always do a race report of my races so I can go back and review them for next time. Here is my report from the CATS Sprint in Conway, AR. My goal was to finish in 1:25 to 1:27.June 7, 2009.

I got up around 5:45 AM. We stayed at my parents house the night before, so I wanted to be and ready, I took a hot shower to get loose, and then ate a bagel and drank some Gatorade. My dad and I had driven the bike and run course the day before, so I felt ready physically. I packed my bag up and loaded up the van.

My dad and I got to the event early so I could get body-marked, get my timing chip and set-up my transition area. I also took the time to get in a little swim to see how the water felt and if I needed my wetsuit or not. No wetsuit needed.This was the first Tri my family had seen me run this year and first one my folks have ever been too. My mom was shocked at the number of guys with shaved leggs! LOL She thought it was exciting watching the start of the race.

500 yd Swim 10:01
The swim was frustrating. It was a beach start, which meant it was a typical run into the water type of start. I hate those. They started in waves, ages 39 and under went first. I usually like to get to the outside so I can have a line to swim in, but it was impossible this day. I think alot of people got to close to the front that were not good swimmers and wore out before the first buoy. Alot of people also stopped to get a breath or to sight the turn, which caused a pile up for everyone else. I got hit, slapped, kicked, pushed and shoved all the way to the first buoy. Finally I got to the point of saying "screw it" and lowered my head and started swimming through and over people. After the first turn, I finally got a line to swim and got into my pace. It went alot better afte the first turn.

T1 - 1:05
This is the area where you go from the swim to the bike. Coming out of the water, they had it lined with carpet about 70 feet uphill. I was able to come out of the water running, tearing off goggles and swim cap and then raun up the hill, trying to make up for lost time swimming. I stepped in the wading pools, to clear my feet and headed straight for the bike, on with the shoes, snap the helmet, grabbed glasses and was gone. This was one of my fastest transitions ever!

15 mile Bike- 46:34 19.3 mph average
Thankfully, we drove the bike course the day before and I was able to mark spots so I know where I was on the course and knew where the hills and inclines were. I was able to hit speeds of 40 mph and sometimes my top speed was 8 mph on hills. The leggs were buring towards the end of the route. The hills were such gradual inclines and this is what made it tough. My gearing went well , so I was able to not totally bonk. I also hit a gel during the bike when I felt the calve twitching alittle. I did not want to battle cramps on the run. Coming back to the transition area, I was able to get out of my shoes and pedal on top of the shoes to the dismount line.

T2- :58
Another fast transition for me. Having the shoes already off and clipped to the bike helped. I racked my bike, threw on my running shoes. Off with the helmet and grabbed my racing belt and headed off. I was able to get my race number on as I was running, which helped. Almost ran over the boy scout handing out water, I think he misunderstood me and tried to give me water when I said no! I was really not feeling to good about this race on the bike, I thought I had blown my goal time coming into T2.

3.1 mile run- 27:04- 8:28 minute mile
Again, driving the course helped me out alot. I knew where the turns were and where the hills would be also. The run took off on some fields and then hit the road. I did stop to stretch out the left calve that was twitiching, it usually takes me about a 1/2 mile to get my running leggs back. I kept looking for the 1 mile marker that was on the side of the road Sat, and it never came, I thought i was running slower than I was when I noticed I was already at the turn-around point. I grabbed some water, sloshed it around and headed to the finish ine. The second wind hit. I felt pretty good at this point. Coming back into the park, I saw the wife and kids there, then my parents, and you never want to look tired then, so I sped it up alittle thinking the finish line was at the next turn. Wrong! It was another 1/4 mile around everything before you crossed the line! That was a pisser to find out.

All in all, I finished in 1:25:39. 117 out of 283. Best finish yet at this distance! Next year I will d this race unless I step it up to the Half Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.2 mile run)