I was very thankful for the cooler temperatures and low humidity that resulted from the front that moved through yesterday, but the wind certainly ended up being a factor. I arrived at the park about 6:00 am and got a parking spot adjacent to transition. After getting marked and picking up my timing chip, I set up in transition.
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| Transition area all ready |
The field of 395 was larger than most of the races that I have done and included an elite, collegiate, and high school fields in addition to the age groupers. The transition area was quite over 100 yards from the water and was really long and narrow. I was in the 12th, and final, swim wave so my designated area was at the very back of transition.
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| Deep into the transition area |
Transition closed at 7:10 with a pre-race meeting at 7:15. The first swim wave started at about 7:35 and I didn't start until about 8:10. That resulted in a lot of standing around waiting for the race to start, but it also meant that I didn't have to worry about getting passed by many people because I was one of the last into the water. As the race started the wind was already starting to pick up, but by the time I got into the water it was about 15 mph and had a larger impact on my swim than I expected. I actually felt pretty good during the swim and was extremely surprised at how slow I was going. I had even managed to pass a few people during the swim, which NEVER happens to me. I went from one of my fastest swim times 2 weeks ago to my slowest today.
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| View of the swim course |
Once out of the water it was obvious that the winds were picking up even more. Because of the difference in start time between the swim waves, several of the elite and collegiate racers were already on the run course when I got on the bike, which was another strange feeling. Under the conditions, I actually rode pretty well even though I only averaged 16.9 mph. By the end of the bike the wind was gusting between 25 - 30 mph and I can recall one spot on the course when a gust of wind knocked my speed from 18 mph down to 8.5 almost instantly. I did manage to pass between 50 and 75 people while on the bike, which helped me feel a little better because it meant that everyone was struggling with the wind a bit.
The last mile of the bike course was shared with the out and back run course which was another interesting experience. In addition, the road in the park was open to traffic and their were fishermen and campers coming and going occasionally. This meant that in addition to battling the wind, I had to weave in and out of runners and vehicles. I don't often say this, but I was actually thankful to be off the bike and out on the run course.
I had certainly used a lot of my legs up on the bike, but was still feeling good as I started the run. I didn't push hard at all for the first mile but picked up the pace after that. The wind and cool temperatures were actually an asset on the run and the remaining 2 miles went by very quickly. As I turned the corner into the last .2 miles, a woman just a few years older than me got up along side me and said she was excited to finally catch me as she had been chasing me ever since I blew by her on the bike. We both had a good chuckle as we crossed the finish line.
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| Post race spaghetti provided by Zio Johno's...yum! |
Even though my times for the race were not the best, I am very proud of how I raced today. I did leave a little time on the course, especially in the run where I should have pushed the pace earlier. It seems strange to say, but over the past few years, I haven't really had a lot of opportunities to run the 5k distance and I tend to forget just how short it is. That is one of the major adjustments that I plan to make going into my next race. The other big change that I am hoping to make is getting out on the bike more, which should be easier now that school, and related activities, are done for the year.
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| Another triathlon in the books |
Overall, I really liked the Pigman Sprint and will certainly consider adding it to my schedule again in the future. With the exception of the short stretch shared between the run and bike, I really enjoyed all 3 parts of the course. The lake water was the clearest that I have swam in and the volunteers and event staff were very friendly.
I have less than 2 weeks until the Quad Cities Triathlon. I plan to do some race specific training between now and then and hope to show some improvement over my last 2 races. Thanks for reading!
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| Official results. I finished 275 out of 395 racers |
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