Sunday, August 7, 2011

A Race Report Of OUCH!

Things I was reminded of this morning about sprint triathlons:

1) A very long warmup is required because when the gun goes BOOM, there isn't any time to mess around!  (luckily I remembered this before the race also and warmed up for almost as long as the race itself :)

2) They are very, very painful.  Like OUCH!  I think my heart was pumping out lactic acid instead of blood from the gun!  (and it took me a good 5 minutes to stop breathing hard after I finished :) 

3) Young kids can swim very fast and also run fast too.  The swim today was in a LCM pool and there were 4 people/lane with two starting on each side.  One of the people starting opposite of me looked to be about 15 years old but also looked to be QUITE a swimmer.  Indeed, he lapped me!  (keeping in mind, he lapped me after about 500 meters!)  Also, on the run, I got passed like I was STANDING STILL by one of Oscar's high school runners (who is also a very good triathlete).  And the kid is 14, just about to be a freshman.  :)

4) Despite being painful, sprints are also over very quickly!  I JUST started to feel pretty good when we had about 1 mile left to go on the run.  :)  Also, they are FUN!  Especially today, when I knew so many other racers.  I had a ball!  (plus the bike course has an ITU feel with 5 laps so I got to see Oscar a gazillion times!)

Did I get my goal of beating my time from 2006?  Yes!  In fact I even set a course record today, the previous mark held by another Penn State runner (who was a freshman the year I had graduated so we were not teammates).  Also, I won some MONEY!  Woo-hoo!  Straight to the "power meter for Beth" fund!  :)

North Park Triathlon: 700 meter swim/12.5 mile bike/5K run
*It should be noted that T1 is included in your swim time and T2 is included in your bike time.  Unfortunately no extra time is included in your run time (it's just that slow)!  The run is just gnarly as all get out - all on trails (except for the last 400 meters) and rocky, rooty, HILLY and brutal! 

2006: 12:52/33:47/22:22 = 1:09:01
2011: 12:23/31:57/21:38 = 1:06:01 (split times are off my watch so they might not be exact but final time is correct)

Yeah fun!


On the "podium" with 2 great friends, Mimi and Jen!  :)
Such a fun morning and great to see lots of awesome performances including many first timers, many up and comers and many seasoned veterans!  And I'm already home, unpacked and finished with my race report!  :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and congrats to all who raced!

15 comments:

  1. Congrats on the course record and win!

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  2. AWESOME!!!! course record AND cash?! girl you are on a roll!!! super huge congrats to you. I'm so excited to see you destroy kona. this has been SUCH an awesome year for you!!!

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  3. Wow! Being able to crush a sprint triathlon in the midst of ironman training is amazing!!!! :)

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  4. Seriously Beth Crushing it like a grape! You rock girl!!!

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  5. AWESOME! Love those local, fun $ races! :)

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  6. Beth, you are such a machine this year, somehow you are able to bring it come game day, to find speed in all of that long stuff is amazing. Keep on keeping on Beth.

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  7. holy smokes beth - you are killing it this year. congrats on the course record!!!

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  8. Hi! You moved!! I'm glad you kept the same blog name!!!! (I used Quentin Cassidy as a "Celebrity" in a game I played this weekend w/ runner friends!)

    Congrats on a great race where you killed it! I hope the sprint was fun :) A rare treat for you it seems these days w/ all of your long course!

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  9. Congrats again - that is awesome about the course record!

    I've only done 1 sprint - that was NP in 2007. I'm thinking I should do another one at some point, but I know it is REALLY gonna hurt!!

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  10. I love racing the little races when I'm in IM shape. They are so fun. And they hurt so much! Nice job on the win and the $$.

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  11. Way to bring home the $$$! You will love a powermeter!! And course record!!!!!!! Yeah!!!

    tn

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  12. Yeah!! you're on blogspot!! This makes me happy (and happy no more spammers can get you!). Nice work my friend!! You rocked it!

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  13. congrats! fun race for sure :) i am doing a sprint next weekend too and i can't wait hahaahh

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  14. Sweet! Sounds like you had a blast...and sounds a lot like our local sprints. Local and low key on the one hand yet still competitive as there is a lot of local talent. Also same in the gnarly run category...hilly, rutted, rocky dirt road and a bit of grass.

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  15. Congrats on the course record! I LOVE doing the hometown races...so nice to sleep in your own bed. I agree those short ones are super painful! Keep up the great training!

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