Colonial Beach Tri, Race report

Well, I wasn't sure what to expect but I feel like I did accomplish the minimal goals I had for this race.

Here is a synopsis of my race results, which in a nutshell is the story of my triathlon career.

swim(1000 m): 195 out of 212 men (21:13) :-)
bike(40k): 127 out of 212 (1:12:35)(20.5 mph)
run(10k): 108 out of 212(48:02)(8 minute miles)


My goals were: 1) relax and swim(swallow as little of the Potomac river as possible) 2) avg over 20mph on the bike 3) run the 10K in under 50 minutes 4) have fun.

This was my first step in trying to move up to the Olympic distance and beyond. If you know anything about me you know that I'm always anxious about the swim. More so in this one because there was a possibility that wetsuits would not be allowed. I've lately built up
to swimming 1500 continuously, in the pool, and I've continued doing weekly open water swims. So I was able to keep the negative self talk to a minimum but was quite happy to find out, just before the start, that wetsuits would be allowed. Colonial Beach is sort of a sleepy little town on the Potomac, with a *beach* and *boardwalk*, out in the middle of nowhere. Good place for a triathlon. The river at Colonial Beach is wide and calm(at least on this weekend), another point that contributed to the positive karma of this race. My strategy for the swim is always to stay to the outside and start in the rear so as to avoid the pushing, and shoving and grabbing. Worked well this time, from the positive mental state standpoint, not so good from the fast time standpoint. I stayed out wide of the buoys and just cruised along at my own pace. About half way I started seeing yellow swim caps go flying by. Swimmers from the next wave. Looked like their turnover was about triple mine... Whatever. They had plenty of room to roll on by! I just told myself I'd see them somewhere down the road. The last leg seemed to take a long time but I never got tired or flustered. Someone later said that the current was against us on the way back in. I got out of the water feeling fresh and relaxed although my T1 time is not so good since it's a struggle getting my big feet out of the wetsuit. Any way, out of T1 and the race starts for me. I had no idea what kind of pace I should have for a race of this length, and a slightly hilly course, so I just decided to push as hard as I could for as long as I could. This again was a good choice of strategy because it allowed me to pass a ton of people, which added to my positive mental state, which just pushed me on to want to pass more people. There were a few pretty hefty hills on the course and half way up one I finally remembered, EUREKA, my bike has a small chain ring. The downhills were fast and fun! I was never passed during the entire bike portion(probably a benefit of coming out of the water near the back). I was drinking gatorade consistently and had one carbboom near the end of the bike. Off the bike and onto the run course I was a bit worried that I'd pushed too hard on the bike, so I just took it easy and decided I just wanted to finish without walking. That lasted about 5 minutes. Until a guy goes blowing by. Uh, wait! That can't happen, the run is supposed to be my "thing". So I pick it up to stay with him. After about a quarter mile thinking I'm going to lose a lung, I look at the back of his leg where the number 21 has been printed... hmmm... I'm suffering here and that guy is less than half my age.... back to the original plan about not walking. The run course is scenic and runs along the river for about 2 miles before it ducks around past a marina and into a neighborhood. I think it took about 2 miles for me to get my run legs. I had no idea how fast(or slow) I was going since I forgot to put the garmin on. But maybe that's a good thing since I just ran according to how I felt. In the final 2 miles I was hurting but running strong, tried to pick off a Final Kick jersey and a girl running just ahead of me but didn't have the kick to get it done. Doesn't matter, I enjoyed this race and although I wasn't sure I was ready, hindsight confirms that I was. This is a good race for anyone looking to move up into the longer distance tri's. I'm not the fastest person out there(and never will be) but I feel so absolutely blessed to be able to be out there.