DACC First Annual Tri- Race Report

Yesterday, I completed my second Triathlon of the year!

It was the first Annual Duanesburg Area Community Center (DACC) Tri! What a great race! I felt that it was well organized, especially for the first one. I traveled out to the DACC on Friday evening for my packet pick up and to get my body markings. I know it's pretty goofy, but I LOVE body markings!While out there, I drove the bike course. I'm glad I did, because I like to know where I'm going on the bike. And to know if there is anything funky with the road that I have to be careful of. This course had a couple of roads that were not really smooth.

My shoulder, neck and arm have still been bothering me. So I took ibuprofen every 6 hours through the night to stay on top of the pain. I'm not fond of taking ibuprofen, but I felt like this warranted the use.

So, yesterday morning I got up at 6 AM. Grabbed my transition bins, loaded up the bike and took off by 7AM. Hit the bike/run transition area and dropped off my running gear, plus a sweatshirt to throw in at the end of the race. Then I drove over to the bike transition area.

At this point, it's misting and the temp has not yet hit 60'. And, I'm thinking I'm an idiot for doing this. The parking area was about 1/2 mile away from the swim/bike transition, where we had to leave our bikes. From there, we walked about 1/4 mile to the start of the swim. This is when I fully committed to running this race. I thought, "What the heck? SO many people my age would be complaining just about a 3/4 mile walk. I'm already way ahead of the game." Then I thought, "I'm here. I've trained. I paid. Just do it. Commit to it, and get it done."

Every one at the swim start was so friendly. Lots of small talk from lots of people. Plus, I connected with my friend Andrea! I knew she'd be there, because we'd been talking about this race on FaceBook. Andrea is a friend from High school, that I haven't seen since HS. It was awesome! She's such a positive, healthy person, and great to spend a little time with.

One of the great things about this race, was that they kept the swim waves to less than 20 people each. So, no one was getting run over. Or....kicked in the head!! We were the 5th wave of swimmers, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. At least I didn't get passed on the bike course by 50 people.

The swim: The water was freezing! Conveniently, no one knew the actual temperature, but I know it was below 70'- probably more like 65'. I was cold through most of the swim. I really struggled with the swim. My shoulder and arm were so tired. I tried to focus on my stroke, and eventually made it to the other side of the lake.
Time 14.16!
Based on the race organizers estimate of a 550 yard swim, this was a pace of 2:35 per 100 yards. (I think they over estimated the distance, because I don't think I was going that fast.)

Transition One: about 3:30. This is an estimate, because they didn't officially break out the transition times.

The bike: I felt really strong on the bike! There was one hill that gave me a bit of a tough time. Most or all of the guys from the swim wave behind me, passed me. Oh well, that's to be expected! The thing I really loved about this course, was that the last mile was downhill. That meant that my legs felt pretty good for the start of the run.

Time: 40:43. This was a 15.33 pace!

Transition 2:As I pulled in to the transition area, I spotted Kevin and the kids!! Kevin had the video tape, which was awesome. The kids were cheering and clapping for me! In the video, you can see that I'm smiling like a fool!
Time: Approx: 2:15.

The Run: Amazingly, my legs felt pretty good for the run. No knee pain, and no cramping calves. There were 2 challenging hills on the course. I walked part of both of them. Someday, I'll get to the point where I won't walk any of the run. A few times I wanted to stop, and I implemented my "13.01!" script- it kept me going. I like that the run was an out and back course. That meant you were passing runners on the other side of the road fairly frequently. It was a great sense of support to cheer each other on! The run also ended on a down hill! That made it easy to finish strong, and smile as I crossed the finish line!
Run time: 36.23. that's a 11.44 minute mile.

Kev and the kids were there. Cheering and clapping! It was fantastic!

Final stats: overall time: 1:37:08
Finish in Age Group: 7 out of 12
Overall finish: 61 out of 72

Taking a look at the goals I set for myself:
Swim: My fantasy goal was 2:40 minutes per 100 yards. I hit 2:35!!
Bike My fantasy goal was a 16 mph pace, and realistic goal was 14.5 mph pace. I hit 15.33 mph!!
Run: my fantasy goal was 11:10 minute mile, and realistic was 12 min miles. I hit 11:44!!

I'm thrilled with my results from yesterday!! For every leg of the race, My splits were faster than they were in the Northern Columbia Tri last month!

Is that the end of the 2009 Tri season? Stay tuned...I think there's one more race to come!!