2007 Race Summary

Before I post this years race schedule (still a couple of possible changes) I thought I would briefly summarize my first season.

I started to train on my own in Jan 07 and started picking races in about Feb last year. My criteria for picking races mainly revolved around geography but I also wanted to pick different race distances so that I could see what they were like.

My first race was Sprint distance race called the Kinetic Sprint and it took place at Lake Anna, Virginia about 1.5 hours south of D.C. The race was on the 22nd April and the water temperature was in the mid 50°F however the weather was glorious and it was a pretty hot day. It turned out to be a great first race for me. The distance was right; 750m swim, 18 mile bike and 5km run, the field was not too big, the race was well orgranised and you could park very close to transition. Lake Anna was also very picturesque.

Next I went from sprint distance to half ironman, 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run, with the Black Bear Half Ironman in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. This was quite a step up and although I didn't have a problem finishing it was a lot more tiring and a very different kind of race to the sprint. It was also the inaugural Black Bear race and I did not realise just how much climbing would be involved. According to my watch we must have a climbed around 7000 feet during the bike leg. My time does not appear to be that quick but it was my first long triathlon, I won second place novice and overall results were pretty slow in comparison to flatter courses with only 3 people breaking the 5 hour mark.

The following month I tried an Olympic distance race, Medexpress in Morgantown, West Virginia (1st July). Olympic is normally 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run and it is a nice distance to race despite the swim being a larger proportion of the race in comparison to the other distances. The race was again pretty hilly with a develish little climb toward the end of the run. I had a good race and placed 3rd in my age group although I do not think the field was that strong. There were professionals at this race and it was fun to see them start off and blitz the course.

I did the run leg of a sprint relay with some of my Team Z teammates at Culpeper before my next big race which was the Annapolis Tri on the 9 Sep. This race was not on my original plan but my it was one of my Triathlon team's scheduled races and having raced Lake Anna with teamates I knew that it could make for a great day out. Annapolis is only a short drive for us and Wendy and I were able to stay at the Naval Academy which was immediately adjacent the race start. The race finished in the Navy/Marine Football Stadium which was a great experience. They even had a camera filming you as you finished with the image being shown on the stadiums Jumbo screen. It was a fast rolling course and I had a pretty good race. The field was a lot stronger than I had experienced before and some of the young military college team races went sprinting past me on the run. I was also very hot by the end of the race.

My last race was the Nations Tri only a couple of weeks later on the 29 Sep. This race was a bit of gamble as the year before it was reduced to a biathlon as the organisers were not allowed to do the swim over water quality concerns. Last year there were all sorts of rumours over whether or not the swim would go ahead but in the end everything went ahead as planned and it turned out to be a great race. It could be my favourite race of 2007 as the setting was exceptional. I vividly remember cycling down Constitution Avenue toward Capital Hill on a Saturday morning almost completely on my own. All traffic was kept off the National Mall for the race and at the time there were no other competitors around me and it was really special. I was pleased with my result, which was the best of the year, and had a pretty balanced race beating a couple of the elite fields times including Washington D.C.'s Mayor, Mayor Fenty.

I wrote several long race reports last year and if I can find them I will post a link to them on this blog so I won't go into any more detail on the races themselves other than to cover the results.

Lake Anna Sprint:

Swim 750m - 13:18
T1 - 2:00
Bike 18 mile - 50:00 (21.6 mph)
T2 - 1:19
Run 5 km - 22:36 (7.16 min/mile)

Overall - 1:29:13
(something like 5th in my age group)

Black Bear Half Ironman:

Swim 1.2 mile - 37:05
T1 - 02:09
Bike 56 mile - 3:10:17 (17.66 mph - hilly!!)
T2 - 01:37
Run 13.1 mile - 2:08:46 (9.49 min/mile)

Overall - 5:59:54
(2nd place novice)

Medexpress Olympic:

Swim 1500m - 29:10
T1 - 03:27 (included run to transition)
Bike 40km - 1:11:56 (20.73 mph)
T2 - 01:15
Run 10km - 50:51 (7.49 min/mile)

Overall - 2:36:39
(3rd in age group)

Annapolis Tri Olympic:

Swim 1500m - 30:26
T1 - 02:13
Bike 38km - 1:02:36 (22.63 mph)
T2 - 02:16
Run - 10km - 47:05 (7.34 min/mile)

Overall - 2:24:36
(24th in age group)

Nation's Tri Olympic:

Swim 1500m - 29:26
T1 - 3:06 (includes a run to transition)
Bike 40km - 1:02:31 (23.9 mph)
T2 - 1:00
Run - 43:12 (6:67 min/mile)

Overall - 2:19:22
(14th in age group)

Summary:

I am really pleased how the year went. The first race was ideal and I highly recommend starting with a sprint distance. You never know whether or not you will like a sport until you try it and after that first race I knew I was going to enjoy triathlon. Racing is by far the best bit of the sport for me. Wendy and I have enjoyed some wonderful weekends away and the races are often held in the most picturesque spots.

My results improved steadily over the year and having mainly raced at Olympic distance I can see a steady improvement in times; 2:36:39, 2:24:36 and 2:19:22. Obviously the courses are never quite the same but nevertheless it is a pleasing trend which gives me faith in following a training program. My bike splits have always been pretty good and I was very pleased with a 24 mph average during the Nations Tri (even though it was very fast course). My running has improved and again the Nations Tri was very pleasing with a less than 7 min/mile average. My weakest discipline remains the swim and my swim times have not improved over the year. I notice that I am loosing around 5 min plus on other triathletes of similar fitness levels on a 1500m swim which is quite significant. I am not saying that my swimming has not improved at all as I think that I am using less energy in the water than when I started racing but now I need to turn that efficiency into speed.

A really enjoyable first year and I cannot wait to start this season. I am looking forward to trying to race longer courses rather than just finish them and I want to see if I can get myself into the top 5 of some of the shorter races. I have entered the lottery for Escape from Alcatraz and think that would be a great experience if I am lucky enough to get in (I wasn't in the first cut although Jim, a guy I work with, has been picked which is great news)

Of course I also want to try and qualify for Kona at Lake Placid which I know is a hell of task and I am really looking forward to 2008 which could be my Annus Mirabilis - "Watch this space".