The family and I headed to Cohasset MA this past weekend for my first triathlon of the 2011 season. The race was fittingly named, the Cohasset Triathlon. We had a great weekend staying at the Nantasket Beach Resort, just 4 miles from the race venue in Cohasset. We arrived Saturday morning, settled in, then checked out the race location. Race check in was interesting in that Streamline Events, who put on the race, decided to go with tattoo race numbers this year. So I took advantage of the assisted “tattooing” before heading out. Check out my guns:) Yeah, I’m a weakling….
Anyhow, after lunch I did an easy 1 hour spin, which included the bike course. Realized the course was much easier than I had remembered from last year, so that was good. Now back to the family for a nice relaxing evening.
Race Day: Got up at 6am after a decent nights sleep. Had the family and gear ready to roll by 6:30. Dropped of the Family and drove to the parking area which was about 1.5 miles from transition. With my gear bag on my shoulders, I biked to transition while chatting with other racers along the way.
Everything went smooth as I set up my transition area. One final check on the gear. Then to the water for a warm up swim. The water was chilly, but not bad in a wetsuit. After that I listened to the race director speak and then got in line for the male 39 and under group in wave 3. Twenty minutes later, we were off!
The Swim(1/4 mile): Not my strongest leg, but I tried to be more aggressive per the instructions from my coach. I lined up basically front and center. It was a beach start, so you have to sprint a short distance to the water, then run a decent amount in the water to be able to swim. I didn’t do the best job running/jumping over the small rolling waves. Others were going by me at this point. By the time I got in, I was packed in tight. Swam hard, but constantly bumping in to others. It cleared up a little after the first buoy. Managed to get on someones hips for a short period of time until I ran into another athlete. Had to stop at least three times during the swim in order to get around someone. On a good note, I felt confident the entire time and had very little fatigue. Finished strong in a time of 9:13, which was 2-3 minutes slower than the fast swimmers.
The Bike(12 miles): Settled in nicely after a little fumble getting my feet in the shoes while on the bike. Targeted a specific heart rate range for various points during the bike leg. Power was great. Felt very strong and comfortable on the bike. Finished in a time of 30:01.
The Run(3.2 miles, but actually 3.3): Came out of T2 feeling good. Locked into a pace slightly above 6m/m. Again, heart rate was the primary target. The hill at mile 2 hurt. Coach wanted me to raise the heart rate at about the two mile mark, but I couldn’t. Basically stayed at a constant effort the entire time. Enjoyed picking of people on the run. Ended with a nice sprint finish for a time of 20:27.
At the end of the day, I completed the course in 1:01:48, which was good for 25th overall in a field of 773. Results can be found here. Ended up with 3rd in my age group, which is great. I have many take-aways from this race, least of which is that I need to improve my swim. The top two in my age group crushed me in the water.
Check out my podium photo(I’m the ugly guy over the number 3). My son wore the medal with pride the entire afternoon:)
Cheers
David
