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Race Result

Racer: Charles Barnes
Race: Osprey Sprint Triathlon
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008
Location: Public Landing, MD
Race Type: Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 40 - 44
Time: 1:16:43
Overall Place: 15 / 363
Age Group Place: 5 / 40
Comment: By far, my best of 4 doing the Osprey



Race Report:



Officially, the Race is 0.5mi Swim, 15.2mi bike, and 3.1mi run. They seem to mismeasure (or guestimate) the swim distance. It is well less than the 1/2mile they claim. Still, it is a wonderful race venue.

I finished 15th of 363 overall, but only 5th in my age group of 40 (40-44M.) My T1 time was a full minute slower than most of the top 50 finishers. I might have squeezed out one more position with a faster T1, but I was beat soundly by the top 3 in my AG. Still, I beat my previous best in this race by 6 minutes. I'm quite pleased.


Here's how my race played out...

Swim (10:43, 44/363 which I cannot explain -- too fast)

The swim is in the Chincoteague Bay behind Assateague island in open, but semi-protected water. The tide was low, so the water wasn't more than 4' deep. It was breezy, so there was some chop on the cool, October water. It was cool, but a beautiful day for a race. Most all (including me) had wetsuits.

This was my first triathlon back in 2002. It was also my first open water swim. In 2002, I choked and gagged the first time I tried to breathe. I sucked bad. This time, I did much better. With the chop, I had a hard time sighting and maintaining course. I'll admit to being one of those annoying guys that zigzags the swim. My swim split was 10:39 which includes a run down the pier. Were the course a real 1/2mi, I'd have beat my best pool time by 7+ minutes. I'll never complain about a shortened swim!!

T1 (2:17)

I thought I was efficient, but lost a full minute to my main competitors in T1. Unlike Luray, I had no trouble getting my wetsuit off. Must have been daydreaming...

Bike (22mph, 14th fastest of 363)

Zoooooom! The bike course was flat and fast, but quite windy. It began downwind and I jammed out hard -- I maintained 27-29mph for the first 2mi. I passed many, many. As the course turned into the wind, I was able to maintain 20-21 into the wind and still pass those that started in previous waves. Whenever, the route turned away from the wind, my pace went up again to 23-25 range. I pushed quite hard.

I played leap frog with one rider that I slowly caught up to and passed for the second half of the bike -- having someone to actively race against is fun. We arrived in T2 seconds apart, but I let him go ahead so I could spin my legs before the run.

I ride (for now) on a road bike without aerobars, so I'm quite pleased with my bike split. I got the 14th fastest bike time averaging 22.0mph. I really wonder how I'd do with full aero kit.

T2 (0:42)

Fast. Shoes off, shoes on. Go!

Run (21:41, 7min/mi avg, 22nd place overall)

I zipped out of transition, grabbed a drink, and then plodded along below my pace -- oh no! I was careful to spin the last .5mi of the bike to get ready for the run, but my legs just wouldn't go faster than an 8min pace. Not far out of T2, the guy from the bike passed me on the run. My legs had recovered some, so I paced him a while before ultimately losing more and more ground. I settled into my normal 7min/mi pace. Near the last mile marker a guy in my AG that I passed on the bike passed me. I tried to keep him close, but couldn't sustain the additional effort. I finished about 40sec behind him.