Race Result

Racer:	Jeff Wolfe
Race:	Reston Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, September 12, 2004
Location:	Reston, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Male 40 - 44
Time:	2:39:35
Overall Place:	180 / 427
Age Group Place:	42 / 63
Comment:	Finally - a good swim, bike and run all on one day

Race Report:

Splits:
Swim 0:36:33
T1 0:03:57
Bike 1:08:20
T2 0:01:18
Run 0:49:27

Short Story:

I have been a lurker on this board for a while so this is my first race report. Please bear with me. This is only my 2nd real year of doing triathlons (I did the old Sporting Club Tri sometime in the early ‘80s and I did Reston in ’97 – more on that later). Reston was my target race all year where I wanted to put together a good swim (for me), a fast bike and a solid run. Last year, I only did 2 triathlons, Colonial Beach and the Duke Liver Center ½ Ironman. I finished both races but the swims were really slow that left my finishes way at the back of the back. My goals for Reston this year were:

- Graduate from BOP to MOP (finish in the top half overall, men and age group)

- Swim – under 37 minutes

- Bike – under 1:12 (18.5 MPH)

- Run – under 48 minutes and not get passed

I figured with transitions, I would be somewhere around 2:42.30. As you can see, almost all goals were met. My run was a little slow but my bike was my fastest ever. I finished in the top half overall and all men but I realized how competitive my age group really is.

Long Story:

On a lark, in 1997, I entered the Reston Triathlon. My wife is a competitive runner but was pregnant with our 2nd child so I had some extra time to train (ie learn to swim and bike). I finished the race right under 3 hours and swore I would never do an open water swim again. Fast forward 4 years, my wife and I both turned 40 and I convinced her that we should train for a marathon together. In all the years we had been together we had actually never raced the same marathon. We trained and went out to Cincy and did the Flying Pig. She ran a 3:10, won masters and got herself a trip to Boston the next spring. I ran a 3:50 (better than my first marathon over 15 years earlier) and I got a new road bike. I got the better end of the deal.

A buddy of mine from work had done a small sprint triathlon so I started to ponder the thought. Never to start with something easy, I picked the Duke Liver Center ½ Ironman as my goal race last year. During our training, I did a few duathlons and the Colonial Beach tri. Everytime I got in open water, I freaked and I averaged 50 minutes/mile on the swim. I did lots of long distance training and I finished the Duke race in over 7 hours and was settled in the BOP.

This time I did not give in. I set new simple goals for this year. Swim faster. Bike faster. Run faster. Race shorter.

I spent a lot of time over the winter swimming and running. I did an early tri (Smith Mountain Lake) and did the 750M swim in 17:30. That was progress. I was averaging 18+ MPH on the few races I did on the bike and I was one of only 11 people to run the 2nd 5K on the Flannery Duathlon faster than the first – right around 21 minutes, a 3 minute improvement from last year. I went up to Diamond in the Rough and swam a 32:30 (must have been a current) but I had a terrible bike (later learned I had a slow leak in my back tire) and I didn’t attempt the run. I was pretty disappointed but I kept up my training and focused on Reston. I ran a 43:30 10K in Leesburg in August, hurt my hip a little but I was pretty sure I was ready.

Pre-Race:

Actually slept a few hours Saturday nite and was not freaking out about the swim. How great it felt to sleep in my own bed before a triathlon. Woke up, had a PBJ sandwich and some Gatorade and headed over to the race. I remembered someone on this web site telling others to pick a song to help you focus during the race. I picked a Kenny Chesney / Uncle Kracker duet called “When The Sun Goes Down” and blasted it in the car. My family hates country music but I had left the kids at home and my wife was running the Fair Lakes 8K so I was on my own. Got to the race, set up T2 and headed down to the swim start. I wasn’t anxious at all. Saw a bunch of people I know, ran into my friend Rick who is only one of 4 people to had done all 21 Reston Triathlons, met my training buddy and got ready to race. I had predicted a 37 minute swim so I ended up in wave 5. Watched the first few waves head off and headed down to the start.

Swim:

No one in wave 5 seemed to want to go the front. I worked my way to the inside and took off for the rope. I usually start to freak out in the first 200 meters or so but not this time. I found the rope (probably took too sharp an angle to get there) but followed it up the whole way, no problems. I did notice this swim seemed more crowded than others (maybe because of the seeding). Found the turnaround and headed back and was quickly catching people from earlier waves. I wonder what swim times they put on their applications! The way back was uneventful (which was good), found the drain. The last 100 meters seemed to take forever but I got out of the water in 36:30, not fast but certainly an improvement from last years races and over 6 minutes faster than in 1997. Maybe I have the swim basics down. I was right on track.

T1:
Being in wave 5, my bike was way up behind the pool. What a hike. I found my bike, sat down, took off my wet suit, got a small bit of powergel and drank some Accelerade, got my bike stuff on and headed out. I felt good and relaxed and I was singing my song in my head. Transition wasn’t fast but certainly an area I can easily improve on.

Bike:

My goal was to start the bike ride around 40 minutes into the race and I was just behind that. I started the bike ride and felt great from the beginning. Maybe it was the home field advantage. Having lived in Reston/Herndon for around 15 years I have run and biked on many parts of this course. I settled in and started to pass people from the earlier waves right away. A few bikers screamed by me but for the most part, I was doing the passing. To reach my goal time, I figured 25 minutes for each of the first 2 loops and 22 for the shorter third loop. Came through the first loop in 22:30 and checked my watch twice. I was way ahead of schedule. I felt good so I kept going (and singing – I hope it was to myself). The 2nd loop was uneventful, maybe a little slower but I still felt strong. On the 3rd loop, I saw someone go down on her bike. A car had turned left from Glade onto Colts Neck and turned directly into the bike lane. She avoided the car but hit the curb and went down hard. I went wide, yelled at the next set of volunteers that someone had crashed and than had to go up the hill to South Lakes. I felt like my heart was racing. I settled down (did a little more singing) and made my way back to T2. A little traffic after turning onto Ridge Heights road but I started to focus on T2. I remember reading on this board to clear your mind and focus on your transition so I didn’t worry about trying to pass the traffic jam, just get to the school and park the bike. Bike time was about 4 minutes faster than planned. I was psyched.

T2:

A great volunteer pointed me right to my transition spot. I parked the bike, took a fresh drink of Accelerade from a bottle I left at T2. I had stuck my race number in my shoe since earlier this year I had run out of transition without my number. This way I wouldn’t forget it. Slipped on my shoes and went for a run.

Run:

The run is always my favorite part. Having been a runner forever, this is the part of the race I usually pass people the whole way. Even back in 97 when I did Reston, I didn’t get passed at all on the run. My goal was to run between 7:30 and 7:45 pace and not get passed. I thought that would be harder this time since I was further up in the race. I passed my first racer coming out of transition and just kept going. First mile was 7:45, I was right on pace. I have run this course hundreds of times having lived in Reston. I know all the hills and turns. I kept passing people and stayed right at 7:45 pace. Although I was passing people, I couldn’t seem to go any faster. I attributed that to my fast bike split. I knew if I ran a sub 50 minute 10K I would break 2:40 and 7:45 pace would do that with some room to spare. Mile 5 was a sub 7:40 so I thought I was cruising. I knew the hill was in the last mile but I wasn’t worried. I went up the hill, maybe a little slowly but felt good and looked at my watch. I felt like I had lost over a minute - 2:40 was still within reach but not quite the coast I was expecting. I still felt ok, got on the track, passed my 50th person without being passed myself and knew I would break 2:40. Coming around the last turn, the last guy I passed had a fan club at the finish and decided he needed to finish with a sprint. I didn’t go with him so my passing streak at Reston was broken but it didn’t matter, I finished 3 minutes ahead of my goal time and almost 20 minutes ahead of my time from 1997.

Overall:

I met most of my goals for this race. I finished in the top half overall and I know I can still go faster. I was a little disappointed on my run time (where did that minute go) but you will not hear me complaining. Below is the comparison with my times from 1997. I am 7 years older and I improved on every aspect of the race. Now if I just wait 7 more years, who knows how fast I can go.

1997 2004
Swim 0:42:40 0:36:33
T1 0:05:13 0:03:57
Bike 1:17:26 1:08:20
T2 0:01:39 0:01:18
Run 0:52:17 0:49:27
Total 2:59:15 2:39:35

Male place 257 137
Male finishers 315 278
% finish 0.184127 0.507194

Overall place 334 180
Overall finishers 429 427
% finish 0.221445 0.578454

So.. if you see someone biking down the path and he is singing “When the Sun goes down…”, go ahead and say hey to Jeff. Unfortunately, due to family commitments (soccer mostly) and work I have not been able to make a RAT ride all year but maybe later this fall. Thanks for letting me share and keeping me inspired.

Jeff