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Race Result
| Racer: |
Jamie Roberson |
| Race: |
Worldgate Sport&Health Spint Tri |
| Date: |
Sunday, May 1, 2005 |
| Location: |
Herndon, VA |
| Race Type: |
Triathlon - Sprint |
| Age Group: |
Female 40 - 44 |
| Time: |
2:28:12 |
| Overall Place: |
67 / 70 |
| Age Group Place: |
9 / 9 |
| Comment: |
Fun Neighborhood Race |
Race Report:
I decided to enter the Worldgate Super Sprint after bowing out of Columbia in favor of the Open-Water swim clinic. Aside from Reston, this is probably the closest race to my house, so it was nice to be able to decide to do a race spur-of-the-moment and with a low-key perspective.
The weather was grey and drizzly on race day, but I felt great. I started the South Beach Diet the week earlier, with no ill effects. I did have some pirogies the night before the race, and a PowerBar before bedtime in an attempt to top off glycogen tanks, but I couldn’t stuff another PowerBar in my face that morning no matter how I tried. Even though it was a sprint, it had a long-ish bike leg, and I knew that it would take over 2 hours.
Note to self: Do NOT eat a PowerBar right before bed. I fell right to sleep at 10, only to waken at 1 a.m. with severe stomach cramps. This went on until about 2:30. It didn’t seem stress-related because I felt no stress at all. Dunno what that was all about, but I won’t make that mistake again.
The race itself was well-enough organized for a small race. They had us rack our bikes behind the club and hand them a separate T2 bag, which they transported to the second transition near the Herndon caboose. A group was chatting near the racks, and a woman recognized me from a previous 5k. When I mentioned that I had done a sprint in Florida two weeks earlier, a fellow named Ernie from beginnertriathlete.com asked “Are you the Mullet Queen?” Blush. It truly is a small world. Yes indeedy, it’s true, I told him, but I left my sash and tiara at home for this one.
Instead of a crown, I grabbed my cap and goggles and scooted off to the swim, an uneventful 300-yard snake swim. I had mistakenly seeded myself with the 5:00 swimmers, although I later realized that my time was going to be more like 9:00. They wouldn’t let me re-seed, so I apologized profusely to the swimmers behind me and let a few pass at the wall. I was breast-stroking most of the way, so imagine my surprise when I exited the pool with a 7:12 time. Yes, Virginia, there is a difference between yards and meters.
Off to T1 and the bike. The drizzle had stopped, but it was cool, so I slipped a cycling jacket over my trisuit and off I went. The route had us going to the W&OD, then out to Partlow’s and back. The way out seemed more difficult than usual, so I chased an e-Gel with a big slug of water and felt better. I was still much slower than usual (computer said 14 mph average, but official bike time was 1:27:02, including T1/2 times), but I chalked it up to inconsistent conditioning. Lots of friendly cyclists on the way. Even the race leaders shouted encouragement to us BOP’ers.
Back to T2, changed shoes at a leisurely pace. One advantage of being a BOP’er is that T1 is generally uncrowded. But T2 can be demoralizing if you’re tired and the speedier folk are getting in their cars while you’re about to run.
Off I went, keeping the jacket on for warmth. I started to feel my toes and developed an appreciation for what the folks at Lake Anna had gone through. Ankles weren’t hurting too badly, so I jogged about 2/3 of the way, walked 1/3. It felt sloooow, and my time showed it, with a :53:58. With a final time of 2:28:12, I didn’t make my 2:15 goal, but I had a great time and learned a few more lessons.
Next up: Manassas Mini Tri, May 15.
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