Sunday, August 4, 2013

Block Island Triathlon

Saturday, August 3, 2013

1:19:11, 9th overall of 323!  2nd in my age group.

Took the 1:15PM fast ferry out of Narragansett with FiveK and Matthew.  Left Narragansett in light rain, but just before the triathlon start, the sun came out!  Set up transition area, went for a short warm-up run on the beach, and headed to the start of the swim area.
Transition area was really packed tight at Block Island Town Beach,
but at least we did have a nice of the dumpster

Swim:  12:16, 127th place. 3 minutes slower than last year, but 20 places ahead of last year.  However, I noticed most of the times this year were a couple of minutes slower than last year, so I'm guessing current had something to do with it?  I thought I had a decent swim for me.  Rounded the first buoy and got punched hard in the elbow.  It smarted for a bit, and then I continued on, where I summarily swim right on top of a guy doing the backstroke - wierd and awkward at the same time.  OK, get off of Mr. Backstroker, and on we go.  The rest of the swim was fine.
Age group winners before the swim start

With Matthew before swim.  Look how calm the ocean is.
Buoy in distant background

Bike:  39:27, 26th place!  Two minutes and 30 places faster than last year!  Average speed 20.0 mph exactly, max speed 33 mph.  Passed many, passed by 3, including one that we sparred back and forth on the hills.  The uphill climb by the airport was a real bear; dropped it all the way down to 1st gear.  At one point I was doing about 28mph passing a truck and a moped - the guy on the moped yelled something indistinguishable at me - yo, buddy, I am in a race here.  The bike was a real challenge, but very happy with outcome.  One SECOND behind speedy Steve S here.

Run:  27:26, 3rd place overall, 4 seconds behind FiveK.  30 seconds slower than last year, but 2 places higher.  Run is my strong point, but I don't mind saying it was hard for me this year.  Boulders near south end of beach from Hurricane Sandy; some people walked, and I ran around them in the water as my arch discovered a boulder underwater - Ouch!  The rest of the run was not what I was looking for in pace, but given camber at high tide, running through water and thick sand, I guess I can't complain too much.  Splits:  6:46, 6:30, 6:43, 6:38.
The tri is over!

Really challenging, but fun tri!  Congrats to FiveK and Matthew on winning their respective age groups.
Ferry ride back in the evening with this year's
BI Tri competitors Steve, Matthew, and FiveK

5 comments:

  1. Great result! And posted a PR the next day at Kerri??? Very impressive, glad you guys got good weather out there, I was a bit concerned that morning about the wind/waves. Good job though, see you guys Tuesday in the Borough!

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  2. that's funny about the moped peron yelling something indistinguishable

    NICE job and nice job by ALL WTAC members - we should start a TRI club ?

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    1. Yes, we just have to get you back into tris next year.

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  3. Nice work. The WTAC Tri domination continues!

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  4. Great job, and great recap! I'm so signing up for that tri next year

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