RACE REPORT: Hudson Crossing Triathlon (Sprint )

I've been missing triathlon pretty bad lately. This year's focus has been 98% running so naturally a little variety would be a welcome change. That's why I decided, way back a few months ago, to sign up for the Hudson Crossing Triathlon (Sprint).

Marathon training has put me in a bit of a mental funk lately. The heat/humidity have been killer and I just haven't been able to dig down and find the mental strength to persevere through all of my workouts without stopping for a 15-30 seconds walk every now and again. Boy, was I glad as race-morning approached. But first, lets look at the training breakdown between disciplines:

Swim - (5) swims, totaling 3.15 miles (HAH!)
Bike - (10) rides since April, (1) in the last month (night before the race!)
Run - (a billion), or at least (3) times a week since this year began.

There you have it, the most lopsided block of training ever recorded leading up to a triathlon. That's not to say I didn't have goals, albeit quiet ones. Since I turned in a not-reflective-of-my-form 3:0X at the Nation's Tri, my main goal was to just divide by two and beat that time. Of course, the swim + bike distances were both a bit shorter, but that was close enough. Part of me also thought an 18.0 mph average on the bike and a sub 8:00 min/mile on the run would be satisfying results. My swim goals?.. don't freak out like at Nation's and don't drown.

* * * * * * *

The race took place in Schuylerville, NY which I didn't where it existed until the night before the race. It turns out it was only about an hour's drive North, in the neighborhood of Saratoga Springs (think: horses). I got a lot of sleep two nights before the race so I wouldn't have to stress about trying to fall asleep early the actual night before (which never works). Lights-out was finally at about 12:15pm with a wake-up call of 5:00am. Everything was already neatly laid out and packed so the morning routine was a breeze. The 1-hr car-ride also made for ample time to digest the morning's breakfast and avoid any port-a-potty stress.

The race is nice and small, being capped at 250 entrants, which was perfect. We were in a sleepy little town on a nice Sunday morning. All of the athletes were pretty relaxed and chatting each other up. I got in and set my transition area up while the wifey slept in the car for a while longer. There were a ton of mosquitoes out that morning and I didn't realize it until they had already got me twice. No matter - I just kept some rain gear on to cover up the skin until race-time.

We gathered 'round for a quick and informal meeting and then it was finally time to get going. I had ample time to get stretched out and was really very relaxed the whole morning leading up to the start. I felt so loose that I didn't even bother with any more of a warm-up.

THE SWIM - 500 YARDS
Wave 2 was where I was placed and before I knew it the canon had sounded and we were off. I purposely started in the back of my wave b/c I knew my swimming form was nothing to brag about. As it turns out, my shoulders survived the entire swim with not a hint of fatigue and I ended up passing quite a few people. And goddamn, I can't tell you how great it felt to not totally freak out during an open-water swim. AWESOME! Before I knew it, the oh-so-nice-and-short swim was coming to a close. I remembered the calf-cramp that I got when exiting the swim at Nation's and was sure to tread lightly on my way up the ramp.

Swim time - 9:39

TRANSITION 1
I jogged slowly from the water over to my spot in transition and began to change into more suitable bike attire. Sean doesn't own one of those fancy speed-suits so I simply zipped up my favorite Duvel cycling jersey, gathered a few items and was on my way.

T1 - 2:49 

THE BIKE - 12 MILES
Next to the "would Sean drown on the swim?" concern, the bike-legs were the biggest concern. I knew I could hammer out 12 miles and post a decent time, but I also knew that the energy spent biking could harm me two-fold on the run. Given that the run was the only thing I was actually trained for, I didn't want to jeopardize that portion of the race too much. Never-the-less, I tried to ride as steady as possible, passing my fair share of folk, but also getting passed by some speedsters. Thanks to sophomore-PRO Lindsey Jerdonek for teaching me to tape my Gu to my top-tube so that I could easily rip it off with one hand while riding. I LOVE that little bike-hack. I didn't even both clipping the aero-bars on for this race so I spent a lot of time in the drops. My legs were still in decent climbing shape and I was happy to catch a bunch of folk whenever we had a short climb. It was humbling to get passed by the chubby girls who you know are packing lots of power in those beefy thighs and that battleship they call an ass. I'd see them again on the run though.

Bike - 41:32, 17.3 mph

TRANSITION 2
Nothing to see here. Got my stuff together and fumbled a bit with putting the Garmin on but jogged in and jogged out and was on my way.

T2 - 1:21

THE RUN - 3.17 MILES
Curiosity was high coming off of the bike because I wanted to see how my legs would respond to running after cycling. I've had a hard enough time running 3-5 uninterrupted miles in the f-ing heat from last week that I really wasn't sure how I'd end up doing today. The course was touted as pancake-flat, but rest-assured we started the first 1/4 mile running uphill and then there was plenty of small ups-and-downs throughout. I started off that first uphill portion a bit over the 8:00 min/mile mark but then settled in at a nice 7:50ish pace. As minutes rolled by, I slowly caught and passed a lot of people, including the husky/stocky girls that had passed me on the bike. In the end, I was only passed by one person during the entire run! 70% of the run was actually on packed trails which would weave in and out of the forest; also great for variety! 

Run - 24:56, 7:51 min/mile

And here are the overall results...

6th AG, 80th / 235 total
TOTAL - 1:20:16 (PR!.. duh, b/c it was my first Sprint)

This triathlon was really a ton of fun and I would gladly sign up for it again next year. It really proved to me how much I love putting all three disciplines together. At this point, I'd like to strongly consider focusing 2012 much more on triathlons and shorter-distanced running races. The marathon will be fun and all, but I like racing too much to sacrifice the meat of my summer to long weekend runs instead of races like this. Hopefully this experience was enough to recharge my batteries and get me back into marathon-training with a full head of steam!