Oliver Sprint Triathlon Race Report 2011

Well I survived. :)

Erik and I went down to Oliver on Saturday afternoon and I donned my wetsuit and inched my way into the water. It took me at least ten minutes to get myself completely submerged but once I had swum 10 strokes, I had made my decision - yes, I would do the race.  The water was around 14C on Saturday, but only 13C at 8 am Sunday morning, when the race began. 

The weather was iffy - overcast, threatening showers (which didn't materialize fortunately), and the air temperature cool as well, so I took extra precautions and kept my gear in large ziplock bags in case it rained while I was swimming or biking.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to race in my usual tank top so I wore my tri shorts and sports bra top under my wetsuit and planned to put on a jersey when I went out on the bike. I also threw in my arm warmers and my new Sugoi Versa jacket, just in case.

I didn't have high expectations for my swim this year because I've only been in the pool 3-4 times since last August, so my goal time was anything under 20 minutes.  I was happy to be only a minute slower than last year, with a time of 17:34, which includes a short run up to the timing mat.

This year, there were no wetsuit strippers, and because of my sore groin, it took me at least 2 minutes to get my darn suit off my left foot. Argh.  Then I struggled for another 2 minutes trying to pull on a jersey and socks over my damp body. T1 was not going well. LOL...

They do not have timing mats out onto the bike course so T1 and T2 times are included in the bike time in the results. However, I had my watch and my garmin on so I believe my T1 time was a little over 5 minutes. It shouldn't have been more than 2:30 max. Ugh and LOL.

Once out on the bike, I felt good. For some reason, my overall time was a minute slower than last year but I felt strong and passed lots of people out on the course, especially on the big hill.  Bike time was 37:13 according to my Garmin. Official results included T1 and T2 time.

I felt super on the run. My plan was to race at Half Iron run pace, not sprint run pace, and goal time was around the 30 minute mark (6:00/km). However, I felt so good I allowed myself to push the pace a teeny bit and came in at 28:45 for the run.

Overall, my time was a pretty pathetic 1:30:41, my slowest ever for this race, but the only real disappointment was my transition times, not my race times so I was pretty content with the race.


Oh, and I won second in my age group this year too. A medal instead of a wine glass but, ah well...  :)