Smithfield Sprint Triathlon

Since I didn't get around to writing a race weekend preview before I left for the weekend, I'll make this post sort of all encompassing including preview and race report.

I decided a few months ago to sign up for my first triathlon, it's something I've been wanting to do for awhile and finally decided it was time to man up and challenge myself with something new. I began "training" with a group called TriAdventure, who's goal was to help individuals of all fitness levels complete a Triathlon and introduce them to the sport. My interest in the group was solely the swimming aspect with a mission to improve my swimming abilities.

Throughout the 8 week course I attended only the swim practices on Wednesday night, since Friday evening swim practices conflicted with ACC cycling travel. I enjoyed the practices but often found myself exhausted from training for cycling and really wore myself down trying to do too much too fast.

As the race grew nearer, I was confident in my cycling (10 miles) and running abilities (5k) but nervous about the swim portion, having never successfully completed 300m without stopping for a break. I also only had one transition practice before the race, which is an area for improvement after seeing my times from this weekend.

A preview of the race is as follows:

It would begin with a 300m pool swim, each participant starting 15 seconds apart based on predicted swim time. The race began at 10:00AM sharp, I went in the pool at 11:27:00AM.


Following the swim a 10 mile bike ride on an open road course with a few small rolling hills and undulations:

Bike course.

Finally a 5K (3.1 mile) run leaving through downtown Smithfield which was setup as an out and back style run:

Notice where the course ends in this map and the Garmin map below of the actual run particularly the turn around.

Or that's how it was supposed to go...

My friend Andy let me borrow his aerobars and TT helmet for the weekend which either made me look really fast or look like a tool, either way though I was glad to use them.

The gear, minus my Oakley's which got back from warranty last Tuesday and my mom brought them.

My bike looking super fast with aerobars.

Michelle and I headed to Richmond Friday afternoon to stay at my aunt and uncles house, before traveling to Smithfield on Saturday. On the way we made a quick stop at Pop's Ice Cream Bar & Soda Shop where we enjoyed a delicious grilled cheese and milkshake, proper pre-race fuel of course!

Michelle got a bike so we brought it along and rode some on Saturday after the race.

Pop's special of the day, grilled cheese with red beans and coleslaw with a side of cheddar popcorn.

Saturday morning came early with my alarm going off at 5:15 for an early start to the ~2ish hr. drive, arriving early enough for a pre-drive of the bike course and to pickup my race packet. My grandmother and mom both came along for the day which was awesome to have family and Michelle there supporting me during the race. After I picked up my shirt and number I headed toward the transition area to snag a decent spot and layout all of my stuff.

(If you notice any discontinuities in my transition area it's because I changed my mind of where I had my stuff setup and moved it in the last 5 minutes before the area closed, put on my power meter and un-clipped my shoes.)

The first iteration of my transition area.

Towel was on the opposite side of handlebars so I moved it to the other side.

After my area was all set I headed over and got marked with my race number and age, which is pretty funny because you basically strip down to nothing while they write all over you in 40 degree weather. Then the waiting game began, about 2.5 hours of it, we decided to walk into town and get breakfast. I headed back early to put my PowerTap head unit on my bike which I had left in the car, and decided to change around my transition area while I was at it, after that I sat around in the warm gym for about an hour trying to relax.

Killing time in the gym, obviously a little excited!

Around 11:00 we were called to get in line for our swim start, more of the hurry up and wait business, while we all stood in line around the pool slowly crawling forward as swimmer after swimmer entered the pool at 15 second intervals.

Agonizing waiting to start.

A guy in the water counted you down telling you when to start.

first 25m, feeling strong still.

The swim portion didn't go very well...it was atrocious...I nearly drowned...lots of room for improvement right? I predicted a 6 minute swim assuming no break and swam freestyle the entire time, well I swam back stoke for about 75m of the swim and finished in 7:16.

Out of the pool fiddling with the Garmin which wasn't cooperating.

After the swim I quickly hustled over to my bike and began my transition, I had some trouble with the Garmin 310XT not starting my transitions when I hit the lap button on my watch, so I wound up not having times for them.

Rolled the socks, not sure I approve of the method or whether unrolled would be faster.

Look where she is now.

I put this picture in there because this lady in the purple shirt must have cost me 15 seconds, granted this is a friendly triathlon for athletes of all abilities but move out of the way, she literally walked the entire transition and right in the middle might I add. In the next picture you can see how far I made it before she even crossed the mount line.

Still hasn't moved much.

I replaced the battery in the PowerTap head unit the night before the race and didn't reconfigure it with my computer prior to the race, so I only had the Garmin data for power and the ride, but was pleased with how the ride went and finished with a time of 28:32, 35th overall for fastest bike split and fastest novice men's bike split. Complete Garmin data Here for the bike leg.

PowerData from the bike leg.

Satellite image of the bike course.

Returning from the bike.

My second transition was pretty quick except for the fact that I forgot my number belt and had to go back into the transition to get it adding time to my run since I had already crossed the timing line.

Switching over to running shoes.

This was my Oh Sh*t moment, where I turned around for my number.

Try 2, got my number this time.

The run hurt, period. The course was much longer than I expected and I forgot to hit my watch until .3 into the first mile. Once I reached the halfway point, which differs significantly than the race preview details I felt pretty good and picked up the pace on the way back. Total time for the run via timing chip was 23:01 including my dash back into the transition area for my number, placing 65th overall in the run. Garmin run details Here.

Mile splits for the run minus .3 miles that were included in my transition time.

Notice the extra distance down the street where the turn around occurred, what gives?

Striding out the finish line.

Complete first triathlon. Check!

I finished with a final time of 1:01:16, 1:16 past my goal of 1 hour, but none the less pretty decent for my first triathlon. The preliminary results had me at 75th of 538, but the final results posted online place me at 68th, not too shabby.

I entered as a Novice Men athlete and placed second in my category, received a fleece hat for my place.


I had a great time and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the race compared to cycling races which are much more high-strung. I went out for a fun time and an arbitrary goal time, almost made it had I not forgotten my number and nearly drowned. I'll be back for more, hopefully with a faster swim and longer distances!

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Week in review: A bust.

Epic fail.

That was the theme of this week and getting out on the bike, logging miles, and....oh that thing called training, yeah, didn't happen. Monday came and went before I even knew it began; between being locked out of my apartment for the entire day, running errands after being out of town for YET another weekend, and the stresses of life I failed to get in a SAYG ride or even make the team meeting. The one productive thing I accomplished Monday was receiving an email from a friend that she had taken two pictures of me from the race weekend, very productive.

Pictures by: Janet Rost

Tuesday I managed slightly better than Monday, attempting my first brick workout in preparation for this weekends triathlon, "Man, Am I in trouble." So the entire time I've been saying to myself: "how hard could it be; I ride pretty often and I've been a runner for a long time, I mean how hard could it be to do one after the other." Well Tuesdays workout shut me up pretty quickly. I began with a nice warm-up on the bike simply because I figured if I was going to do an extended effort I probably shouldn't just go right into it. After my warm-up I rode around 200 Watts for 20 minutes. I'm hoping the ride takes me less than 27 minutes, but we'll see how things unfold.

Riding on the trainer, pre-beard-shave.

My silly PowerTap head unit was being funny, so I only have data from the Garmin 310XT, which I finally figured out how to use in multi-sport mode just in time for this weekend.

Silly PowerTap head unit. The next day, it turned on. What Gives?

Garmin PowerData with heart rate.

After I finished my effort on the trainer I hopped directly off my bike, threw on my running clothes (tights and a long sleeve pullover since it was cold out) and out the door for a run. At first I thought to myself, this isn't so bad my legs feel great, and then about a half mile into my run there is a nice long gradual hill that made my legs HURT. After I recovered from the intense burning sensation that was controlling my lower body, I picked up the pace and pushed hard completing a nearly 3 mile loop.

Trying to push it a little.

In the pain cave.

Mile splits from Garmin 310XT, so this weekends run may be...interesting.

One thing that frustrates me with the 310XT is the fact that it take's a good while for the satelites to acquire, which generally means the first part of my run isn't recorded. So even though it shows 2.3 miles, it's really more like 2.65 says this run.

Wednesday I woke up early and practiced transitions at the track on campus. This was my first and only transition practice for the triathlon, so hopefully I have the kinks worked out, otherwise Saturday morning may not go smoothly. I practiced over and over running up to my bike, goggle and cap down. Next glasses and helmet w/ buckle on, grab my bike and hop on. I can't decide whether or not I'm going to leave my shoes clipped in or simply put them on before getting on the bike. I really don't want to risk eating it leaving the transition area because I was trying to look cool.

My Mock transition area.

Mock transition area - I'm open to suggestions.

Wednesday Afternoon Reid Beloni's weekly ACC race weekend recap was posted on VeloNews.com and another one of my photo's was used. Read the full article Here.

My photo on VeloNews

I did have an opportunity Wednesday evening to ride out to Blacksburg Airport (the reason I have been so busy all week, VT Motorsports FSAE) and hung out with some cows and snagged this awesome shot.

Thursday followed suit with the rest of the week, not enough time in the day to get a decent ride in.

Farm near Airport Rd. in Blacksburg.

Tomorrow a race weekend preview for my Smithfield Sprint!

Oh yeah...pre and post shave.

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Return from training hiatus + VCU/UVA Race Weekend Preview

I'm not positive if it's the most miles I've logged in a week since this past summer, which is pretty embarrassing if it is, but this week was a pretty decent week for me training wise. Monday I continued my binge eating without repercussions mentality as I readjusted to my school schedule of not having classes (man do I love senior year). Tuesday I had a gorgeous ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway beginning and ending at Mill Mountain just outside Roanoke.

Wednesday marked the return of Blacksburg Wednesday Worlds, a weekly race ride put on by most of the locals that includes a pre-determined route and a group of B's who are chased by A riders with a slight time advantage, needless to say we don't last very long. The ride was very difficult for me because it's much different than most race scenarios where we're riding 40 deep and everyone just kinda sits there. This ride is much different with a blistering fast pace, rotating pacelines, and open roads at high speed which somewhat scares me. The ride ended with a 3-mile climb of Harding Ave., a pretty narly climb here in town that the man, Lance Armstrong himself, averaged some ridiculous pace up like 15 or 17 MPH, or something ridiculous. The power file for the Wednesday Worlds is below:

Power Data from Wednesday Worlds.

Today I only managed to get out for a short ride at the end of the day and ran out of sunlight towards the end but still managed to get about 15 miles in or so. I enjoy being out on the bike especially on a day like today, even for an hour it's great to simply get away from it all. Power from today below and the details from on Garmin Connect Here.

Power Data from tonights ride.

My Thursday night ride made, just a quick loop around Blacksburg.

Tomorrow the team leaves for a race weekend hosted by both UVA and VCU. The race will be in Richmond on Saturday and Sunday, both races being criteriums with a slight change in course. One goal for me this season is to upgrade from a Category 5 to a Cat. 4, which can be accomplished by completing 10 mass start races (with a minimum start field...details...details). This weekends races will put me at 7 races for the season, only three short of the ten I need and may allow me to race up for the last race weekend of the season.

I've embedded two videos from previous race weekends which Nick Shoemaker has put together.

VT Cycling Presents: NC State 2010 from nick shoemaker on Vimeo.

VT Cycling Presents: Wake Forest 2010 from nick shoemaker on Vimeo.

The race flyer can be found here, and below the course preview for both crits.

Stoked for crits. this weekend!

Few small other notes:

T-minus 9 days until Smithfield triathlon, Oh Boy! (Be expecting a sweet pic. of my outfit and transition practice soon)

Return to Hot Yoga tomorrow!

Thats all for now more to come post weekend, hopefully sooner than the W&M-sketchy-sketchy-crashfest post which took me nealry 2 weeks to right, better late than never though.

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Registered for my first Tri!

Today was a very exciting day for me. I had to pull myself out of bed at 8:20 after being in the Formula shop from 1PM yesterday to 1AM this morning and drag myself to work by 9. I've begun keeping a journal of my daily intake including meals, drinks, and snacks as well as recording my energy levels (how I feel), activities, and rise and sleep times.

After work Michelle and I grabbed a quick lunch at Moe's and then headed home where I had a package waiting at my door. I'm not sure if what you get inside the package is more exciting than just coming home and finding a package even if you know your ordered and tracked its shipment, it's still exciting!


While home this weekend I ordered this lens, its a 50mm (fixed focal length) and makes for awesome closeups. The lens marks the third of five items I've bought or received from my Gear Geek Holiday Wishlist.

Michelle and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon running errands and paying bills (never fun) and stopped by Run About Sports to see what they had in terms of swim gear for this upcoming weeks practices. I picked up a pair of goggles and jammers, using my TriAdventure discount of 10% off, not a whole lot but 10% is another meal at Moe's helps.


Since I bought the equipment and I'm going to pay for the coaching I figured I should sign up for the Smithfield Triathlon before it fills up. I'm super stoked and really feel like the swim training from the coaching class will give me the confidence I need to complete the swim portion.

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Yoga and Give it a Tri!

Today was my first day of Yoga at In Balance Yoga Studio. I had been debating on whether or not to enroll in the class because of the price but was encouraged by several of my coworkers that since I was working and it was something I wanted to try, I should do it.

I purchased my 10 sessions at a wallet breaking $100 (10/ session is the student discount) and scheduled my first class using the online scheduler. An alternative to the yoga studio I chose was Rec. Sports through Virginia Tech ($15 for the mind body package) for unlimited yoga for the semester, but wanted a personal experience with more one-on-one instruction. My initial outlook was that it would be a great way to start my day, motivate me to get up early, and if I gain flexibility and strength while flushing toxins from my body why not?

I seem to be accumulating a good bit of athletic / sports equipment because while yoga is fairly simple you have to purchase a mat ($9 at Walmart) and it seems like every "activity" has its accessories.

My first class was Gentle Flow Yoga, which is defined by In Balance Yoga as:

Gentle Flow Yoga - A gentle vinyasa class focusing on breath and alignment. This is a great class for beginners.

I was correct on my assumption that the studio would be more personal and a better instructor-student ratio which today was 1:3, possibly in part to being at 7AM on a Monday, but hey... I like to make the most of my day. The class was enjoyable and certainly not easy and slow enough in pace that I learned some of the moves and positions, as well as the combination that are common.

After that it was work from 9-2, a little studying and lunch and then off to the cycling team meeting, followed by an information session about a beginner Triathlon training program. Give it a Tri is an 8 week entry level training course designed to help individuals complete a sprint triathlon on March 27th, The Smithfield Sprint! The program has 4 weekly training meeting including 2 swimming nights (Wednesday and Friday evenings) and 1 running and cycling session each week, as well as a meeting about Triathlons including information on transitions, nutrition, and other important info. for newbies!

The Smithfield Sprint consists of a 300m swim, 10 mile bike, and 5k run. I don't believe that I'll have any problem completing it and the best part is that it's on our off week for VT Cycling so I will not miss a race!

All I can say is that I'm stoked!

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