Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Benjamin Racho - Westport Kiwanas Sprint Triathlon Race Report

This is my first race report for my first Triathlon. It was the Westport Kiwanas Sprint Tri which is the town where I am a firefighter.

The distances were 1/2 mile Swim, 5.5 mi. Ride, and a 2.2 mi. Run.

This was my first Tri and I didn't know a single person there, but navigating around was really easy. I set up with some guys who had only done a few others so I hung out with them before the start.

It was pretty well organized and the start was 3 waves, of which I was in the second. My swim started off pretty well, but I had obviously given it too much gas as about 1/3 of the way through I was pretty tired so I slowed down quite a bit. First Tri jitters I guess. I caught up to a few of the first wave slow swimmers, but my time was still 21:02 (236/284). I had given my self goal of getting 20 minutes or less for each event, so I was pretty close on the swim. the last 50 feet of the swim was in about 2 feet of water, but the ground was exceptionally rocky, so it was a slow exit and walk to T1.

The transition was uneventful (2:55). No problems with my wetsuit and I don't have clipless pedals so I just wore my running shoes for the ride. The ride was nice as it was along the beach for a bit then up a small hill. Again, I gave it a little too much on the uphill and almost everyone I passed, passed me again. The course has a nice downhill then went through the town Golf Course, then back to the beach for the run. My ride time was 19:09 with a pace of 17.2 mph which placed me at 191 of 284 for riders.

Since I was already wearing my running shoes, Merrell Road Gloves, my T2 time was much better(1:16), but  I forgot my glasses and ran back for them. Somehow after all that I was still able to keep up an 8 min mile and finished in 18:10 (138/284 for runners.)

Overall I finished with a total time of 1:02:33.  I know that I could have given it more on the ride and run, but I just wanted to make sure I finished.

My first Triathlon experience was amazing. I can see why they are addicting and I plan to do a few more sprints before I take a crack at an Olympic distance. My next race is a 5k for a LODD firefighter and then it's up up and away for the American Lung Association at the 33 floor Trump Parc building in Stamford, CT.

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