Thursday, July 19, 2012

Never too late Spillway Triathlon Report

Well this sprint triathlon took place on June 23rd, so this post is only a couple of weeks late!  I still remember the event clearly, so I figured I would go ahead and write up my report on this event!

The Spillway Triathlon is put on by DLT Events and the race is at Lake DeGray, which is just north of Arkadelphia.  Transition is located at the Spillway rec area.  This is also the same area and similar course for the Tri-Arkansas Olympic and Sprint distance triathlon in August.

The race is a 450 yard swim, 13 mile bike, and a 3 mile run.

Pre-Race
The nice part about this race was the start time at 8am!  That meant I only had to wake up around 4:30 for the little less than 1.5 drive to the race site!  I was able to leave my house around 5:30 after a small breakfast of PB sandwich and banana.  I arrive on site around 6:15 and found that it was already started to pack out.  I choose a different spot this time.  Most of the time people choose somewhere near the bike out/bike in, but I instead chose the place close to the swim in and run out.  Plus, most of the the good spots were taken up front and I didn't really want to be in the middle.  I racked my bike and then went out for a pre-race swim.  I swam for about 15 minutes and then wait began for the start!

Swim
The swim for this race was a 450 swim in the clear for a lake water of Degray.  The swim was an in water with the course running clockwise in the shape of an elongated triangle.  You swam out for probably 150-200 yards, then turned right for another 150-200 yards and the swim in was only around 50-75 yards.  I lined myself up to the far right and away from most people.  The announcement is made for the start and away we go.  I've been start my swims slow to allow myself to get comfortable and then increase the pace as the swim goes.  I was feeling good and reach the first buoy where it was somewhat crowded.  I was not able to make a great turn on the buoy or the next one either.  I'm usually on the outside, but this time I ended up more on the inside of the buoys.  I was keeping close to the crowd and just off the back.  I get into the swim exit and run towards transition.  Overall I thought my swim was pretty good.  The sighting was good, pace felt great, and was comfortable overall.  The only issue with this race was there were no timing chips, so I wouldn't know my exact swim time since I didn't have my 310xt on for the swim.

Swim Time plus T1 - 10:42 - 9/14 AG

Bike
The bike is where I was hoping to get back in the race, and see how fitness has improved since Memphis in May and Hot Springs Village.  The course is an out and back along Skyline drive.  The ride starts out with a somewhat steep and short up hill to the spillway and continues over the spillway before a gradual uphill till about 1 mile before the turnaround.  You have a quick downhill, back up hill, and then downhill to the finish.

I was feeling pretty good on the bike.  The first half I was holding back just a little to allow myself a strong run.  The only issue was slowing down a little before getting back to the spillway due to a truck having to take a turn. It was a little disappointing to lose that downhill momenteum, but it wasn't anything that I could deal with.  I came into transition feeling pretty good.  I did run to the wrong side of the rack!  Overall, biking is going really well.

Bike Time - 39:19 - 5/14 AG

Run
Having completed a couple events out here already, I knew what to expect for the 3 mile run.  The first 1.5 miles is uphill followed by a fast downhill finish.  The first mile is hardest uphill portion.  After a good bike, I was going to take it easy pace wise through the first mile and then start to increase the pace all the way back to the finish.  I was feeling great and holding a steady pace. Since this is an OAB, it gave me a chance to see where I was in standing with some other people that I knew.  I figured I was about 2.5 minutes down by the time I reached the turned around.  I knew that it would be tough to catch them, but I increased the pace as much as possible into the finish.  I was really happy with the run.  I think I may have left a little out there, but not much. 

Run plus T2 time - 22.49 - 4/14AG
Overall - 1:12:50 - 4/14 AG

Another great event completed!  I've been keeping up the training for my next event which will be Tri-Arkansas and the Degray Sprint on the weekend on August 18th!