Nashua Y Sprint Triathlon Race Recap

On Sunday, I competed in the first ever Nashua Y Sprint Triathlon.  This race was great because it was close to home (yay for not having to get up early), the course was supposedly relatively flat, and it was a lake swim.  I was looking forward to getting out there.

Since it was their first year, it was to be expected that there would be some bumps in the road.  My biggest gripe was that the line to check-in was really long.  I made Patrick stand in line for me so I could set up and not feel rushed.  Well, by the time I got to check-in, they were out of goody bags.  Total bummer.  I will say that they had tons of volunteers and really made an effort to keep things running smoothly.

The Swim:
The swim was  a 1/3 of a mile and in a lake.  I think I really like the lake setting, because there is no current and it's warmer than the ocean, but is still refreshing.  The waves were 3 minutes apart and I was in the second wave.  It worked out because each wave had about 25 people, but we were given enough time that it didn't end up with all the swimmers on top of each other.

Usually I try to use the swim as a chance to get ahead because at heart, I am a swimmer.  But in my last tri, I did that and my heart rate was so high after the swim that I struggled to get it back down for the rest of the race.  This time I chose a comfortable pace and just went with it.  I actually ended up breaststroking most of the time so I could see where I was going.  That may have slowed my down a bit, but I think it was worth it to stay on course.

Swim Time:  13:08 min.  (This includes a run up the beach, which was a little longer than expected.)

T1:  1:54 minutes
The transition area was a little more crowded than I'm used to.  I just tried to get my things together and get out of there, but I kept dropping things and having to rearrange.  Yikes!

The Bike:
The bike was a 16 mile course.  This time, when they said it was relatively flat, they meant it.  I thought it was a great course and it was mostly shady.  There were tons of volunteers and tons of signs letting you know where to go, which I was super-impressed by.  I thought they did a very thorough job of marking the course.

During the ride I chomped on a pack of Luna Moons and sipped Gatorade.  Both things were new to me during the races.  I really liked the Luna Moons, especially because I could easily eat them while biking.  Although, next time, I will open the pack before the start of the race so I don't have to open it while riding.  I wasn't crazy about my choice to put Gatorade in my bike bottle.  It tasted really good, but I was really craving water.  Next time I'll either stick to water of bring both.  That and the Gatorade was making my lips sticky and about 3/4 of the way through the ride I was feeling a little nauseous from drinking too much.  Whoops! 

I really enjoyed this ride and finished faster than I thought.  I forgot to put my bike computer on before the race, so I was riding blind.  In a way it was nice to just ride.  I was able to pass a handful of people and some of the more elite athletes passed me, but it was all good.
Bike Time:  57:19 minutes

T2:  0:33 minutes
Sometimes it pays to not have to change shoes.  :-)

The Run:
The run was just a hot and miserable 5K.  My legs actually felt really good coming off the bike.  I think fueling on the bike really helped.  However, the run course was in the dead sun and it was easily near 90 degrees at this point in the race.  As much as I wanted to run, I figured it wasn't worth it to push it and end up passed out on the side of the road.  I alternated between walking and running based on how I was feeling.  I had my handheld water bottle, which was gone by the time I got to the water stop at the halfway point.  I filled up (no, it wasn't cold) and kept going.  I felt a little better when I saw lots of others walking too. 

I did push it near the end and felt that I finished strong.  The announcer called out my name (although he said Carlene instead of Carly) and I grabbed a nice cold bottle of water.  I was never so happy to see water.  I got this cute finisher's medal (although I prefer ones I have to win):

Again, my run time was faster than I thought.  Considering the amount of walking I did, I was quite pleased.

Run Time:  41:07 minutes

Final Time:  1:53.58
Place: 175/250   Age Group:  9/18

This was by far the longest triathlon I've done.  I felt really accomplished at the end of it.  And I definitely had way more fun than my last tri.  That might have had something to do with the fact that I did a lot more training.  I really hope they put this race on again next year and that they work out the kinks.