Race Report - Treasure Island Sprint Triathlon, Oct 2013

Taking place in Point Pleasant, NJ, on Oct 6, this was the 6th running of this event (or so I think I heard the RD say at the morning pre-race meeting, though I only find 2 prior years of results).

Why this event?
After Mt. Tremblant, I was looking for something to do with myself and had considered the ChesapeakeMan Aquabike event (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi run) on Sept 22.  I thought this race would be a nice opportunity to push the swim pace which I never do, and also to demonstrate better nutrition on a long bike segment.  But the problem was I was pretty darn slow to recover following this year's ironman.  I felt better the few days following the race (as I have I the past), but then I started feeling worse.  My efforts at very short runs and longer bike rides were uncomfortable and, still not understanding what the heck is going on with my "hip", I backed out of doing this event.  I titled the email to my coach containing this decision "empty calendar" and unexpectedly he came back with this sprint race and "I think it would be a nice race to close out Tri season with and take a run at a podium spot!".  

Podium spot?  Is he delusional?  I typically finish after 75% of the field no matter the race distance.  But I figured, what the heck, and conned 1 friend (different age group!) into signing up with me.  

The Course
- The 0.25 mi swim was a very acute triangle, essentially an out and back along the shore line of the Manasquan River, and was salty.  Beach access, in water start.  I'm guessing low 70's for water temp.
- The 10.5 mi bike was 4 loops of a popsicle design (6 x 90 degree turns), actually looking more like a lower case letter d with transition near the bottom of the straight edge, with minor surface undulation that can't be called hills but prevents the word flat from being appropriate either.
- The 3 mi run was 1 loop of the bike course.  If you're confused about how this math adds up (1 loop = 3 mi, 4 loops = 10.5 mi?), you're not alone.  

Race Management
The event was very small, with a limit of 300 participants (I believe) among the duathletes, triathletes, aquabikers, and kayak triathetes, so packet pick-up was a snap.  Course markings and volunteers were ample for such a short course, and the 2 aid stations were more than I could figure out how to use.  The race venue is a river front park with the finish next to a covered picnic area, which had enough goodies to meet my immediate needs.

My race
All the women were in the last wave with the aquabikers.  I lined up at the front of the swim and had no contact issues as the fast swimmers left quickly and the water was mostly clear for me.  My swim time probably reflects the benefit of my not having to swim around anyone else.  I got out of the water and quickly got the top half of my wetsuit off, and then discovered how awkward it is to run with the long arms flapping around me.  So I grabbed those in one hand and continued on, across sand, a small bit of dock, and then across grass to transition.

I got my wetsuit off easily enough but had a slow transition anyway.  My pony tail was up a bit high and interfered a little with getting my helmet on.  And I fumbled with getting my race belt on.  I'm not used to messing with it during T1, but this race wanted us to wear the number on the bike.

The road was just wide enough for the number of participants and was shared concurrently by cyclists and runners.  I shifted gears frequently since the road wasn't completely flat, and most of the time my chain was rubbing (seems I need a derailleur adjustment).  I wanted to try to push 20 mph, believing I needed to in order to stand a chance of placing, but I couldn't hit it.  I seemed to be between 16.8 and 18.8 when ever I looked and was wondering if I could even keep that up.  Usually I put a lot of fluids away on the bike but I was so focused on maintaining my pace that I nearly forgot to drink anything.  Luckily it wasn't hot. 

T2 was pretty simple.  I lost a couple of seconds debating whether or not to grab my gu (Honey Stinger brand, actually).  I didn't feel like I needed it before the swim (which is what I brought it for) and couldn't think clearly whether or not I wanted it now.

I tore into the gu upon leaving transition, then fumbled with getting the wrapper into my back pocket.  But I stuck with it rather than being one of those inconsiderate types who just dumps their trash where ever along their paths to greatness.  At this point it was clear I was running at an unsustainable pace (watch said just over 8 min/mi) so I slowed a bit.  But I made sure to press hard enough that I was continuously uncomfortable, which was a completely different strategy for me vs the ultra distance races.  On the out and back section I counted that I was at least the 7th woman back, but I hadn't seen a single calf from my age group all race long.  Reading the participant list ahead of time had me thinking there'd be 6 of us competing today and I had no idea where they were.  A couple of younger women passed me shortly before I was going to let myself pick up the pace again (at least 9 places back now), and the 2nd one invited me to keep up.  I thought it was too soon when she asked but I did damn near catch her at the finish line after all, crossing just 2 sec behind.

At that moment I was pretty pleased with how I did, whatever it turned out to be, and I was grinning from ear to ear as I sprawled out on the grass to catch my breath.  The girl I nearly caught came over to say great job and added something about it being particularly cool I nearly caught her b/c she was "like 10 years younger."  As per the results, she was actually 18 years younger (gah!).  I spotted Katie's turn in to the final stretch and she looked pretty happy too, giving the finish line photographer 2 big "thumbs up". 

Results
Swim, 7:45, pace 1:50, 65th place
T1, 2:54, 60th place
Bike, 31:24, 20.1 mph, 36th place
T2, 1:08, 72nd place
Run, 23:41, 7:54 min/mmi, 85th place
Finish, 1:06:49.

This put me at 58th out of 141 finishers, 11th female out of 46 non-relay team women, and 1st in my age group.  Boo ya.  The only 3 women to beat me in the bike split were the top 3 finishers and I'm pretty pleased by that.  Some fast ladies showed up this year b/c my time would have put me only 33 sec behind the 3rd place overall for women last year and would have earned me 2nd place in 2011.  Although there is something amiss with the reported race distance (as *I* do not run 7:54 for 3 miles, particularly not this year!), this was a nice little event that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a low-stress fun end-of-the-season race.