Spring Sprint Triathlon 2018 – Sprint Distance
South Shores Park, Mission Bay
Spring Sprint is one of the few races I have participated in several times and, although the bike course seems to change every year, I know the course well and can gauge my performance goals and expectations pretty accurately. This year, my training quality and volume, as well as my equipment, have upgraded significantly, so a course PR was expected. My goal was to come in under 1 hour this time; in iterations past (with much friendlier bike routes) I finished in the 1:05-1:12 range. The weather on this first weekend in May was “Greetings from San Diego” postcard perfect and the conditions seemed ideal for a great day of racing.
Swim:
In a last minute safety decision, the race director moved the male military division from wave 18 to wave 5 after we described the dangers of the top 10 military members averaging 25 mph on the bike overcoming all the other age group waves who will likely be traveling much slower.
This meant we swam in the 16-20 age group wave, which made for a very short and chaotic swim. Most of the kids I met in the transition area before the race were first time triathletes, but surfers or water polo guys, so the aggression in the water was impressive and kinda fun.
The sprint distance for the swim was really short, only 1/4 mile. I forgot to start my Garmin at the gun so I don’t have good data on my performance, but the official time was 6:54 – right in line with my plan to avoid pushing too hard and saving my lungs to for the bike and run.
Transition 1:
Too many bikes on the racks and tight transition areas seem to be the norm, especially at races like these that are very beginner friendly. While I fully support new blood in the sport, I wish there was a way to teach newbies some of the unspoken etiquette of the sport. Like if a bike is racked and the rider’s gear is strategically set up for transition with a helmet and visor sitting on the handlebars, and the participant has already gone down to the starting area for a warm up, it’s not cool to squeeze your old mountain bike between said participants bike and the next bike hanging 6 inches down the line, knocking the participants helmet off his bike, causing the visor to separate from the helmet, then leave the visor and helmet in two different places on the ground near the participant’s running gear.
Here’s a pic of how tight the space was before the latecomer slammed his ride between the two bikes in the photo. Side note – the kid with the rusty old mountain bike next to me had WD40 in his bottle cage, which I thought was hilarious.
So i had to take a few extra seconds to put my visor back on my helmet, check for damage, and then strap it on and carefully unrack the bike without knocking into the others that were now way to close to mine.
Quick jog to the mount up line and a successful flying mount and I was off.
Bike:
The 2 lap course was on a stretch of road with several dangerous pot holes, steep and banked on/off ramps, and 180 degree turnarounds; but also a couple 2 mile flat fast straightaways to open up on. Inspite of the clusters of riders on the turnarounds I had to slow down for and the large pot holes I was lucky to avoid (I heard one rider hit a hole, endowed and was taken away in an ambulance), I was able to average about 23 mph and 253 watts normalized power over the 10 miles to get back to transition in 26:29.
Run:
For this race, I was a little more intentional and played a better mental game for the run. I usually find myself a little disappointed with my run pace, either because I push to hard in the first two disciplines or my expectations are too high (or both). The course is one I have finished many times so I set specific locations for pace markers – like a 7:30-7:45 is ok until the first aid station to shake out the stiffness from the bike and then work for a 7:00-7:15 thereafter, accounting for the sections of soft sand/mulch that will slow down a bit, then kick it in at the turn before the second lap/finish split area. I also constantly reminded myself of the training session a couple weeks earlier where I hammered a hilly 2 hour ride to cover 40 miles and then put down a 5.5 mile transition run at a solid 7:30 pace, so don’t forget that I won’t gas out on such a short distance.
What also helped is a new fueling source I recently discovered. Beets are all the rage in endurance sports these days and the benefits are legit. I started using AltRed betalain supplement and find myself being able to push harder, endure longer and recover faster than ever before. I felt strong all the way through the finish line, and then like I could do it all over again afterward.
Finish:
I met my goal of finishing under 1 hour with an official time of 59 minutes and 01 second. The military division was very competitive at this race; I took third in the division with only 5 minutes between me and the two who finished in front of me and less than two minutes between me and the two behind me, which included my friend and teammate Seth Smith. Great competition and a lot of fun.
