oregon adventures

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Albany Sprint Triathlon


Last Sunday I did my triathlon of the year the Albany sprint tri in Albany Oregon. Rode down in the Headhunters team van on Saturday and stayed at the Phoenix Inn. Ate at a nice Italian place in Albany. We had 12 people and it was prom night, so we had to wait for a table, but the food was good.
Packet pickup was the morning of the race. Got the number and set up transition, then into the pool area to watch for 2 hours until my wave. They have a 50 yard pool, but have a bulkhead to make it two 25 yard pools so you start in the middle and get out in the middle. Finally it was time to swim and started out third of four in my lane. The guy in front of me was a little slow, so after two laps I passed him. The girl behind me hit my feet, so I tried to let her pass and she said go. She was drafting me. 750 yards later, I got out at 13:56 and jogged outside to the bike. Almost took a header because I missed the dropoff of the curb and stumbled. Got on the bike and it is a flat, fast ride. But that day was very windy of course so I just tried to go as fast as I could the whole time. The bike was a rectangle course and three sides felt like a headwind. Finished with a 19.7 mph average. Got to the transition and coach Denise was going out on the run and yelled for me to catch her. Started out slowly on the run and was alone the whole run so I would speed up. Finally saw a mile marker at 2.5 and I was on an 8:30 pace. Sped up and ran really good the last part that took forever. Finished the run in 28:52. It was at least 3.5 miles instead of 3.1. Overall time was 1:24:28 good enough for 3 of 5 for my age group and a ribbon. Coach and her husband Bob both won their age group. Good first tri of the year.