Stamford Triathlon Race Report

There's always trepidation when competing in a first year race, and with its two transition areas and promises to port swim gear back to the finish after the race, the Stamford Triathlon certainly caused a share of pre-race angst. I made out meticulous lists (moreso than my usual obsessiveness would drive) on Saturday for what to bring in which bags to which transition area. Since this was a local race, I had plenty of company with whom to commiserate, both from the TT crew and other area triathlon groups.

Fortunately, everything went according to plan, including the weather, which, though warm and humid, stayed dry. The water was calm and left me hoping for a great swim, which ALMOST came to pass save a bit of bad sighting on the last 300 yards or so where I could have used one more buoy. I figure I ended up about a minute slower out of the water than I otherwise would have.

T1 worked out well, and I packed my swim gear in the transport bag and crossed my fingers (happily, the race folks managed the gear port excellently). I headed off on the bike, and except for almost nailing people biking the opposite way (the one thing race officials should change for next year....opposite side of the street riding and hairy crossovers), had what I thought was a decent ride on a pretty fair course (somehow, I missed the third steep hill in my pre-race drive).

Through T2 feeling good...except for having to run on pavement in flats, which (as it did the week before and 2 weeks before) cause the return of some achilles pain. Felt good for the first 2 miles but had to ease off a bit at 3.5 after a twinge, but managed to maintain a slightly slower pace through the finish (and had the eventual women's winner fly by me like I was standing still with just over a mile to go).

The run ended up just a bit short (6.1 per the officials), which was fine with me at that point. I ended up in 2:11:53, good for 7th overall and 1st in the 40-44 AG. TT was well represented in the tri and the aquabike (will let you folks post for yourselves, Mitch, Michelle and Megan). Now I'm licking my wound(s) (achilles needs a few days off from running) and getting ready for the Rhode Island 70.3 on July 13.