Sandman RR

With four weeks of training in the books since my return I felt good enough to race the Sandman sprint triathlon in Virginia Beach, VA. Now when I say good enough I mean I had been running well and without pain. And I had been seeing some fast times on the bike but not much endurance. That's to be expected after a 10-week layoff. I can't forget to mention the fact with my wrist/shoulder still in pain I neglected to swim a single yard in preparation for the race. I figured it was only 1000 meters. Huh, what was I thinking...

The week before the race I tried to grab a short ride and flatted eight miles in, which was my second flat in two weeks. Luckily both times I had my roommate with me and he rode back to the car to pick me up. On the last occasion we put my tri bike on the roof rack for the ride home. When Tropical Storm Hanna begun to drop rain on us we became distracted and forgot my bike was on the top of his new Lexus. As we entered the garage I heard the crunch of my bike and the scratching of the rack digging into his car. Not pretty at all. The car had a few dents and my Adamo Saddle was toast. The aluminum bike frame appeared solid though. After some tense moments at the Contes in Arlington I was able to acquire a new seat the Thursday before Sandman. I fitted everything that night but didn't get a chance to ride the bike until early race morning. A few minor tweaks was all it needed I thought.

During the five mile ride to the race site I fiddled with my positioning a few times but couldn't get it right like I had been training on. I also noticed my cadence wasn't working anymore. I probably should have rode the bike after the garage crash.

1000 Meters Swim - 18:30 (1:51/100m)
This was my first time doing an ocean swim and it wasn't pretty. The swim consisted of going out 25m and passing three orange buoys by swimming parallel with the beach before returning back to the sand. My wave was full of red caps that looked much like bobbing orange buoys in the distance. My goggles didn't help much when they came off as I dove into a wave and then fogged up several times during the swim. Throw in the fact I was way out of shape for 1000m and you get a crappy time. No shocker there.

T1 - 2:02
Nothing to report other then having to pass too many women from the wave before me that walk their bikes in the transition zone.

14 Mile Bike - 39:28 (22.4mph)
I was excited to finally get a chance to bike on a flat course after all the training in the mountain I had done back in May. During the race I found out why my cadence wasn't working when the bike computer fell off a mile from T1. I stopped and wasted two minutes or so going back to get it and then waiting to merge into bike traffic. If you subtract the extra time from my bike split I was more in the neighborhood of a 23mph average. I was quite pleased with the time but felt I had more power in my legs. With the bike positioning I setup that morning I was unable to get comfortable, thus lacking the power I was used to.

T2 - 1:41
Uneventful here. Notwithstanding I need to work on it.

5K Run - 20:47 (6:42/mile)
By the time I hit the boardwalk along the oceanfront the sun had come out and started baking everyone. I stopped at every water station for a cold drink and a second glass for over my head. I'm proud to say I had a decent time posting the 3rd best run in my AG and 10th best OA.

Total Time - 1:22:29
I felt going into the race I had a chance to place in my AG but the swim was terrible and I lost too much time on the bike. Overall I was happy placing 7th in my AG and 42nd OA on only a few weeks of training. I look forward to getting in a few more weeks before closing out my short racing season at the Giant Acorn in October.