Pittsburgh Triathlon 2013

Race: Pittsburgh Triathlon (international distance)
Date: 28 July 2013
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Time: 2:41:30
Overall Rank: 159 out of 344
Age Group Rank: 15 out of 31
Results: http://www.piranha-sports.com/Results/ResultsAll.aspx?RaceID=712

This was my second Olympic-length triathlon. My last one was this same race last year, so it is great to compare my performances and see the improvements I have made in one year! The swim was in the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, the bike segment was along a highway HOV lane going out of town, and the run was along the riverfront.

Swim (1.5K) in 25:27, which ranked me 91 out of 344 competitors, and represents a 7% improvement from my performance last year. This race has a wave-start with 100+ people per wave. I looked up my swim time from last year and determined that my swim time was close to the median within my gender age group, so I started in the middle of the pack so I wouldn't have to crawl over a bunch of slower swimmers. Last year I was fairly timid and wanted to avoid all bodily contact so I started in the rear. This year I squeezed between slower swimmers without much trouble. Someone was drafting me for half the race. It was annoying so I starting kicking big in order to annoy them back! I started toward the center of the river, which was a wise move. Most of the field was off to my left, meaning they had to cover a greater distance in the same amount of time. This year I swam in a straight line. I have practiced my sighting skills and I think I have it down. Of course, there were other swimmers and numerous life guards in the water to help me stay on course. I did not feel any significant current in the water (which is surprising, given how much water volume there was with all the rain we've had), but the surface was choppy. My friend Dan started next to me, and we finished one after the other. Dan tells me he was keeping track of my position for the whole swim; I was oblivious as to where he was (sorry Dan), so it was a pleasant surprise to see that we were getting out of the water at the same time. We are so evenly matched!

I'm all business as I exit the water during the Pittsburgh international-distance triathlon.

T1 in 2:59 is faster than last year but still slow compared to most triathletes. I'm not bothered by this. My intent is to go fast on the swim, bike, and run. No one gets a prize for having the fastest transition times.

Bike (40K) in 1:15:46, which ranked me 139 out of 344 competitors, and represents a 10% improvement over last year. My goal for this entire race was to improve on the bike. Last year it seemed that EVERYONE was passing me as I meandered up the 6-mile ramp on the interstate HOV lane. So this year I trained for that ascent. I still went slower than expected. I dropped to 11 mph at some of the steeper spots, but so were most of the racers near me. I let it loose on the descents. My max speed was 36.5 mph. I was more conservative in my speed last year. Another thing I did differently this year was to be more diligent on taking water and food. On the slow ascents I accessed my water bottle and consumed a GU packet that I had stored in my shorts pocket. My legs didn't seem to get tired on this ride, but my back was distractingly uncomfortable through the whole thing. Since I have managed to avoid back pain on my training rides all year, the source of the pain was probably not due to poor condition. Instead, I noticed that my seat had shifted out of position; the nose was tilted down, probably as a result of transporting the bike on the vehicle. I did not take the time to readjust the seat during my race, so a strange pelvic position probably caused my back pain.

T2 in 1:56 which is a lot faster than last year because I didn't walk through the transition zone (I was hurting a lot more last year, so I needed to take a break in transition).

Run (10K) in 55:19, which ranked me 221 out of 344 competitors, and represents a 10% improvement over last year. After the bike segment, I was feeling good and ready to go. My legs didn't seem to be moving very fast, but I was able to keep to a similar pace as those around me, so I knew I was doing OK. I have never been a fast runner, so this 8:51 min/mile pace is actually good for me, with or without having done a swim and bike ride first! Miles 1-2 went very fast and I felt good. On miles 3-4, I started dragging and I wanted to be done. After the turn-around point, I saw Dan and he had a smile on his face. He asked me how I was, and I told him I wanted to be done. He wasn't too far behind me, so I reasoned that it was quite possible he would pass me and finish ahead of me. I decided that if he did that I would not try to out-race him like I sometimes try to do. On miles 5-6, only the knowledge that I would soon be done kept me going. I started to feel exhaustion set in, but it wasn't to the point where I would have to stop. I knew I could do it. But if Dan were to pass me, there was nothing I could do about it except cheer him on.

In the end, I led Dan by a little more than a minute. But out of a 162-minute race, that's statistically insignificant. It's great we are so equal in our abilities, and it makes every race we do together extra exciting.

I am feeling very tired at the end of the Pittsburgh international-distance Triathlon.