Earlier in the week, I was thinking about the logistics of how to do my planned “Big Training Day” (a swim, bike, run all in one day). Drive w/ bike to pool, ride from pool somewhere, run somewhere?? So I figured it would be just as easy to do a tri! Then I got an e-mail saying “The Litchfield Hills triathlon is calling your name!” Perfect, right? I have never done this race (the word “Hills” in the title skeered me!) but figured why not? A catered training day with people cheering me on! I did Rev3 Quassy Olympic 3 weeks ago so I will compare to that race.
Day started like any other race day. Except when I got the race site and was pumping my tires, I must have done SOMETHING wrong and lost all air in the front, and it wouldn’t hold any air. No worries though, that’s why they have a bike shop on site! (And why I tend to get to the races as early as possible) Got it taken care of in about 5 mins and was ready to roll, literally.
I felt GREAT on the swim… Smooth, confident and fast. Did have a stop a couple of times because goggles were leaking a bit… may be time for new ones as they rarely leak. Blinded by the sun each time I took a breath but not a big deal. Final time was 34:45 (21 secs faster than Quassy) but I really felt faster. Go figure.
Long, uphill run/walk to transition. I hadn’t ridden or even driven the bike course prior so really didn’t know what to expect except for what I had heard. I figured it couldn’t be as hilly as Quassy. A few uphills and then the “screaming” downhill. (Not what I expected… I didn’t scream ) Most of the course was flatish then started up again with 10 miles to go, but not horrible… til the last 3 miles. Ouch. When race directors say the last 2 miles are “painful”, they aren’t kidding. Had 1 bottle of Accelerade + 1 bottle of water + 2 GUs on the bike. Still managed to finish in 1:38 (about 20 mins faster than Quassy, but mostly due to less elevation gain, although I have 3 different sources giving me varying elevation profiles so I don’t know) Numbers for the tri geeks- . 867 IF, 1765 ft gain* (*per PowerMeter) I find the inconsistency in the various elevation tools rather frustrating. But that's posted in another forum....
The sun was beating down and it was heating up as I hit the run. The description of “rolling” didn’t do it for me...I’d say hilly! I took a water and Gatorade at each aid station. Dumped the water over my head and drank the Gatorade. I was only a minute 20 secs slower vs. Quassy but it was much cooler at Quassy and the rain definitely helped.
I’m pretty happy with the race results of 3:38:18. For another reference point, I did in Oly in 2010 that was pancake flat that I finished in 3:37 so to finish this course in almost the same time is pretty cool. Still trying to get out the waayyyyy bottom of the finishers though.
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