SC Sprint Race Report and Update

Return on Investment

Result: 3rd place, splits not worth noting :p

I jumped back into triathlon racing last weekend with a little sprint race in Greenwood. The goal was to knock out a race as part of an effort to reach 5 setup series races (needed 3 more races) so I could qualify for series awards and hopefully win some money and get a new pair of cycling sock and technical tee. I knew I wasn’t fit to race, which is very evident if you look up my splits!

After the usual warm-up swim (and taking some crap for racing the sprint instead of the half from my friends) we were off. I’ve swam approximately 1800 meters in the last 2 months so I got out of this part of the race exactly what I invested, not much! I ranked 3rd in the swim but I’m not misleading myself into believing that it was anything more than what it was … an abysmal performance. For the bike I’d put in roughly 4 hours of training in September so it was no surprise that I couldn’t hang with my competitor on the hills. I ranked 5th on the bike … not good for me in a small race like this one. As disappointing and the first two disciplines were, then run took the cake. Over 20 minutes for a 5k!!! What else can I say … other than I ran a faster pace on the same course for the 10k run at FoF Olympic with a broken rib, torqued calf and knee and road rash all over in much hotter temps back in June!! It’s a sad state of affairs as far as fitness is concerned. Thankfully other parts of life are so totally awesome or I might be down in the dumps!!!


What I’ve learned is that I hold myself to a high standard when it comes to triathlon and to really enjoy the sport I have to be fit and fast. And if I’m not fit and fast I’m just wasting time and money by racing. While racing provides a good hard training session, I’d be better served to work on the high priority personal projects, obligations and obstacles that are keeping me from getting the necessary training done to be fit and fast and enjoy racing! If I didn’t have to pay entry fees it would make more sense to race regardless of fitness (if for nothing else than the training benefit). But since racing requires a monetary and mental commitment and time away from family and projects, I need to be prepared to race when I race … and right now I’m not.

If you’re reading this and don’t really know me very well you may be asking yourself why am I not prepared … in short, because I’m not putting in the time training right now. After breaking my rib in the bike crash at the Festival of Flowers race in June I was forced to take some time off to heal. Once healed we were finally able to purchase our new home which we’d be arduously pursuing for nearly 2 years (long, long story - it was a short sale). With it came the enormously taxing task of moving a family of 5 and settling in. The house is newer (built in 2005) and very well constructed both inside and out, but not being lived in for about 3 years and having 15 acres of property, it needed substantial work to bring it back to life. Triathlon, being a hobby and passion of mine, is important to me but it is not at the top of my priority list and therefore it had to be put on the back burner (and will have to remain there for several more weeks) while we work through the process of getting settled.

In the meantime I have a little marathon down in Savannah in 4 weeks that I’m well under prepared for. However I’m already chomping at the bit to immerse myself in the daily ritual of getting the work done to make myself fit and fast for 2012. I hope to have my best season of short course racing ever in the first part of next year and culminate that fast racing with a super strong showing at the Charleston Half ironman in May, and then follow that up with a sub 2 hr Olympic at FoF in June. Then I’ll shut it down for the summer while it crazy hot and perhaps build back up for a late season ironman campaign.

Hope all is well with all my friends out there in cyber land. Best of luck to my friends Chris Olson and Scott Woodbury racing the Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii this weekend!!! Make it worth the investment!!