Hyannis II Tri 2010

Location: Hyannis (Craigville Beach), MA
Distance:  Sprint (.25mi s, 10.2mi b, 3.5mi r)
Time:  7:30am start
Weather:  67
Participants:  875 +/-

Pre-race
While the thermometer might not have said it was that cold, before the sun came up it sure felt like i needed my pants and fleece!  Luckily the sun arrived for the start and I didn't have to swim in my jacket :)   My parents were able to make it down to watch, and we arrived in Hyannis the night before (so nice!  saved ~2hrs race morning).   We arrived early at the course, got a good parking spot, and I got set up in transition.    Then we got to people watch before it was time to go!

Craigville Beach, Hyannis, MA

Swim
It was a beach start for this ocean swim, where the water was calm and 69-70degrees.  I thought this might be a little chilly without a wetsuit, but it turns out it was quite nice.  I got in before the race to get used to the temperature and got out a little too early as I was cold waiting for my wave.   The waves were broken down by age groups only (i.e. there were men & women in each wave).  I tried to position myself just behind those eager beavers who would likely take off fast or be jostling for their line.

I'm not holding my ears, i'm taking out my earplugs ;)

Went out pretty well and seemed to settle in quickly...  but then, I'm not sure why, I started freaking out a bit and breathing frequently.  Luckily it was only a quarter of a mile and I was done before I knew it, running up the beach to transition.   I was shocked and pleased to see my time of 5:54!  Maybe the course was short, but either way my time was good enough for 8th in my age group (AG) so I won't question it :)

Bike
I spent a little longer in T1 than I wanted to, trying to get the sand off my feet (thinking sand=blisters).  At the mount line I had a hard time clipping in for whatever reason (maybe because I couldn't feel my feet?).  Then it took me a little while to realize why my legs were going so fast...  I was in the wrong chainring (small ring in the front).   Serves as a good reminder to make sure you are paying attention when you check your bike race morning!  I probably didn't lose too much time there, but I never felt like I hit the groove that I had in my last race.  My feet were pretty cold until the last mile or two, but I kept trying to move my toes around so they warmed up by the time it came time to run on them.

Heading out

My own issues aside, the course was pretty nice and relatively flat.   Due to the size of the race, there are alot of people on the course at one time.  Since the course wasn't closed, there was a lot of maneuvering/passing 2-3 people deep and some drafting.   I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed with my bike time of 35:54, at ~17mph.  But looking a little closer, it was 7th in my AG, and the fastest women were only finishing 3-4minutes faster (~19.5mph).  This seems slow (especially with some of the bikes I saw!), but it is what it is, and my time wasn't that bad ;)

Run
The run course had some gentle inclines, but nothing I'd consider a hill.   I don't remember too much from the run, I was just trying to focus on my form, but it went through a nice neighborhood and it ended with a sprint on the beach.   I finished at 28:18 for the 3.5miles, close to my goal of 8min/miles.  Good given my time off this summer; not so good in my AG ;)

Who's bright idea was this finish in the sand??

Overall time:  1hr 10min 07 sec  (8/63 in my AG)

This was the largest race I did this year, and it ran just like the smaller ones--so I'd consider it a job well done!   Except for the shirts ;)   If you're looking for a well-run race on the Cape, check out Time Out! races-- the same course is run in June, and there's one in Falmouth in July.

It completely slipped my mind to get a picture with my parents, but it was great to spend the day with them :)   Now it's time to plan for the 2011 season...