Race Report: Baltimore Triathlon (Olympic)

Pre-Race

Earlier this year, my wife and I signed up for this race.  My wife grew up in the area around Hammerman beach at Gunpowder Falls State Park so it was a good local event.  Unfortunately, due to being busy at work (I work in infectious disease epidemiology -- so just look at the news and you'll see why), I was not been able to train much in September.  This week I focused on just doing swims.  I'm still riding off of the Ironman fitness from the summer so I've been doing maintenance work but not really focusing on any training to build speed or specifics for the Olympic distance.  

I went to pick up my packet on Friday.   The water at the swim course was choppy with whitecaps on the river.  We were expecting storms overnight and rain in the morning.  The forecast also called for coastal flooding and storm suge from the bay so I was nervous about what conditions would longer into the morning.  

Race Day

We left home at 5am and arrived around 6am to transition.  We arrived and went to set up transition.  I chose not to use socks or gloves because it was short course. I find that I am not prone to blisters or issues with shoe rub for short course.  Plus, it was raining and it would just be a royal mess.  The Olympic distance used TBlocks, which are low-profile racks that you place your tire into for racking.  We know the inventor, Marcus, and this is his first year rolling out at local tris.   I like the system and wish him well as he expands.  We headed over to the MMTC tent to don the wetsuits and then headed off to the swim start.  I ended up running my tires at 95psi because of the rain.  It was better to have the traction than the speed.  

Swim (39:13) 

The only word to describe my swim was ugh.  Race management held the race for a few minutes as the buoys broke away last night in the storms and costal flooding.  They worked to replace them but warned us they weren't able to acurately measure it and that they think it was around 0.9 miles, give or take.  My GPS had it around 1.2 miles and the race director confirmed afterward that the swim ended up being a little over 1.1 miles for the Olympic.  My time made sense now since it was very slow for an Olympic, but right on target for a half-Iron.  The course was a very straightforward, two loop rectangle.  

Anyway, I could not see anything.  It was raining and overcast with grey clouds.  The light was very flat and my goggles were slightly foggy from the humidity in the air.  I used foggies wipes but it was still hazy in my goggles.  I made the first turn and I couldn't see the next buoy at all.  I couldn't find a kayak to stop and clear my goggles, so I just found feet in front of me and hoped they were going in the right direction.  I was pretty successful in linking onto other people for most of the race.  I did not succeed in swimming straight.  I realize I need to work on open water sighting and navigation. 

There was an abundance of debris in the water with vegetation, sticks, and even bigger pieces of driftwood from the night's storms and high tide anomaly.  This made it interesting to navigate.  There was a costal flood warning all night for excessively high tides so I assume the water was a bit more churned up than normal.  I was very glad to see the swim exit arch.  

T1 (1:37) 

It was a pretty long distance back up to transition.  The timing mat was at the transition area so the long run was rolled up into the swim time.  I swiftly went through transition and made sure to grab my nutrition for the bike course.  

Bike (1:22:36) 

The bike was two loops and 25.5 miles in total.  I drove the course the day before to see what to expect.  It had narrow streets, roads with no shoulder, sections of rough pavement and many sharp turns.  The rain this morning would make in interesting out there.   The course is in an area with heavy traffic and the roads were not closed.  

I got on the bike and started out of the park area.  As I made my way through the local neighborhoods, I took on my nutrition and started to calm myself down from the swim.  My heart rate was elevated more than normal at this point.  I also took it easy as I got used to the slick roads.  The residents in the area were great as many were on their porches cheering and watching.  The course was well marked with volunteers at every turn to direct you and police where needed.   Later sections of the bike had moderate traffic and it got to be distracting at times.  Sections did become more dangerous as the traffic increased as time went on.  

On the second lap, it stopped raining and the pavement started to dry in spots.  There were still puddles in places but I was able to pick up the pace a little.  I finally found my groove starting the second lap.   I was really struggling to find that good feel for the first lap.   I wish I could have dialed that in a little sooner.  The unfortunate part of short course is that if you don't find that groove soon, you don't have much time to enjoy it before you have to move on.  

T2 (0:54) 

I flew through T2 and really can't say anything about it.  I changed my shoes and picked up my hat.  Onward.  

Run (50:36) 

I got out on the course and tried to get into a groove.  Again, I struggled to find that groove.  The course was two out-and-backs.  For the first loop, I felt tight and tried to keep my pace around 8 min/mile.  The course really wasn't interesting as it followed the park roads through the parking lots.  I got passed by a few people on the first lap, which is unusual for me.  I typically either stay even or gain on everyone in the run.  

On the second lap, I finally started to feel it.   By the time I reached mile 4, I was ready to go.   Nobody passed my on the second lap and I started to pass others.  I felt more like my normal running self but the finish was coming up.  I pushed it up the final incline and turned to the finish.  Done.

Overall (2:54:57) 

All in all it was a pretty average time for me and on par with my training times.  I didn't stay for awards because I was sure I didn't place after having my worst Olympic by time. I was surprised when I got home and checked the posted times that I had won my age group.  We happened to be across the park at the finish line when awards were announced so I didn't hear it.  Well hot damn. The race was close as there were only two minutes separating 1-3 in the age group.  

I've said it before and I'll say it here.  Transition matters.   I was able to win because of my transition.  Add up the three split times and the race was even closer.  I gained nearly two minutes over the two transitions.  It's the fourth leg of the tri and it is my best leg.  It might not matter as much in long course but it can be the difference between podium and not in short course.  

Happy with the result although I really wish I had a better swim.  The race has some things to work on, chiefly swim support.  I'm not sure if I would do it again since the courses weren't too interesting. It wasn't overly challenging but with the turns, not overly fast like Eastern Shore races.  It's a good local race and convenient for Baltimore area triathletes.  A huge thank you to Lynn Lascola for the awesome race photos from today.