Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Duxbury Beach Tri 2011

Location:  Duxbury, MA
Distance: Sprint (.5mi s, 13mi b, 3.1mi r)
Time:  9am start
Weather:  mid-70s(?) and  humid
Participants:  535

A couple of Saturdays ago I headed to Duxbury for my last tri of the year.  Only two weeks after my first Oly (instead of the planned month), I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Recovery from Lobsterman was a little rough and I hadn't exactly been sleeping so well with the move/unpacking/adjusting to a new sleep schedule.  No time expectations here, just the goal to have fun and push based on how I was feeling.


View across the bay

I got there pretty early, so I had plenty of time to figure out where to go, set up my stuff, then trek back to the car for my inhaler, find my parents and some friends, get in the water and acclimate...  and gosh knows what else.  Luckily the weather cleared and we had a dry (albeit humid) race!

Swim
We had to walk the 1/2mi across the bay to the swim start (it was a point-to-point), and then run a fair bit to/through transition... not ideal for someone who has been dealing with alignment issues and normally wears orthotics.  The water in Duxbury Bay wasn't bad, my guess would be close to 68, comfortable in a wetsuit.  There were definitely some swells (I could feel myself bobbing a bit), but there was plenty of room to swim (no turns!).  I came out of the water in 11:46 and headed to transition.

Coming out of the water, I'm in the middle, front 


Bike
The bike starts and ends on Powder Point Bridge, where no passing is allowed.  Starting in the third wave, in the midst of plenty of people, both slower and faster, this can be a little frustrating.  In fact, the woman behind me was complaining about losing the lead she had out of the water.  But we're all in the same boat, and there's not much you can do except loosen up your legs and get ready to work!

Heading out on the bike (towards the right)
Winding through historic Duxbury, the bike course has some rolling hills, but no major climbs.  My legs weren't complaining and it was a nice ride.  Towards the end I started playing a game of cat and mouse with three other women in my AG, and while I may have come in behind them at 41:18 (18.9mph), I kept them in my sights as we came back into transition!

Run
The run was pretty flat and I felt good throughout, keeping a decent pace (from what I could tell) and picking people off!  I was smiling to myself as I debated whether I like passing men or women in my AG more :)  Those three women from the bike?  Caught them and never looked back!  Ended up with a 25:04 run (8:05min/mi).

Off and running!


Overall time:  1hr 24min 15sec  (6/21 in my AG)

Final Thoughts:  Although it wasn't my fastest sprint tri, I enjoyed the race and was reminded of how much I love triathlon.  I could stand to work on my transitions (a couple more races in a wetsuit and a second pair of orthotics should help), but I was definitely happy at the end of the day.  Duxbury was definitely a great end to the season as well, and maybe next year men and women can get the same color tee ;)


What will next year bring??  That's a good question!

17 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

you are amazing shan.
to even participate is an achievement!

Unknown said...

thats the purpose, to enjoy it!! looks like you did just that. Congrats!

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

Great race!!! I miss racing!!!

Emily @ A Cambridge Story said...

I'm in awe of people who can legitimately swim. It makes running seem easy - well done!

Joanne said...

So So SO proud and happy for you! Tris are no easy feat my dear and you totally rocked this, especially given how much you've had going on lately!

Laura said...

Awesome race report! Glad to hear Duxbury treated you well. Half ironman next year?

Elizabeth said...

You look like you OWNED that race :)

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

You look so STRONG while running! So proud of you!

Caratunk Girl said...

Shannon!! Amazing! Great job, it is all about the fun!!

Shoot me an email for your garlic BTW manfarr1974(at)yahoo(dot)com

Kristen said...

you are amazing! for some reason I am so fascinated with reading about Tris now (just read Kirsten's). It's much more action packed than a regular old road race ;) Way to go passing those ladies in the end!!

brandi said...

congrats Shannon!!! You are so inspiring :)

Nutmeg Nanny said...

You're so awesome! Congratulations :)

sophia said...

I'm guessing next year you'll be crazy enough to do a tri again. I don't know how you do it, but you know I totally think you're badass for it, Shannon! >__<

Jess said...

Amazing job! Really good report too. Looks like a nice course.

Reeni said...

You rocked it as always Shannon!

Kerstin said...

Congrats Shannon, you rocked it!! :)

Christine said...

I'm impressed. Great job! I can't imagine finishing a swim, then having two more events!

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