In Summary:
- Very small race = more chance for medals
- Both Sprint & Olympic
- Really nice Race Director who cares.
- River swim, rolling bike, flat run
- Will do again next year, but as Aquabike.
I was *much* more prepared than I was for Cohasset. The weekend prior, I was able to do the swim and the bike/run course with some other Trifurians. This proved to be crucial when a random race goof occurred. Felt good, prepped, the weather on Saturday was hot (over 90) but Sunday looked like it was going to be cooler. Local race, no need for family to sit in the sun with me.
Pre-Race: The race site doesn’t have an official address, which just amuses me. Pre-race packet pickup was from an ice cream shop’s back room across the street from the race start. (It makes sense if you’re there.) It had stormed earlier in the morning so the road was wet and things were cloudy at times. Parking was on the street, transition was the parking lot for the ice cream shop. With a small race, transition was small and I didn’t worry about losing my spot as I came in and out. Very warm water – almost at the wetsuit cutoff. I heard a number of people debating their wetsuit use. Most decided to wear it because they trained in it.
Swim: In-water wave starts with Oly’s going before Sprints. River swim, so it was an out to a buoy and then back. Only trouble was when we sprinters ran in to a few of the slower oly swimmers. A couple of folks rounded “our” buoy and nearly collided with the oly’s who were on their straight swim back. Good sighting is on the turn is really all you need to prevent this, so I did fine.
T1: Up the beach, short jog to the road, across the road to the Ice Cream shop and into my gear. The traffic was well managed to allow a bunch of wet idiots to run across the road at random. I figured out how to set my shirt pre-race so that it popped on to my head in a much smoother manner. Into my shoes and off I went.
Bike: I like this bike course. Nice flat start so that you can transition well, but then into gently rolling hills around Lowell. A few sharp turns, but all real turns had volunteers and, where appropriate, police. There was an unfortunate matter of a “keep going” sign that had its arrow fall giving the impression that people should turn right there. A few people followed the arrow, my general knowledge of the course plus general knowledge of the race director made me say, “That’s not quite right.” I was rewarded shortly thereafter when I saw a familiar landmark. Another cyclist questioned me on it, but I was able to answer him with confidence.
T2: OK, I got lost in T2 again. Something about it just messes me up in a way. Got in, racked bike, asked for directions to get out again. Maybe someday I’ll get T2 right.
Run: The run course is the start of the bike course. Straight down “The Boulevard”. Flat, 2 miles out, 2 miles back, just a mild bend in the road to stop it from being dead straight. I was bored and miserable. It was longer than I had realized (I thought it was 5k not 4mi) and just dull. Good runners would love it. Being a bad runner, I just wanted it to end.
Finish/Post-Race: Because it was a local race, there were oodles of TriFury there, both competing and as volunteers. On the way in, there was lots of cheering from folks I didn’t even know, which was nice. I hung out after to cheer on my teammates that were still on the course (most of them Oly’s). Since it was small, many people I know medaled. I was stunned to hear my own name called out – I finished 3rd in my age group! I cried.
