01:28:27 / 23:37
Okay, let's start in reverse chronological order. This past weekend was busy with work and volleyball, so I wanted to take it easy. On a whim Sunday morning after mass, I checked the race schedule for the Smithfield Hot Trot 5K, a race I have ran the previous 2 years. It turns out the race was on that Sunday, 3:00 PM.
I teetered back and forth about running the race, but in the end I drove the 40 minutes down to Smithfield and ran the course. It a flat course, and it was beautiful on Sunday, though hotter than I anticipated. Also, I won first place in my age group last year, so I had to defend my title.
(aside: It rained last year, so there were only 15-20 racers. The reason I won in my age bracket is because I was the only runner in my age bracket, 20-29 male)
This was my best race time in Raleigh to date. I completed the 5K course in 23:37 (7:37/mile), 00:01 seconds faster than last year's time. Though exciting to PR, I only placed 23/47 runners, almost dead center of the pack, and I did not earn a medal in my age bracket. Ah well, I did receive another t-shirt with a pig on it, and that makes it worth my time.
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The Riverwood Athletic Club Sprint Triathlon was on 28 April 2007. It was a good race, but difficult to see racers start and finish before you begin. It was already hot by the time I started the race (10:06:30, race bib #429), which didn't help. Here are my individual times:
300 yd swim - 00:07:32
swim/bike transition - 00:03:40
12 mile bike - 00:46:50
bike/run transition - 00:01:44
5K run - 00:28:43
total time - 01:28:27
I placed 221/267 male triathletes, or 15/17 in my age group (25-29 male). Overall, I am happy with my times; if you take out my slow transition periods, my total time was 01:23:03, faster than my target time of 01:30:00.
I couldn't walk for the next couple of days because I ran through a leg cramp, which made it sore. This was also why I teetered back and forth on running the Hog Trot 5K the next weekend.
Two incidents occurred during the race:
I teetered back and forth about running the race, but in the end I drove the 40 minutes down to Smithfield and ran the course. It a flat course, and it was beautiful on Sunday, though hotter than I anticipated. Also, I won first place in my age group last year, so I had to defend my title.
(aside: It rained last year, so there were only 15-20 racers. The reason I won in my age bracket is because I was the only runner in my age bracket, 20-29 male)
This was my best race time in Raleigh to date. I completed the 5K course in 23:37 (7:37/mile), 00:01 seconds faster than last year's time. Though exciting to PR, I only placed 23/47 runners, almost dead center of the pack, and I did not earn a medal in my age bracket. Ah well, I did receive another t-shirt with a pig on it, and that makes it worth my time.
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The Riverwood Athletic Club Sprint Triathlon was on 28 April 2007. It was a good race, but difficult to see racers start and finish before you begin. It was already hot by the time I started the race (10:06:30, race bib #429), which didn't help. Here are my individual times:
300 yd swim - 00:07:32
swim/bike transition - 00:03:40
12 mile bike - 00:46:50
bike/run transition - 00:01:44
5K run - 00:28:43
total time - 01:28:27
I placed 221/267 male triathletes, or 15/17 in my age group (25-29 male). Overall, I am happy with my times; if you take out my slow transition periods, my total time was 01:23:03, faster than my target time of 01:30:00.
I couldn't walk for the next couple of days because I ran through a leg cramp, which made it sore. This was also why I teetered back and forth on running the Hog Trot 5K the next weekend.
Two incidents occurred during the race:
- I passed swimmer #428 in the pool on the 2nd lap. Then (I believe) I proceeded to kick her in the head in the 4th lap because I tried to push off the wall, but instead she moved over too quickly from the previous lane. Turns out she was faster than me; she passed me in the 5th lap.
- The same lady (#428) and I talked while we were lined up in the pool getting ready to swim. She has run 2 marathons, but she's not a swimmer or biker. As we finished the pool and ran over to the transition area to get on our bikes, I wished her good luck. She said to me "don't worry, I'll pass you in the run." Oh, bitch, it's on! I refused to let her beat me. Turns out she finished WAY behind me in time, but it got to me psychologically. Every couple of minutes during the run I kept looking behind me, thinking she would show up at any moment.