Greenwich Biathlon Race Report – Jason

May 2 was the Greenwich Biathlon – a race I also did back in 2005.  Humid, warmer temperatures greeted us at the start line.  We also had all 3 Tri Guys at the race.     

 

The run portion of the race takes place on a 2.5 mile loop on a peninsula in the Sound while the bike course makes a 10 mile loop through old Greenwich, including a fairly significant hill at the halfway point.

 

Run #1

Got off to a fast start but pulled back to my pace within the first 5 minutes.  Kept the heart rate steady and let the pace drift around.  Overall finished with 8:29/mile pace for the first segment.  This was faster than anticipated, but still left me in last place of the 3 tri guys by over a minute.

Some shots at the exit of the first transition.  Struggled to get in my left pedal.

Really felt pretty good on the bike, again passing lots of competitors, and not being passed by anyone.  Averaged 21.1mph for the ride.  There were no intermediate time splits – but I suspect all 3 of the Tri Guys had similar splits based on spectator observations.

Interestingly, there is a very distinct pattern on the chart that I didn’t notice during the race.  Prior to the hill you can see the ride was all solidly in heart rate zone 4, but after it doesn’t get above zone 3.  Not sure what was going on there as I didn’t feel I dialed it back.  Maybe it was just the general downhill trend in the second half of the race.

Here are some nice shots at the end of the bike course:

 

The aftermath in transition:

On to run #2.  Coming out of transition, Marc was visible about 150 yards up the road.  While I had 2 bad sections where my pace went over 9:00/mile, I kept him in sight to the halfway point.  At this point another non-Tri Guy friend zoomed by me like I was standing still.  You can see the heart race increase in the second half of the race as I made a late push to try to catch Marc. 

 

From mile 1.5 to 2 my pace averaged 8:13/mile and then brought it down to 7:21 pace for the next quarter mile.  At the final turn I had pulled to within 10 yards, but could get no closer (as you see in the first photo below).  I even couldn’t really sprint to make the final junction, but I guess I could feel comfortable knowing I gave it my maximum during the entire run.  In the end I finished 4 seconds behind Marc and 3:51 behind Rico, who runs at another level.

3 Tri Guys:

3 Tri Guys with Tony and Valerio:

 

Final times:

 

Run 1              20:40     8:29/mile pace

Transition 1       1:26

Bike                26:25     21.1 mph

Transition 2        1:10

Run 2               19:12     8:22/mile pace

 

Total time 1:08:55

116/260 overall

42/70 Men 30-39

 

In 2005, I did this race in 1:16:16 and finished 162/269 overall and 21/24 in the Men 20-29 age group.   I was really happy with the improvement in total time, and my runs far exceeded how fast I have run to date.