General Smallwood Race Report (#3 of 4)

If you’re like me you’re might be wondering, “Just who is General Smallwood and why is there a race named in his honor?”  Or not.  But here’s your Maryland history lesson for the day.  William Smallwood was a Revolutionary War officer, Governor of Maryland, and a member of the colonial tidewater aristrocracy.  In 1785, Smallwood was elected to Congress and chosen as Governor of Maryland.  The race is held at General Smallwood State Park, thus the race name.

This was a sprint triathlon – 750M swim, 16 mile bike and 5K run.  So a short race should have a short report, right?  Let’s give it a shot.  I was to start the swim in the second wave at 9:05. 

 The first thing I notice is that it feels like my feet are tangled in a net.  I think, “hmmm, that must be the weed that’s growing and forced the change in the swim course.”  And we’re off.  More weeds.  Weeds, or grass, in the face.  Weeds on the feet.  It was strange and had that been my first open water swim, I’m sure I would’ve been freaked out.  Other than that it was uneventful. 

Swim Time:  14:44 (5/26 Age Group, 26/157 Men)

The altered swim course meant there would be a long run to the transition area:

T1: 3:50 (5/26 AG, 34/157 Men)

Out on the bike and I quickly realize that my assumptions concerning the course were inaccurate.  The terrain is, in fact, not flat.  Okay, it wasn’t the hills of SavageMan but I didn’t expect a rolling course.  I also quickly decided that I was going to push it.  I wanted to see what I could do.  My legs felt okay and I figured it was short enough that I’d recover easily.  So my goal on the bike was to not let anyone pass me.  A couple of guys and I leapfrogged each other during the first 5 miles or so but then I had enough.  I was going for it.  Around the 13th mile, two guys passed me, one in a younger age group that started 5 min before me and the other in the Clydesdale division.  I couldn’t keep up with them but I tried.

The Bike:  47:20; ~20.6 mph (3/26 AG, 25/157 Men)

I quickly scour the transition area to try to count bikes.  There was no way to tell what Age Group they were in and I didn’t see many of my group on the course.  I did pass one guy on the bike but I figured the fast swimmers were well in front.  Still, in the back of my mind I wondered if I had a shot at all of placing. 

T2: (53 seconds 1/26 AG, 14/157 men)

So I headed out on the run knowing that I wasn’t fast enough to catch people but I sure would try to hold them off.  Up the first hill out of the park.  A right turn and bit of a downhill before the next climb.  My goal was to run down anyone I could see – heart rate be damned. 

As a side note, I haven’t even attempted to really run fast since June, 2006.  That was the last time I did a sprint triathlon and the week prior to injuring my achilles tendon.  All of my running since I returned to it in late October has been at a moderate pace.  The one time I pushed it at all was at the Frederick Half Marathon in May but that wasn’t at the pace I was running here.

I started playing a game with myself.  I pretended to be in 5th place in my age group and needed to catch the two guys in front of me.  This worked as I passed one and approached the turn around point.  The next guy in front of me looked older.  Shortly after the turn around we made a left turn onto a trail.  I got closer.  Close enough to see that the age on his calf was 43!  No way!  I really thought he was older.  Now I’m on his heels and I hit the second mile in 15 minutes, thrilled with my 7:30 pace.  I tried to find another gear and put some distance on him.  And then I heard footsteps.  “D’oh..musta pissed him off and here he comes,” I thought.  Nope.  This guy was a relay runner.  Go ‘head, man.  Down a hill we ran and back to the park.  My breathing was really laboring at this point.  I would glance over my shoulder to see if anyone was there…the next guy wasn’t close enough.  My breathing getting louder…almost to that “obnoxious runner” loudness.  Good thing no one was around.  But I controlled it and started trying to figure out how much time was left.  Once I realized I was close enough that I couldn’t catch anyone nor be caught, I slowed a tad and cruised toward the finish line.

The Run:  22:37 (5/26 AG, 32/157 men)

Totals: 1:29:23 (4th AG and 26th Male) – So close to placing, yet so far.  I was 2:01 slower than 3rd place in my age group and I could not have caught him.  I tried hard and did the best I could.  I used the “Jellyfish” (MMTC member) Sprint Tri Race Strategy –  

swim like there’s no bike, bike like there’s no run and run like hell!

Though a bit disappointed to be so close, I was happy on many fronts.  I ran fast (for me) again and without any achilles issues.  Now it’s time to rest up and get ready for the last one.