Smithfield Sprint complete

I have been slacking lately, but here is the race report for the Smithfield Sprint. The morning of the race it was in the mid 40s and gray out. There was some wind from the north so that was nice. I got to Smithfield around 8:30 and did not need to be in the transition area until 9:45 so some pre-race fuel was in order. McDonald's sausage "McMuffin"offers a great choice. Fully fueled, I made it to the race and set up the transition. The swim is indoors which works for me when it is that cold. The way the start works is that you send in your estimated time to swim 100 yds and they seeded you based on that. I think I did good as no one needed to pass me and I never needed to pass anyone. That might have been helped by the person in front of me was not there so there was a 30 second delay between the guy in front and me. The swim went well, and I felt strong the entire swim. I made it into transition and moved to the bike. I took my time because I wanted to ensure I did not get cold or forget anything. My t1 time was slowwww, but that is ok. I got on the bike and started to ride. As you can see, I had an issue getting the heart rate under control. It was cold windy and hilly, and as the song goes "these are a few of my favorite things". I was passed by about a dozen people and never passed anyone. I felt winded the entire bike ride and am seriously wondering how to get stronger. Spinning class appears to have not added any speed to my rides. I will need to work on this.





T2 was not bad as I only changed to my running shoes. As you can see, I still had an issue getting the HR under control.




I completed the race in 1:26:15 which is about 20 minutes longer than I was shooting for. I was not as fast as I wanted on either the bike or the swim and as thinking I swam a little harder than I should have. I really did enjoy this race and am looking forward to the next one. Every time you do one of these you learn a little more about yourself, training and execution.