Race Report: Tolland Summer Solstice Sprint Triathlon 2010

The Tolland Summer Solstice Sprint Tri was a great race yet again. It is small race in a small town in Connecticut. We did this race last year and really enjoyed it so we decided to give it another shot. We ate a delicious pasta salad on Friday night and made it to bed by 10. We were up and about at 5am, ate a quick breakfast and headed over to the race site.

The day promised to be a hot one but the morning was quite cool. We were one of the first cars to arrive at about 6:15. We picked up our race numbers and timing chips and set up in transition.

The race director told us at registration that the water was 68 degrees - a full 10 degrees warmer than last year! It is a very short swim, only about 300 yards, so we debated whether or not to wear our wetsuits. We tested out the water and decided to wear our wetsuits because 68 degrees still isn't "warm" and this was a small race more for practice than speed so it would be worth it to just get more swimming time in the wetsuits and practice in transition.

We were milling about on the sand waiting for the race announcements and started talking to another girl. She noticed our Asphalt Green jerseys and told us she lived in NYC too and was just up for the race. We were both in the third wave (all the women) so Sam headed out and we chatted about the course before it was our turn. After the first two waves of men headed out it was finally our turn!

Swim: 300 yards, 4:26 (5:30); 5/86 - 1st female!

The swim is super short in this race! It is a small pond and you just swim the perimeter for one loop. I positioned myself right in front. I swam hard and tried to keep the lead. I was about half way around when I started running into the men from the wave before mine. They were not strong swimmers and were sort of all over the place. After I swam over one guy I moved to the inside a bit more to try to get clean water. I swam until I could nearly touch the bottom and then popped up and jogged up to transition. I took more than a minute off my time from last year. Probably since the water was much more comfortable and I was able to both kick and put my head down.

T1: 1:52 (2:37); 31/86 

I knew I was the first female and was psyched about that. I pulled off my wetsuit and threw on socks and shoes. At this point I really remember wishing that I had tri shoes because I was fumbling with all the clasps on my bike shoes. I was just grabbing my bike with the second woman ran up to her bike. My T1 time was about 45 seconds faster than last year.

Bike: 12.5 miles 46:45 (45:54); 46/86

When I got to the mount line I think I spent 30 seconds trying to get my first foot clipped in. I've had a bit of trouble with clipping in with my new clips and the adrenaline of the race and everyone staring didn't help matters. I finally heard the click and took off.

The road was really in rough shape for the first mile or two so I focused on dodging pot holes. I was passed by a few men, passed a guy or two myself, and leap frogged with another guy for quite awhile (he refused to be chicked). For the first three miles I couldn't believe I was the lead woman. It was fun! Just after mile 3 a woman passed me and I moved to second, but she was not in my age group. I kept expecting more women but every time I would get passed it was another guy going by. Then around mile 8 another woman passed me but she was not in my age group either. At this point I was still pretty happy to be in third. Again I kept waiting for other women to show up but it never happened. I pulled into T2 as the 3rd woman and 1st in the 20-29 age group. However, my total bike time was about a minute slower than last year so I was a bit bummed about that.

T2: 0:55 (1:43); 35/86
Uneventful. I switched shoes, grabbed my race bib and Garmin and took off. 48 seconds faster than last year!

Run: 3.1 miles 27:04 (31:07); 53/86 - average 8:44/mile
I am super thrilled with my run. I took more than 4 minutes off my time from last year and averaged and 8:44/mile pace. I was hurting but I knew that I was the third woman and first in my age group and I did not want to lose it. My legs felt a bit wobbly at first but I quickly hit a grove. In the first mile I was running just ahead of a guy and he told me "Don't worry - I'm technically two minutes behind you." I didn't tell him that I wasn't worried about him - I was running from the women. In the second loop I felt like I was fading a bit so I dug out some sports beans I had stashed in my tri shorts. The sugar gave me an extra little rush and I picked up my legs again.

At the two mile mark I passed another guy and he told me good job. I said he was doing great too and he responded with "This hurts!" and I strongly agreed. I had about a half mile to go and I heard someone coming up from behind me and I just knew it was another woman. When she was passing me I really thought she was in my age group but then she pulled ahead and I saw the '3' on her calf and I was so relieved. I was still leading my age group! I kept her in sight for the last push but couldn't catch her and she beat me by about 20 seconds. 

Coming into the final stretch. Just 200 yards to go. 

Running across the finish line.

Looking like I might win the pukie award.

Final Time: 1:21:02 (1:26:51)

Overall Place: 44 of 86
Female Place: 4 of 28
Age Group (F20-29): 1 of 5

I was thrilled with the swim and the run in this race and my overall placement. It turns out the second and third girls in my age group finished within a minute of me so I'm really glad I pushed so hard on the run and held onto the lead!

Sam had a great race too. He improved by nearly 7 minutes and finished third in his age group and ninth overall!

The post race festivities were great and included Subway sandwiches, Powerade, apples/oranges/bananas, and granola bars. We ate a sandwich, loaded up our gear and then waited for the awards ceremony.

They waited for everyone to finish the race before they started the awards which I thought was pretty cool. I won first in my age group and got a certificate and $25 gift card to a local grocery store! It seems I've got a bit of a winning streak going... I could get used to this ;)

This is my Shocked Face

After the race we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for celebratory Coolattas!

Up next is the North Country Olympic Distance Triathlon at Lake George!