Below is my race report for the Old Colony Olympic held this past Sunday, July 13th.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Enjoy!
Ron P.
Although this race was on my radar all season, I really didn’t decide to sign up until the Thursday before. I had done it last year and the heat and humidity was simply oppressive. This year was also hot, but compared to 2013, if it wasn’t pleasant, at least it was tolerable.
Old Colony is a small race, less than 100 people participated this year. However, there was some great Fuel Belt representation and just about everyone wearing the white and blue colors earned a spot on the podium.
The Swim:
The water was warm. I again debated whether or not to wear a wet suit. Last year I decided, post-race, wearing the wetsuit was a mistake. I may have chosen to go without it this year, but my new 2 week old Aquaman Bionik wetsuit that Peter Russo guaranteed would take minutes off my time1 was staring at me with the promise of a good swim. The course is a 2 loop triangle lake swim where you keep the buoys to your left. The sun was out and there was no wind to start the day and the lake was flat and shallow and warm. Because of the small field there were only two waves and I was in the first one. The buoys were easy to spot on a bright day and the 8am start meant the sun was high enough in the sky to not be anyone eyes. Overall, I enjoyed the swim and my new wetsuit performed very well.
Swim time: 29:01
T1: 1:48 – took 1 whole second off of last year!
The Bike:
This is a 4 loop bike course. Relatively flat and only partial shade. My legs were feeling a little tired from training throughout the week so I decided early on to hold back a bit to make sure I had enough energy in the tank for the run. My power numbers averaged about 30 watts below what I did last month at Oh My Goddard, and thus I averaged about 1mph less as well. I think this was the right call because I was still sweating a ton and managed to go through 4.5 Lbs of fluids during a bike.
Bike Time: 1:07:06
T2: 1:33 – 2 seconds slower than last year. Boooo!!!!
The Run:
The run is one loop of the bike course but in the opposite direction. No real hills, just some small ups and downs. Sometimes, when looking ahead, the ups appeared bigger than they actually were when you started to run up them. There were plenty of water stops and the volunteers were all really great. Around the third mile I passed someone with a 46 on his leg. It was the first and only time I saw anyone from my age group since the swim start (there were only 6 of us). What I didn’t know was that I had just moved into first place in the 45-49 age group and keep it for the rest of run.
Run time: 51:59
Overall all I did 2:31:29 which was well off my targeted sub 2:25 pace (thought my swim might be at least 4 min faster and was initially hoping for sub 50 minute run) but still good enough for 14th overall and 1st in my age group. I need to do more of these small field races. They are definitely better for my ego!
- No such guarantee was actually made.