Race #10 of the Season: Littlefoot Triathlon

I did Littlefoot last year and loved it. Short little sprint, dinosaur themed, pancakes after ... it's wonderful! The timing this year for this race was a little awkward, just a week before Ironman Chattanooga, but I figured it'd be okay. I wasn't expecting anything speed-wise (given Boulder and my lack of desire to train anything afterward), but hoped it'd help jump-start the legs a little.

Also helpful: Brandon was able to race this and was able to sign up before it sold out. I had also convinced tri buddy Lisa to do it (she was looking for a late season sprint) and, apparently, this meant that Curtis was racing too. Yay racing with friends!

Like last year, it was ass-cold race morning. Brandon and I got to Bear Creek Lake Park right as transition opened, parked, found a good spot in transition, dumped our bikes, picked up our packets (and a much less cool race shirt. boooooo.) ... and then proceeded to hang out in the car to stay warm. 

Eventually, we headed back into the park to get ready to race. Chatted quite a bit with Curtis and Lisa, tested the water (a bit cold, but not so bad for B who wasn't racing with a wetsuit since his died at Boulder), and tried not to freeze.

The Swim:

Why is it that sprint swims, while so short, seem like they take forever? I mean, clearly they're not as bad as an Ironman swim for me since I don't get bored with them, but still.

Sighted fairly well until the final turn. Then ... not so much. Figures.

Time: 22:33 (25th division, 141st gender, 268th overall)

T1:

Fumbled a bit. Maybe a bit more frozen getting out of the water than I thought. Foot kind of hurt.

Time: 1:15 (5th, 19th, 38th)

The Bike:

Beautifully short bike course. Only 15K (so 9ish miles), so about three miles shorter than usual sprints (or seven miles shorter if you're a sprint in Boulder). Definitely could feel the lack of riding over the past couple weeks. Oops.

Continued to feel some foot pain. Thought it was just a pebble in my shoe and wiggled my foot around and thought I moved it out of the way (spoiler: actually ... i had a pebble embedded in my foot that I dug out with tweezers later).

Ran into some frustration on the bike course, as at the first turnaround, the girl in front of me slowed down to ... maybe get off her bike? I don't know, but I almost had to stop as a result. Momentum? Gone. Then, later, a woman in front of me going around one of the corners slowed waaaaaayyyy down and even unclipped as she turned. I understand being tentative around corners, but that seemed a little overkill. Or maybe I was just cranky at this point ...

Thawed out probably seven miles in to the bike.

There's one point in the course that's on this twisty hill. Going down early on, there's strict rules about crossing the middle yellow (that is, do it and you're DQ'ed). Going up, it's a relatively substantial climb. I surprised myself with how well I climbed it. As I crested, though, a few girls passed me and one said, "you kept a great pace on that hill!" Um, thanks, and poo on you for apparently drafting me. 

Time: 34:32 (15th, 77th, 202nd)

T2:

Decided not to body glide my toes, which probably saved me a good 30 seconds. Or maybe less. But it was one of my quicker T2s.

Time: 1:33 (21st, 115th, 209th)

The Run:

Oh, the run, where my lack of cardiovascular endurance seriously comes into play. Weeee!

This was a complete struggle bus of a run. I mean, I kind of didn't expect more, but it was still relatively disappointing. When I could run, I was running well, but I didn't have the lungs to be able to run much. Still don't think it was my worst 5K in a sprint tri. I hope.

Time: 33:49 (30th, 144th, 283rd)

Overall Stats:
Time: 1:33:44
23/40 division (F30-34)
112/210 gender
240/363 overall

Comparison game:
Last year's swim: 21:50
This year's swim: 22:33
:43 slower. If I don't swim consistently, I don't swim well. This is due to lack of consistent swim training post-Boulder.

Last year's T1: 1:37
This year's T1: 1:15
:22 quicker. No idea.

Last year's bike: 33:14
This year's bike: 34:32
1:18 slower. I don't have speed legs right now. Plus I wasn't trying to push it that much. Or maybe I can blame the extra slowing due to the people in front of me. Eh. Who knows.

Last year's T2: 1:55
This year's T2: 1:33
:22 faster. So that's how long it takes for me to body glide toes ...

Last year's run: 32:47
This year's run: 33:49
1:02 slower. Not surprising at all. This felt like more death than last year.

Overall: 4:52 slower (if my math is right). Sounds about right. 



Still highly enjoyed my post-race pancakes, which is really the main reason I did this race. Therefore, still a win.



Four of us post-race - Curtis, Lisa, me, Brandon.