BrickMan Triathlon Race Report

BrickMan Triathlon Race Report - Lawrence, MA
8:00am -- Sunday, October 2, 2011 -- 56F, overcast with wet roads
BrickMan Triathlon race website - click here.

Race Distances (Description):
> Swim: 250 yard (in a pool)
> Bike: 10.2 miles (3 loops of a circuit with several turns, pretty much flat)
> Run: 3 miles (4.5 loops around a park, very flat)

Background and Preparation
The BrickMan Triathlon is a small, local community race in Lawrence, Massachusetts (about 35 minutes north of Boston). This race is hosted by the Lawrence YMCA and benefits both the Y as well as Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity. This year 2011 was the 2nd annual running of this event - there were 103 finishers.

Decided within the week to jump into this race. That's the great thing about sprint triathlons, with relatively good fitness you can decide fairly last minute to do them. I went into it from a more 'fun' perspective rather than 'competitive', especially since I hadn't swum in over a year since I did the TDD Triathlon last year (clearly swimming is not my favorite) and also hadn't biked much this year (a paltry 300 miles ridden in 2011, thankfully including some recent time in the saddle on my road bike during a couple 40 - 50 mile rides with friends last month. Running, of course, I've been training...

The night before, had potato gnocci with marinara sauce for dinner along with a bowl of Masoor Dal (lentil soup). Not that this was going to be some long endurance event, but a little carbo-loading never hurt. Besides, I like gnocci and hadn't had it in a while. Morning of the race ate a couple more bowls of Masoor Dal around 5:30am. Left the house around 6:20am and arrived on site comfortably by 7:00am - plenty of buffer before the 8:00am start time. I had brought a PowerBar to nosh on during the drive up, but just didn't feel hungry for it then; of course during lap2 of the bike portion felt kinda hungry and regretted not having eaten it. Ah well.

Parking was easy and plentiful in a lot right behind the YMCA. Registration was a breeze in two minutes, and it included a nice poly t-shirt. The transition area was a grassy fenced off area within the park right across the street from the Y, and had plenty of space to rack your bike.

The Race Segments


Swim (250 yards: 5:35)
Since this was going to be a pool swim in the YMCA's pool (nice, clean, clear water pool by the way), they had asked for your estimated swim time during registration so that they could seed / stagger the start with the fastest swimmers at the front. The idea is that the first swimmer would go down lane1 to the other side of the pool, dip under the lane divider and then swim back and down lane2, dip under the next lane divider and repeat all the way to the other edge of the pool. Doing that would be 250 yards. And every subsequent swimmer's start would be staggered after the previous swimmer just about reached the opposite end of lane1, usually about 20-30 seconds between each swimmer.

So I estimated my 250 yard swim time conservatively at 5:55 (5 minutes 55 seconds). I was thus seeded as the 60th swimmer in line to start the race, so I started my swim roughly 20 minutes after the first swimmer started. I was pretty happy with a swim time of 5:35, which ranked as the 58th fastest swim time of the day, so not a bad estimate I guess their system works! As usual I was just happy to get out of the water...

Transition 1: swim to bike (2:19)
I forgot my race belt which holds your race bib number making it easy to put on top of your outfit. Because I forgot it, I had to use safety pins, and without going into too much detail, getting my full zip jersey on took some effort in the transition area which required me to repin my bib number, which probably added an extra 30 seconds to my transition time. Dealing with sharp, pointy pins when you are in a rush is never a good idea!

Bike (10.2 miles: 31:50 / 19.2 mph)
I also hadn't ridden my tri bike since last year's triathlon, and the battery on my cycle computer had run out, so I would be riding this one without any speed information. No biggie, just meant I would have to ride purely on feel which I should be doing anyway. It had rained recently, so the ground was wet which made for cautious cornering on the many turns throughout the circuit course. The course was almost completely flat with just one small 'bump'. The road quality was ok, some parts were a little cracked up, but you could usually find clear stretches to ride through. Volunteers and a police detail were stationed at every turn and intersection helping to direct cyclists and pause car traffic. I finished the three loops in 31:50 (19.2 mph) which ranked as the 22nd fastest bike split.

Transition 2: bike to run (1:35)
Even though this transition time was still a bit on the longer side relative to others, I'm pretty happy given my history of l-o-n-g transition times. Also decided to go sockless on the run, so saved some time not having to put them on my wet feet. Had a little concern with getting a blister since the roads were wet, but decided to htfu and keep moving.

Run (3.x miles: 22:08 / 7:16 per mile)
Came out of the transition area flying happily, but tried to make sure I didn't over-cook myself right of the bat, so backed off my pace a little. Lots of company out on the course at that point due to the swim stagger, though people were comfortably spread out through the course the entire time, I never felt overcrowded. As usual with me, it took a bit to find my running legs - and it's such a short race, there really isn't time to 'warm up' during the run. Anyway, after the first couple loops, I started picking up the pace. In retrospect I could have run a bit faster and endured a bit more 'suffering' but again, was just doing this for fun. I finished the 4.5 loops of the run course in 22:08 about a 7:16/mile pace and the 16th fastest run split of the day.

Total Race -- 1:03:26, 24th place overall out of 103 finishers

Final Notes
Race coordination and volunteers were fantastic, absolutely fantastic - everyone was smiling, attentive and helpful and provided clear instruction throughout the event. Being able to use the locker room at the Y was great, and provided a warm, comfortable and easy place to gear up and get ready for the race and then to change back into warm clothes afterwards. Post-race food included bagels, orange slices, tortilla chips and hummus, water and gatorade, among other items. Race winners and age-groups winners received awards which were actual bricks with an engraved plaque cemented on the top, novel idea.

All in all, this was a great little race benefiting good causes - I'd recommend this race, either for a seasoned triathlete getting in a final race of the season or especially for a first-timer who would be hard pressed to find a friendlier, more welcoming race to make their first foray into triathlon.