Wisdom Oak Winery Sprint 2016 Race Report

Last year I had such a great time at Wisdom Oak Winery Sprint Triathlon that I decided to do it again this year in hopes to podium at least one more time this racing season. Once again, Race Director Kate Lucas did an excellent job of facilitating experienced and novice triathletes on how the course was setup and the markings to watch for while on the bike and run. There were great vibes throughout the morning as I was able to befriended a few people in and out of transition, able to watch the Olympic race participants take off at the beginning allowing me to be a spectator for a few minutes, and then finally cheering on the last few athletes remaining in accomplishing their goal of finishing a triathlon.

Swim

I’m officially a broken record, so… no news flash my swim sucks! At this point I have no idea why I’m doing this sport and I’m thinking of quiting because I’m not having fun while doing open water swims. The one fact that holds me back is the amount of time and money I have spent on this sport which used to make me happy (any business person will recognize this as ‘sunk costs’, and knows it should not be included when evaluating if something is a good idea). I’m glad we are now at the end of the year so I can meditate on what will happen next year, possibly escape… gain some perspective that won’t leave me so down while racing once the swim is completed.
- Training Peaks Swim Data

Bike

Oh, my swim sucked… so excuse me while I CRUSH this bike course. I was fourth fasted cyclist of all race participants, with the only three who beat me were the top three overall winners… including the brother of a Tour de France racer. Strava has me pegged me as top fourth ever which I’ll happily take until the next faster person comes around and pushes me down the ladder. I was able to beat last years bike split by over five minutes, reminding me now why I DO enjoy this sport. This year’s cycling training has definitely improved my splits and am very grateful of Josh and his coaching.
- Training Peaks Bike Data

Run

I felt great coming off the bike and thought I had a great strategy of being strong, yet reserved for the first half of the run and then letting gravity take over on the downhill as the route is a simple “out-and-back”. It appears I had the same strategy last year and when I compare between last year and this year’s efforts I was 25 seconds slower according to the race times (although Strava says I was 14 seconds faster, so I’m confused). This run is a crushing route where the first 1.25 miles is essentially uphill at varying degrees of incline. After you are exhausted from running up you get a mild breather of flat roads for a half of mile, and then you get to take advantage of going down hill… but at the expense of your knees as each pounding step shakes your entire body.
- Training Peaks Run Data

Post Race

The last race (Culpeper Sprint) I gave VTS/MTS kudos for offering out bottles of wine for their podium finishers. I’ll just pretend that Charlottesville Multisports has been reading my race reports and decided that bottles of Wisdom Oak Winery would be an excellent addition to their winners… and it is! I was able to bring home a bottle of Cloché, a “Crisp and refreshing with subtle notes of citrus, lemon and florals. A wonderful blend of Estate Grown Chardonnay, Traminette and Vidal Blanc”.

I know I shouldn’t beat myself up as I improved on T1, the bike, and T2 when compared to last year… while only being 25 seconds slower (which is debatable) on the run. It’s the swim that irritates me so much as I’ve been working on this portion all year without much success except on a few occasions. As I mentioned before, I’m glad the race season is over so I can switch things around and focus on other sports (lifting and/or TKD with my youngest).