Race Report: Hoyt Sprint Triathlon

Hoyt Sprint Triathlon (Relay)

.5 mile swim / 11ish mile bike / 3.1 mile run
June 23, 2013
Holland, MA
Start time 8am
Swim time (16:22)

This sprint tri was hosted by none other than Dick and Rick Hoyt, or Team Hoyt as they are known in the world of endurance sports. They have participated in marathons and triathlons worldwide, including THE Ironman World Championships at Kona.  Dick, now in his 70's, tows his son Rick, now in his 40's, in a rowboat for the swim portion, then bikes with him strapped into a chair on the front of his bike, and then pushes him in a wheelchair for the run. I could go on and on about how inspiring these guys are, but the internet is full of better stories and youtube videos like this one.

If you've just watched that video, you will be thoroughly underwhelmed by the rest of this post. While not quite as epic as Team Hoyt, the Wiklanski family showed up to tackle this tri as a relay team. I swam, my dad biked, and my mom ran/walked. My cousin Emily competed in the event as an individual, doing all 3 events herself (showoff!) and my aunt Martha was also there as part of another relay team. I had to recruit a swimmer and a runner to round out her relay team. I asked my coach Peej if she had any recommendations, and before the end of the day, it was decided that Peej would run and another one of her athletes who is a kickass swimmer would swim and they were determined to get my aunt on the podium. My aunt's exact words when I told her that were, "hahahahahaha. They are in for one big surprise!"

The swim:

This was a half mile open water swim -- the longest I've ever done in an event. It felt really long to me, both before the event started, and during the swim. It's weird because all of my swim workouts are between 1500-2200 meters. A half mile is about 800 meters, so it should not have felt long. I think maybe it was just the newness of it, which is exactly why I signed up for it. Practice in open water in a mass swim start was what I needed. The swim was a counter-clockwise triangle with two orange turn buoys, which were easy to sight. My only experience in formal open water swim starts has been at two different Max Performance races, which are structured the same way: about 30-40 swimmers per wave, and waves starting 5 minutes apart. This race had 109 participants, and only 2 waves starting 3 minutes apart. The first wave was all men, and the second wave was all women and relays. Having learned my lesson from the previous tri where I started too far back in the pack, I lined up in the front and hoped for the best. There was a little bit of jostling in the first 100m or so. At one point I could feel myself evenly sandwiched between two other swimmers. I kept my head down and did about 4-5 hard strokes, and that was enough to shake them. Or maybe they shook me -- at any rate, I was no longer shoulder to shoulder with either of them. Before the first orange turn buoy, I had already caught up to some of the stragglers from the men's wave. My sighting during this tri was really good. I was pretty much within reach of each of the buoys that I passed, so I knew I was not adding any extra distance. The water was really dark -- you could barely see your hands as you swam. But at the same time, it felt clean. It didn't have a nasty smell or any weeds or any critters (although I couldn't see anything, so who knows what was lurking beneath.) On the length that was parallel to shore, I passed even more men, and again turned the corner very close to the buoy. Once I knew I was on the home stretch I really gave it my all. I swam all the way to the shore, passing a couple of men who had already started walking out of the water (hint: it's faster to swim than walk in shallow water!) When I got out of the water my coach and my mom were both there to cheer me on, since they were each doing the run leg of the relay. There was about 100m to run once out of the water, up to transition. I had to take the timing chip off of my ankle and give it to my dad and then he started the bike. 

My total time was 16:22, including the short run up to transition. That was fast enough to be 2nd of 6 Mixed gender relay teams, and 3rd of all 9 total relay teams.

The scary thing about doing the swim-only leg was that I was quite happy to be done after the swim. I did not have the tri bug standing there in transition. I felt like I felt when I worked with the timing company at the first triathlon of the season -- it had zero appeal to me. I was very happy to be a spectator and watch everyone else participate, but I was glad I was done, and my part was only 16 minutes! Now that I think about it, I probably didn't need to carbo load the night before. There were a couple of cool things about hanging around in transition after the swim. One was that I got to study how different triathletes handled transition. Don't sit down to put your shoes you. Do start running as soon as you can carry everything you need, even if that means you're putting your race belt or your hat on as you are moving. Another cool thing was that I got to see the Hoyts in transition up close and personal. Their bike was racked on the next rack so I was able to see them come in from the swim and transition to the bike. 

The Hoyts in T1, cameraman and all

Heading out for the bike leg

And of course, I also got to see my family and my coach doing all of their individual parts. There was a lot going on! The relay team with my aunt and my coach ended up coming in first. I guess my aunt was the one who was in for a big surprise. They not only came in first for the All Female relay category, but they also beat the other All Male relay teams as well. 

Relay winners posing with the Hoyts

All in all, it was a great race. I was happy with my swim time. It was awesome being at a race with my coach and getting a high five as I exited the water. It was fun to be on a team with my mom and dad. The Hoyts are inspiring. My aunt got a first place medal. My cousin has the triathlon bug (I'm taking the credit for that). 

Up next... another swim only relay!