Race Report: Luray Oly - Relay

I did the Luray Oly Triathlon as a relay with my son Patrick on Saturday, August 15. I was doing the swim and bike legs and Patrick was going to do the run leg. What a great day! It was nice and I felt a lot less pressure knowing I did not have to run after I got off the bike. My plan was to swim as normal and ‘hammer’ the bike as much as possible…

Friday afternoon we drove to Luray to Lake Arrowhead State Park. We were camping with Team Z in a ‘free’ location right at the race site. It was AWSOME! After pitching our tent it was time to head over to the team area. We had dinner at the team tents that night – pasta and chicken and salad. Delicious! Then we did a little bit of socializing. Afterwards it was dark by this time so we made it back to the tent area to prepare to call it a night… All was uneventful… However there were some late arrivals still pitching tents in the dark! Good thing for headlamps and headlights!

Morning arrived without incident. Got up, got ready, and borrowed a pump for my tires – Jeff so kindly assisted with this as I always seem to have trouble when I do not have my own handy. Thanks, Jeff! Got Patrick up and he got ready. We all headed over to the Team Z tents and Patrick and I went to packet pick-up to check in for team “Like Mother…Like Son!” Now it was time for breakfast of pancakes and bagels and coffee. What’s not to like?

After breakfast Patrick and I went to transition to set things up. There was not much to do – I did not have to lay out running stuff! My bike was racked in a great location right near the bike out/bike in entrance, too!

Swim: 31:18 10/20
Eventually it was time to head down to the swim start and check out the odd-ball course they had set up. I was in the last of 6 waves and we went off at 8:20 AM. I had no trouble sighting to the first buoy. Made it around that and was blinded by sun in my eyes. And I was wearing goggles that were shaded! I seemed to be heading straight though. After the second turn the sun was no longer a problem. On past the next two buoys to the next turn buoy. This one was extra sharp but again no problems. Up towards the next turn buoy and again turned without problems. I was really having a great swim. On to the finish! Once I got out of the water I had a nice walk along the beach and up some stairs – got stuck behind someone walking in the middle of the staircase – to transition. I was very happy with my swim time.

T1: 2:41 19/20
Since I did not have a wetsuit to strip off transition was of course much faster. We had the 2nd slowest T1 time though, but given that I was swimming and biking I do not feel too bad. On to the bike!

Bike: 1:36:59 14/20
Well, I knew the bike course was going to be hilly. I had not taken the time to drive it but did have an elevation profile. I figured, heck, I just biked Lake Placid, I can handle this! My goal was to hammer the bike. Of course, this is me we are talking about and I am not a good bike hammerer even in the best of conditions! But I did give it everything I had and came in about 7 minutes later than I was hoping. I had a blast on the downhills – the two during the 2-loop part – and had a max speed of 39.4 according to my bike computer. The straw on my aero bottle stabbed me in the lip at one point and I thought I was going to have a bruise. But so far, so good. I finally made it back to the turn to head back to the park. I totally forgot about one of the hills coming back in. I was so tired by then! Anyway, I got to transition and Patrick was there waiting patiently for me to whip the chip off my ankle.

T2: 0:33 2/20
We had the 2nd fastest T2 time! Patrick was off on the run…

Run: 48:06 4/20
Patrick had never run a 10K before – as a standalone race, let alone as part of a triathlon relay. He was hoping to run a 40:00 and I certainly feel he has the capability to do so. I mentioned we had no driven the bike course; we had not driven the run course either. He had NO IDEA what to expect… and it was hilly… and hot! But he was a trooper and he said he passed a lot of people on the run! I think he annoyed a lot of people, too, as he ran by – especially when they saw the relay “R” on his calf! I know that is how I feel when I get blown away on the run by some well-rested run-only relay puke. *kidding* I was very proud of him! Patrick ended up with the 4th fasted run split in the relays.

Final: 2:59:35 6/20
All in all I am pretty darned happy with these results. Patrick and I had a lot of fun despite the heat and the hills and look forward to doing this race / relay again. We plan to come back next year! I hope to strengthen my bike skills over the winter and do not plan to do an Ironman a few weeks before. LOL Maybe Patrick will run a 10K or two before then, too and have a better idea of how to pace the distance.

After Patrick came I took some pictures of teammates finishing did some cheering. We hung out with Team Z for a bit before heading back to the camping area to pack up and head home. It was so hot packing up after. Whew!! We made good time getting home and I actually slept in on Sunday and did not do a darned thing all day. It felt great!