Patriot Triathlon Weekend

Saturday morning Sean and I got up at 5 am so we could go watch the start of the Patriot Half Triathlon. This was a half ironman distance triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) and the first of the Patriot Series for the weekend. We were both participating in the Sprint Triathlon which wasn't until Sunday.

We got down to the water a little before the 7 am start. There were quite a few of the approximately 600 participants in the water warming up.


At exactly 7 am they let the first wave go and they were on their way to swim 1.2 miles.


This was my first time seeing an open water swim in person, and it was definitely neat to see all of the different waves broken out by the different color swim caps.

After a few of the waves started we moved over to the swim finish so we could see them get out of the water. Once out of the water they had to run about a quarter mile to the bike transition area.

This was the first guy out of the water

My friend Emily, and fellow "race photographer"

First female out of the water

Our friend Brian

You can see the transition run from another angle below. It was definitely helpful to see how this transition worked for my race on Sunday.

Sean smiling for the camera

More participants

A para-glider enjoying the nice weather

Sean decided to head home and do some errands while Emily and I decided to hang out and see Brian finish.

Transition area

Brian dropping his bike off and getting his shoes

This guy was 2nd place, and was so excited to see his kids cheering for him at the finish.

Brian right before the finish

Emily and I stayed until Brian finished and then both headed home. It was a busy morning, and we were both getting up to do it again on Sunday. She was going to come cheer Sean and I.

Sunday morning was an even earlier wake up. My alarm went off around 4:30 am and luckily I was well rested from going to bed early on Saturday plus my 2 hour nap that I was able to take as well.

We found Emily right when we got to the race. She took our pre-race picture. It looks much brighter than it really was.

The start of our race, it looks very peaceful before any of the participants arrived.

The sprint distance (which was what Sean and I were both doing) started at 7 am. There were over 500 registered participants. The international distance started an hour later at 8. There were about 330 registered participants. Between all of the racers and the spectators, it was definitely a lot of excitement to start the morning.

Sporting my bright pink swim cap, I started in the second wave

I stick out for sure. Chillin' with the guys before the race starts. I was able to get a little warm up in that definitely helped my pre race nerves.

Getting ready to swim my 750 meters

and we're off...

After the swim we had to run the same transition that we saw during the half on Saturday.

Sean making the transition from the swim to the bike

I felt pretty good after the swim. I definitely didn't push it, not knowing how I would feel at the end. It was difficult trying to go faster because I was afraid to get kicked, and then I had one girl on my toes the entire race, so I was trying to speed up, but didn't have a place to move to. Knowing how I felt this time, next time I'll try and push it a little harder. I ended up swimming the 750 meters in 17:11. I had no idea what I would swim, I was just trying to swim under 20 minutes, so I'm glad I was able to.

Once the water was shallow enough to walk it was faster to do this than swim in.

I'm shortly behind him

Once on the bike I managed to pass quite a few bikers and managed to maintain a pace of about 17.5 mph during the entire 20K ride (12.4 miles).

Right before the turnaround I saw Sean and knew I had the potential to catch him. After the bike, I was able to take my shoes off and get off my bike as I had practiced. It made for a smooth transition.

Putting my bike back

The sip that cost me my goal...

Sean out for his run before I put my bike back

After putting my bike back I changed shoes and went out for my 5K run (3.1 miles). I felt pretty good and my legs were tired but didn't feel like jello. I was able to mantain a pace under 8 min/mile. I tried to keep it under 25 minutes, but I wasn't able to this time. Next time. Like the bike this was an out and back course. I saw Sean shortly before the turnaround point, and being that I'm a stronger runner I knew I could catch him. It took me until about a quarter mile before the finish when I passed him, but he was doing awesome and he looked good.

"Sean, I'm coming to get you"

Finishing the triathlon at 1:30:08 (If I hadn't taken that sip of water maybe I could have kept it under 1:30)

Sean finishes at 1:34:44 (although he crossed the finish line less than 30 seconds behind me, he started 4 minutes ahead of me)

We were given cold wet towels right at the finish and greeted by our friends Audrey and Emily who had woken up extra early to come watch us race.

Definitely a good way to end a weekend. We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year! Who knows, we may even attempt the international distance.