FS 50 race report

I received permission from Bri to go down and do the FS 50 triathlon in Washington, NC, known as Little Washington to the locals.  Had never been there before.  It is a coastal town on the mouth of the Tar River, which changes name to the Pamlico River in Washington.

Doug C and I drove down the night before, checked into our hotel and then found our compatriots at Backwater Jacks Tiki Bar.  This is my kind of hang out.  We tipped a couple pints then went to get some sleep.

The race started at 7AM so we were up by 530 and got going.  The race is a 1 mile swim, 44 mile bike, 5 mile run which is a nice mix of distance without being destructive. 

My training has been good but not totally hardcore -I figured this would be a good one to assess real fitness. f I could hold together on the run then my chances of not falling apart at Raleigh 70.3 are good.

The swim had some mild chop and a slight cross current but nothing terrible.  22:30 or so, first out of water.

Onto the bike - flat with a prevailing cross wind for the most part.  I do my best not to live in the past and rode to my current ability, standing up every 15 minutes or so to stretch out a bit.  Nice course, some cool scenery, and low traffic.  Dan M passed me with about 4 miles to go.  Bike time 1:56:38 which is 22.6mph (I did an Iron-distance race at this pace 11 years ago).  I held back slightly as I did not want to have an awful run but couldn't have gone much faster than this all things considered.  So for Raleigh I'll be targeting 21-22mph type pace unless there is some crazy wind etc.

Run - felt all right and had a surprisingly fast first mile split at 6:35.  It started pouring rain which cooled down the temps but kicked up the humidity, which is worse than the heat.  Settled into 700-715 pace and pretty much tried to run relaxed while concentrating on turning the legs over. We ran through downtown Washington, which is on the water and very scenic.  Worth a visit if your into exploring North Carolina.  Held onto 2nd place which is great. Time 35:19

Jogged the course again as continued run/cool down since the 70.3 has 13 miles, not 5 to get through.

A couple pics:

 OSB Social Chair Heather rocking the OSB gear

Almost all the OSB'ers at the race

Next up: Raleigh 70.3.  Holding out hope for cooler temps!