Sampson County Super Sprint Triathlon

Sometime in January this year, Elizabeth found a website for the FSSeries of events and came across the Sampson County Super Sprint Triathlon. This Super Sprint Triathlon consisted of a 250 yard swim followed by a 7 mile swim and a 2 mile run and caught her eye as something that she could work towards. Elizabeth has always been a fantastic swimmer with a stroke that is very efficient, but never much of a cyclist or runner. So it was a case of determining whether she could bike for 7 miles and run for 2 miles, not to mention that this entire event would be 70-80 minutes of hard work.

I thought the event was a great idea, and after completing Krispy Kreme Challenge (4 miles running) and the Law Enforcement Torch Run 5K she signed up.

Swimming 250 yards wasn't a concern for her, but she did need to provide a time for a recent 100 yard swim for seeding. We also purchased a barely used mountain bike and she did a few practice ride/run sessions (apparently called 'brick' runs).

The race weekend quickly arrived, and we set off for the 70 mile drive to Clinton, NC on Friday afternoon with the mountain bike strapped to the back of the Mini Cooper! We had booked to stay at the recommended local hotel (Inn at Clinton) and headed to drop off the bike before going to collect her race packet.

When we arrived at the race site, I checked the swim start times and discovered that Elizabeth had been seeded #7 out of 156 based on her 100 yard swim time. This meant that she was unlikely to have to worry about the lanes in the pool being full of slow swimmers when she started her swim, but also made her a little uncomfortable at the idea that she was ranked so highly.

Given the type of event (a Super Sprint Triathlon), the organizers were prepared for a combination of triathlon virgins and seasoned participants. Once we had collected the race packet, the organizers provided a kind of a Triathlon 101 session which explained what was going to happen step by step. We were told how the staggered pool start would work and how the swimmers would change lanes after every 50 yards. Then we were shown how to rack bikes and how the transition areas were laid out.

Elizabeth had heard a couple of other participants talking about the hills on the cycle section of the course, so we decided to take a drive around the cycle and run routes. We discovered a few incline/decline sections where roads passed over each other, but with the relatively straight nature of the course, we didn't think this would be a huge problem.

We got an early night and woke at 5.30am to be at the race site at 6.15am and get set up. The weather was dry and 60F with overcast skies and the threat of rain. We racked the bike, prepared her transition area and walked around the race site to kill the time we had until she needed to begin her swim. I did manage to get Elizabeth to pose with her bike...



We watched some interesting people arrive; there were a number of young guys that had very expensive equipment that had been seeded in the top 12, and therefore had their bikes on the same rack as Elizabeth. We saw some 8 and 9 year old's and some people in their 70's - it was very much like a local 5K road race with the diverse nature of the participants.

Time eventually passed, and it was time for Elizabeth to enter the pool. There were six lanes, with the swimmers lined up in groups of 20 in ranked order in lane 1. When their start time came around, they moved to lane 2 and pushed off. There was a 10-15 second gap between swimmers, at least at the start of the swim phase. Elizabeth flew through the first 150 yards, but mentioned to me after that as the number of swimmers in the pool grew, the water became choppier and it was more difficult to maintain a consistent stroke without gulping down mouthfuls of water! She finished her swim in a time that was 2nd overall for the women and 5th overall for all participants out of over 150!

She transitioned to her bike after fighting to get her favorite work out shirt on over the top of her swimwear and began the 7 mile ride. She said after that she found the hills difficult as she found that she had to keep changing up and down gears. It certainly isn't easy to ride up and down these types of hills on a mountain bike, and is even more difficult when the gears don't change smoothly. She did however manage a smile for me when she finished her bike phase.



The run phase was also rather hilly, and actually started with a climb which is the last thing a person wants when they have just battled through 7 miles on a bike! Two miles later, Elizabeth got a chance to run down the last hill and in to the finish area to complete her first Super Sprint Triathlon!



Overall, I think this was a fantastic achievement for Elizabeth. It would have been easy to give up on the cycle or run phases, but she persevered, asked her body for some extra strength and energy and made it through the entire race. I am very proud of her achievement, and I know that she is too!