Gunstock Winter Triathlon

Amy and I both completed our 1st Winter Triathlons this past weekend.  Amy did the short course race (4K Run, 3.5K Mnt Bike, 3K CC Ski) while I did the championship course (4K, 7K, 6K).

I totally under estimated the course (quite hilly) and how tough it is to mountain bike on snow.  I killed the run finishing somewhere in the top 7-8 and then had to walk most of the hills on the bike (due to traction not energy).  Need to focus on improving mountain biking technique before doing it again. The ski went well, but tough to muscle through the hills after being tired from carrying the mountain bike up hills.

The Splits (via GPS):

Run (2.62) lap 1: 10:00, lap 2 10:47, total 20:47 - 7:55 / mile
Transition: 1:37
Bike (4.08) lap 1: 23:15, lap 2: 28:28, total 51:43 - 4.73 mph
Transition: 5:37
Ski (4.5) lap 1: 19:35, lap 2: 19:09, total 38:44 - 8:36 / mile

Total: 1:58:17

All and all a great experience and think it is a perfect introduction to off-road triathlon which I plan on doing some of this summer. 

Comments

RichB said…
We'll definitely work on your mountain bike skills this spring. There are some non conservation land paths that get muddy that will be good practice on keeping a good spin. I also think the Acorn trail at Great Brook allows bikes during the winter since it's not apart of their XC ski network.

Aside from that did you get a good look at the tread and width of your competitors? It's always a good idea to see what your competitors choose and see how successful they are. I learned a lot from the pros and top amateurs on tread selection for the courses we raced. My gut would say for snow a 2.1 inch or wider tire with some knobs. And most importantly run low pressure 25-30lbs maybe even lower. Since I wouldn't worry about pinch flats so much I would go with a ultra/lunar light tube.

Glad you had a good race and loved the post!