Scott Tinley's Adventures - Off Road Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Arroyo Grande , California
United States
Tri-California Events
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 42m 16s
Overall Rank = 19/81
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 4/17
Pre-race routine:

Managed to get 5 straight hours of sleep in a campsite at the lake. A personal record for the night before a race for me. Dozed a bit more and woke up for good at 6:20 and packed up the tent and moved down to the marina parking lot and set up transition. Had 4 bites of a clif bar and a few swigs of gatorade. The stomach was not taking this well so I left it at that.
Event warmup:

Watched the first wave go off 30 minutes before my race and saw quite a few people show up late and struggling to get their wetsuits on. Decided I'd go put mine on right then so that didn't happen to me. Got in the water 5 minutes before the race and got used to the temperature. It was quite odd to think that 66 degree water was warm, but the air was still pretty cool at that hour.
Swim
  • 12m 50s
  • 440 yards
  • 02m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

Seemed a bit longer than the claimed distance. 12 minutes should be enough for me to swim 500m easily. Even though I swam extra I don't think it was that much extra.

The sun was just coming over the hills and it was hard to sight for me on the out leg because I can only breathe to the left side and it was on that side.

Aside from getting a little behind on my breathing between yards 100-200 as usual, this was a pretty strong swim for me. Navigation really let me down, adding maybe an extra 50-75 yards.
What would you do differently?:

A guy I took surf lessons from once said that step one when surfing a new spot should be to look around from the beach before you even get in the water, and have a plan. I didn't think enough about the boat ramp and its surroundings before taking off. On the way back I thought I was doing a good job sighting the exit arch, but I swam straight at a pier next to the ramp and wasted a lot of time swimming around it to get lined up to the ramp.
Transition 1
  • 02m 47s
Comments:

Wasn't really planning an aggressive transition. Even so, it took longer than expected. Aside from falling down on the slime on the ramp, I didn't shuck off the wetsuit, or take off my swim cap, or remove my earplugs at all until I was all the way to my spot.

One of my socks got twisted and was tough to straighten on a wet foot. I decided to chug a canned cappuccino I'd left there in case my stomach came around, so the sugar and caffeine would be there for me later in the race. This took a little time but was probably a good idea as I never felt like I was running out of gas all the way through to the end.

I forgot to put on my camelbak which was not a big deal except that I had no spare tubes or tools. Fortunately the bike didn't need any work during the race. The lack of extra weight and not having anything trapping heat and sweat on my back may have worked in my favor.

The course is well supported with handouts of water bottles so I grabbed one and stuck it in a pocket on my spiffy new tri top.
What would you do differently?:

Looking back on the results makes it pretty obvious with a more efficient transition I could have picked up several places and been on the podium in the AG.
Bike
  • 57m 13s
  • 12 miles
  • 12.58 mile/hr
Comments:

Wow. I just got into mountain biking this year after being serious about road biking for a few years. Having some offroad experience already definitely helped in knowing how to find the right balance between avoiding wheelies or having the back tire slip when climbing the steep, slippery sandy sections. 3 or 4 times, people lost momentum and toppled over right in front of me.
What would you do differently?:

Even though I was going faster than most people on the downhills there was definitely more free time to be had there.

If I'd known that I was in contention for podium in the AG I would have gone closer to the limit on the bike and tried to hold on on the run. The bike is my strength and I probably could have gained a few minutes and only lost less than a minute back on the run.

As it was I backed off the climbs a bit on the second lap and let the bike fly a bit more on the downhills. There was too much traffic on the first lap. I guess the other lesson there is don't let the whole field get ahead of you in the water and T1 and you won't have to pass them on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 01m 6s
Comments:

Not bad. Got tri shoes for my road bike but my mountain bike shoes still have ratcheting straps. Couldn't get them unbuckled while moving. Maybe could have saved 10 seconds. T1 was what really cost me.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Keep up the same intensity in transition as on the course. If I'm going to do a lot of offroad tris or xterra races maybe getting different shoes with easy on/off for the mountain bike would be a good idea.
Run
  • 28m 20s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 26s  min/mile
Comments:

This is an even bigger surprise to me than the bike ranking. I am so not a runner. Either the fast runners didn't show up for this race, or the bike course took a lot out of people.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Run more. Current level of fitness is pretty good so I could probably tolerate adding more running.
Post race
Warm down:

Not much. Packed up my stuff. Wandered around the expo and watched other people finish. Hung around for the AG awards. Had a piece of home made carrot cake and a mountain dew. Nearly got a rude surprise when lifting the can to take a drink and seeing a yellowjacket sitting on the lip of the can at the last second. I may have said a bad word right then. Someone found a tarantula in transition and moved him to the fence so he would not get squished. Took some pictures of him.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Spacing out on the swim a bit. Being nonchalant in transition.

Event comments:

Very pleased with this event. It started on time and the announcers were doing a good job dispensing info over the PA about the course, when to get ready, etc. There were tons of volunteers who were very supportive.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2011-10-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:12:50 | 440 yards | 02m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 13/17
Overall: 59/81
Performance: Below average
Forgot to turn my GPS. Didn't get any distance data or a track to show how bad my sighting was.
Suit: Xterra Vortex sleeveless
Course: Straight out, right at first buoy, short straight to next buoy, right turn and back to start. The boat ramp was slimy just at the waters edge. I slipped and fell trying to exit the water. Hopefully the event photographers got a picture of the snow angel I did in a foot of water.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 66F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:47
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:57:13 | 12 miles | 12.58 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/17
Overall: 12/81
Performance: Good
Average HR 165, max 180. First lap 38:30 Second lap 38:40
Wind: Little
Course: Two loops. First part of the loop is hilly, sandy single track. Not too technical. Some short climbs are tough due to limited traction. Second part of the loop is graded dirt road then some pavement. The course was supposed to end with single track instead of the pavement but the lake is so high this year the last trail segment was flooded and they used the road as an alternative. The single track part of the course is narrow and passing is difficult. The edge of the trail is very soft and covered in tall dry grass and if you get into it to pass your workload goes way up.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:06
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:28:20 | 03 miles | 09m 26s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/17
Overall: 22/81
Performance: Good
Avg HR 165, max 179 First mile: 8:30 Second mile: 9:30 Third mile: 8:30 GPS said 3.2 miles but that probably included transitions.
Course: One loop on pavement on the park access roads. One hill long enough to hurt a bit. My one complaint about the race setup is that the run course as it heads into the final chute where you want to sprint to the finish crossed the bike course at a 90 degree angle. People just starting their second loop could be coming through there at top speed. It is up to the volunteers to prevent collisions.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5