Rotary Pineapple Man Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Melbourne Beach, Florida
United States
Melbourne Beach Rotary
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 28m 57s
Overall Rank = 134/461
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 13/36
Pre-race routine:

Woke-up at 4:45, ate a banana while waiting for the coffee to brew. Steve picked me up at 5:30 and we were off. Decided at the last second to wear my sandals. While walking my bike to the transition I realized that I left my running shoes home, doh! I was going to wear my sneakers but when I decided to wear the sandals I forgot to bring them. Never change your planned morning routine! Waited to call my wife until 6:45 to tell her to bring the shoes with her and that she will have to be there by 8am!
Event warmup:

None
Swim
  • 13m 28s
  • 528 yards
  • 02m 33s / 100 yards
Comments:

2nd wave out (+5min), and I was actually in the midst of it all at the 1st buoy. Water was shallow this year (~5ft deep at the buoy) and people were actually walking around the buoy so I went wide and it was still crowded. After the turn I had no issues and picked up a draft and settled in. I actually felt like I was swimming slower than I should but recalled that drafting is so much easier than fighting the water on your own. Also had someone drafting off me that was doing a good job staying just off my feet. Then about 50 yards from the 2nd buoy it started getting busy again with swimmers doing recovery, etc. I actually ran up on my draft lead as he had to check up, because of what looked like several swimmers just barely moving along. I went wide at this point as I could see that the 2nd buoy was again busy up close. Caught another draft heading in on the last 100 yards. Felt good getting out and jogged up to T1. I was definitely was not 29/36 out of the water as several guys passed me running up to the T, as did the lead women too!
What would you do differently?:

Other than going out a lot harder not much. It gets so busy on the shorter tight turn courses with 100+ swimmers in each wave.
Transition 1
  • 01m 33s
Comments:

Not too bad, 2nd best T1 overall here yet 20 sec slower than last year when I had an ideal end rack spot.
What would you do differently?:

Nada, went with the flow around me, 17/36. Maybe I can start training without socks and see how it goes.
Bike
  • 43m 51s
  • 15.3 miles
  • 20.94 mile/hr
Comments:

My best ride yet on this course. Very light headwind heading south and worked it hard once I got settled. No issues heading out passing many riders along the way. As I was approaching the turn, traffic cops were letting a bunch of cars go through. Made the turn and saw that the cars weren't that far ahead of me and brake lights on. They were having issues with a pack of riders that were 3-4 wide (not really passing) and they were holding up the traffic. I realized that was catching them and the cars so I hammered it and then actually caught the draft off of the vehicles as I approached. I passed 3 cars on the right and when I caught the riders I yelled "car back" and "on your left". The morons finally started to get back into line when they realized there are other riders out to make a pass. All this got my adrenaline up and I continued to hammer the ride and speed did not drop below 21 for a long time. Had no issues with the dismount and jumping off the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Put on the race wheels! I never got them ready to put on.
Transition 2
  • 01m 14s
Comments:

Grabbed my baggy of solid ice and stuck it in my back pocket of the trisuit and put on my hat. Wasted some time searching for my gel as I forgot to hit it before the start of the swim but it wasn't to be found. Oh, and remember that I had no running shoes, the family was over by the T exit and as I ran up to them I told my wife to throw them over the fence! Stopped to slip them on real quick and off I went.
What would you do differently?:

Slowest T2 here in the last 3 races, forget about the Gel and bring shoes!
Run
  • 28m 50s
  • 3.3 miles
  • 08m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

Solid ice is cold and it felt great! Had it in my back pocket as it was too big for putting under my hat until it melted down after 2 miles or so. They had the distance markers at 0.5,1.5, 2.5 and 3 miles points and didn't track the intervals other than the 1st half mile was at 9 min pace. At 1.5 mile dumped some water on my head and took a drink and settled in for the run by picking up the pace. Ran up on 3 high school kids separately and told each that they were doing a great job (they were each dying!). Overall the run felt good and I pushed the last mile the best I could given the limited run training I've been doing this year, slowest run time by far for the last 3 races, 3.5min off of last year, 2min off of 2 years ago.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, just need to pickup the run training as time goes by.
Post race
Warm down:

I got some water and went to the family near the finish line. Talked to several other triathletes I knew and ate my bar.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of run training, didn't start to be serious again until ~ 8 weeks ago.

Event comments:

For a "C" race this was a nice surprise for me with a best swim and bike on this course, I was thinking a 1:35 or so for sure. Looking forward to the race in upstate NY in July.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-04-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:28 | 528 yards | 02m 33s / 100yards
Age Group: 29/36
Overall: 320/461
Performance: Good
Watch showed a 11:59 from start to exit ladder (2:15) my best ever here!
Suit:
Course: Triangular course, ~130 yards out, turn ~260 yards turn, then ~130 yards in, is the setup.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 82F / 28C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:33
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:43:51 | 15.3 miles | 20.94 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/36
Overall: 86/461
Performance: Good
Bike CPU showed 21.0 mph average, max of 25.2. Cadence average of 95, max 114. Used 15.3 as race distance again not the "official" 15.0. I wish they would officially say the ride is at least 15.3 miles, measured as such with three different bikes and cyclometers and other riders CPU's.
Wind: Little
Course: Down and back along A1A, flat.
Road: Smooth  Cadence: 95
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:14
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:28:50 | 03.3 miles | 08m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 18/36
Overall: 153/461
Performance: Average
Course: Rectangular and flat.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5