Evergreen Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon


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Evergreen, Colorado
United States
Racing Underground
52F / 11C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 07m 17s
Overall Rank = 186/232
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 7/11
Pre-race routine:

No routine. Arrived, managed to find my way to the transition area in the dark (about a mile away too). set up as quickly as possible. Didn't manage to get down to the water in time to do a warm-up swim, but it was cold enough that I didn't really want to (as in, I was shivering in my wetsuit). I don't regret that; the water was 62 degrees.
Swim
  • 30m 16s
  • 750 meters
  • 1h 00m 32s / 1500 meters
Comments:

IT WAS SOOOOO COLD. Oh my gosh cold. And I forgot to use my inhaler before coming down, so I decided my priority was my breathing and if it meant breaststroking the whole thing so I didn't put my face in, so be it. And that's what I did. I tried a little bit of freestyle without my head in the water after watching some of the guys do it, but it felt like I was using a lot of energy and not making a lot of headway. That's when I switched to breaststroke. That's also what I did when swimming in Lake Granby a few days earlier, where the water was equally cold. I'd done about 650m there, all breaststroke, so I knew I could so this.
What would you do differently?:

1. Remember to use my inhaler. 2. Not swim in a lake that cold. 3. Maybe work on a faster head-out-of-the-water breaststroke. :P 4. Honestly, not much other than the inhaler. I never panicked and I never stopped. I was slow but very, very steady. The biggest downside was that being in the cold water that long meant my feet and hands (and the rest of me) were freezing when I got out.
Transition 1
  • 05m 53s
Comments:

Did I mention the cold feet and hands? I have wussy feet anyhow, so making it into transition with all the little rocks is just slow. But my hands were so cold that it was hard to get my shoes on. I also decided to put on a jacket because my teeth were chattering and the bike wasn't going to warm me up enough, but then I was fumbling with the zipper. I didn't bother running with the bike because um, hello 30-minute swim? The lead male ran into transition with his bike and headed out to the run while I was trying to get my bike out, so it was pretty clear that I was so far behind that little would be gained by a few seconds of running. (And I don't jump on my bike because I would fall over and that would lose a lot more time. Also see the bit about my wussy feet, which means I have to run in my bike shoes.)
What would you do differently?:

It would have been smart to have unzipped the jacket (but I didn't think I'd need the jacket, so there was that). Also, my bike shoes have a habit of velcroing themselves despite the fact that I opened everything.

On the plus side, I remembered to use my inhaler. Better late than never.
Bike
  • 1h 00m 32s
  • 12 miles
  • 11.89 mile/hr
Comments:

Hadn't climbed quite this much in that many miles so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It went really well.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. It was a good ride considering that I'm not a particularly strong cyclist and didn't know the course.
Transition 2
  • 02m 10s
Comments:

This transition went well for me. I don't attempt to take off my bike shoes or jump off a moving bike, and I'm pretty finicky about how my running shoes are tied so I do take the time to lace them up properly.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 28m 26s
  • 5 kms
  • 05m 41s  min/km
Comments:

Running's my strongest discipline so this was my best performance. Mile was was severely hindered by the fact that my feet were frozen, between the swim that had made them so cold and the bike. It felt like running on blocks of ice. They didn't fully defrost until I'd finished 2 miles, but that made the third mile more comfortable. I probably could have pushed harder, but that seemed rather pointless given my not-at-all impressive swim and bike times. Running comfortably hard seemed like the ticket.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretched out some. Called the children to let them know I survived.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cold water.

Event comments:

Bottom line: This is a mountain triathlon so conditions are a little more challenging. The lake is usually warmer, but this year was the coldest the lake has been since they started doing it. They were very responsive to swimmers who needed help due to the cold, and I appreciated the careful attention of the kayaks to those of us who were bringing up the rear. Racing Underground does a nice job and this event was no exception.




Last updated: 2015-03-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:30:16 | 750 meters | 1h 00m 32s / 1500meters
Age Group: 9/11
Overall: 218/232
Performance: Below average
Suit: BlueSeventy Reaction
Course: Across Evergreen Lake and back, more or less.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 62F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 05:53
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:00:32 | 12 miles | 11.89 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/11
Overall: 175/232
Performance: Average
HR average 143; max 159 Had one really awesome downhill mile where I averaged 27.1 mph. But a lot of slow uphill miles, with about 1500 feet of climbing in total.
Wind: Little
Course: Gradual uphill for 4 miles followed by a lot more uphill until mile 7.5, at which it's mostly down, albeit with two more short climbs.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 61
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:10
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:28:26 | 05 kms | 05m 41s  min/km
Age Group: 5/11
Overall: 109/232
Performance: Good
HR average 158; max 170. Mile 1: 10:50 with 200 feet elevation gain. Mile 2: 8:36 with 161 feet elevation loss. Mile 3: 9:46, mostly flat elevation.
Course: Uphill for most of first mile, then downhill, then down across and back up to the level of the dam, and then in.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
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] 4