Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon - 1/2 Tinman - TriathlonOlympic


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Tupper Lake, New York
United States
Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon
60F / 16C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 25m 34s
Overall Rank = 58/180
Age Group = 20-39
Age Group Rank = 12/55
Pre-race routine:

There was no routine here! Who has a routine when tent camping it with 2 kids?!? I managed to get in my raisin bran cereal on the drive in and a cup of coffee at a gas station. We were later getting to the race site than I had originally planned, but I had changed my idea of timing after I got a chance to walk around the race site the night before. (Probably a big mistake, though.)
Event warmup:

There was absolutely no warm-up for me, and probably 1/2 of the crowd there. Long lines for body marking, but got chip right away. Got transition area set up easily, and then really, really had to go potty. There was the longest line for 2 porta-potties. There were other potties around, but I was afraid to go wandering off too far, just to get back into another long line. I think I waited for 20 minutes!!!! It was terrible. I didn't even have time to ride my bike for a minute to check what gear it was in. Got wetsuit on, stuffed a package of shot blocks into my mouth and downed it with an extra water I brought, and jogged over to the swim start.
Swim
  • 17m 22s
  • 966 meters
  • 01m 48s / 100 meters
Comments:

The oly participants were all in the first wave. So, 180 people went off at one time. I didn't fully comprehend it at the time, but I had centered myself pretty much right in the middle and up front (maybe 3 people deep from the front). That ended up being the most amusing thing of the entire race! I have never been swum over before and that happened at least one time. My feet were grabbed and I did the same thing. It was funny for awhile. Then 200+ meters went by and it wasn't that fun anymore. Things did finally settle down, though. By that time I was realizing that I couldn't see a flippin' thing out of my goggles. I was just trying to stay with other hot pink bobbing heads. I kept focusing on not merging to the left, which was an issue again for this swim! It's really aggravating. I had to focus constantly on swimming at an angle to the right so I could stay straight. I made it to the first turn and really did it fairly well considering. The straight stretch to the second turn was tricky as I kept on veering to the left and was constantly correcting that. I made that turn OK, and then kept hoping for some current to push me towards shore, but the water was very calm, so no such luck. Also the sun was a-shining, like I'd been warned, but did I get tinted goggles?!?! NOOOOO, of course not. I was blind anyway from ineffective goggles, then the sun made it pretty much impossible to see anything. I paused at one point just so I could try to get a good look at things. And, yes, I got whistled at once by a person in a kayak telling me to "go right a little bit!!" aaaahhhhh!! About 2/3 of the way through I had my first thought of, 'I'm never doing this again.' After that I began reminding myself of good swim strokes and just tried to calm down and swim like I've been practicing (for so, so long). I really came away thinking I had done pretty poorly on the swim. But then I looked at the results afterwards and realized it must not have been that bad - I was 9/55 in my AG, and 37th/180 overall. Not too bad for a girl who can't swim straight to save her life and was practically blind the entire time!
What would you do differently?:

Next time, I'm gettin' goggles that are as big as my face!!!!!!!!! And tinted to boot! ;)
And I'm going to learn to swim STRAIGHT!!!
And I need to learn to not kick so much!!!
Transition 1
  • 02m 33s
Comments:

This went OK. Got goggles and cap off right after I was out of the water. Had top of wetsuit down to my hips by the time I got to my bike. I sat down to pull it off, then reached for a towel to dry off one foot, then put on sock and shoe. Then dry off second foot, then sock and shoe. (I had put blister powder in my socks before the race.) Put on helmet, stuffed a gel and shot blocks in back of shirt, took drink of gatorade in bottle on ground, then, as a very last second decision, put on my cycling gloves and ran off with bike.
What would you do differently?:

Only put gel in pocket, since that was all I had planned on taking on the bike portion anyway. NOT put on gloves. I had decided to not even take them, but stuck them in my bag anyway before we left and last second put them on. I didn't notice anyone else wearing them. I wanted to be consistent with my training, but don't think it was necessary at all, just a waste of time for both transitions.
Bike
  • 1h 14m 56s
  • 20.6 miles
  • 16.49 mile/hr
Comments:

First off, I did not get caught in the traffic jam that forced some people to have to wait. It wouldn't have made a difference, though. I was in a very hard gear right off the bat (would have known that if I'd had a chance to get on and see.) Couldn't get my feet in the cages very easily. Once I did, and got the gears in order, I realized immediately that I really do kick way too much when I swim. My thighs felt like rocks. It took some time for them to ease up. It's pretty flat out of town, with a big hill going out. That sucked. And what really sucks and what really, truly does some real damage to my psyche is when person after person after person passes me on the bike. I can't stand it. My mental toughness goes right out the door. I start hating my bike, wondering why I work so hard if everyone and their grandma is going to pass me anyway, start thinking about what job I should get so I can pay for a freakin' bike, start regretting all of the workouts here and there I had to miss for this thing and that thing, start swearing that I'll never do an Oly again, and maybe never another tri again, start wondering why I work so hard at swimming if everyone will pass me anyway..... oh woe is me.... I was in a foul mood. Until about mile 8. Then I heard a guy say to someone in front of me (both of whom had passed me) "isn't it a beautiful day out?" I had a mental turn around at that point. He was right! We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was absolutely gorgeous out! The temp was great, it was sunny, and I was racing in a race in the Adirondacks, a place that I love, and I'd been training for this for 3+ months!
C'mon woman, get with it!! :) So, after that my mental game got back to where it needed to be, which isn't to say that the ride got any easier. The road up Mt. Arab was in terrible condition. It was pothole after pothole and sand and gravel and cracks and everything you could imagine that could be wrong with a road. I was sure I would get a flat. And it was a road up a mountain. (as an aside: It was the first mountain we ever hiked up with Tyler when he was 7 months old!) I couldn't wait to turn around and come back down! The turn around point stunk. There was no room to do it in. And when I went to turn around, trying to do it without having to stop and put my feet down, some people decided to use the spot to stop and check out their bikes!! Get out of my freakin' way!!!! (That's what I wanted to say.) I ended up going off the road a bit and had to get off to get straightened out. And where were the downhills??? It was all up hill on the way down too! It sucked!! At the turn off to get off the road my family was there to cheer me on! That was great and very much needed! The ride back into town was OK. I executed my nutrition plan as I had wanted - I took a gel with 5 miles left. It wasn't that bad. Kept taking sips of water. I made sure I had emptied the bottle before I got back. My legs finally started feeling like they were there to ride, but it was a little too late. Oh, and as I got closer to town I started worrying that I was drafting off a woman. I tried to pass her, but then she passed me again, but never took off. So I decided to stay behind her, but always to one side or another. I got sick of it, and kind of felt like she was blocking me. I wanted to get away from her. To be honest with you, I can't even remember if I did pass her a 2nd time before we got back to the transition. I think I did, because I was worrying that I'd been using up too much strength for the run. Dunno.
What would you do differently?:

OMG, there's too many to even worry about talking about. I can't decide if the bike is my limiter, or if I'm still just a weak cyclist. I know I still need more time in the saddle. But I'd like to see what difference a bike that was 10+ lbs lighter might make.
Transition 2
  • 01m 24s
Comments:

This went well I think. Taking the gloves off slowed me up. Got helmet off ok and bike racked ok. Fiddled around with jelly beans/shot blocks too much. Couldn't decide what I wanted. Took one of each (I think?) ha, I don't even know. Took a couple drinks of gatorade. Put on cap from the du instead of putting hair in ponytail. That's very different than how I usually do things. Good decision I think.
What would you do differently?:

Leave the bike gloves at home. Know ahead of time what I'm going to eat!!
Run out of the chute with water bottle with plans for Rob to catch it from me at some preplanned spot (saw lots of others doing that!) :)
Run
  • 49m 21s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 07m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

I didn't know what I was doing really. I didn't want to go all out, because I didn't think I could do that for 6 miles, so I just tried to keep a steady pace. My feet felt numb coming off of the bike, so I had something to focus on - wiggling my toes to wake them up. I passed several people at the very beginning, which redeemed me a bit from all the passes on the bike. Then there was nobody to pass for the longest time. I really needed someone to pass, but there was nobody. I kept my sights on "lady with the red tri-suit on", but she and I evidently run a similar pace so I just had to look at her back for 5 miles (she was at least a 1/4 mile away for most of it.) I tried to focus on my arm movements and keeping my shoulders and hands relaxed. I passed the grocery store we always shop at when we come up in August. I kept repeating s-h-a-h-e-e-n-s with every foot strike for a little while. Then I passed the shop (I think its out of business now) where we bought Bryn's 1st b-day party stuff because her b-day is always during family camping week - it was Elmo themed... At every water stop I'd take a cup and slow for a very short period of time to get 2 good sips in before taking off again. At about mile 2 I started to get some cramps like I had to go potty (damn those bobbystocks breaks!) It didn't get too bad and eventually went away. Off and on during the entire run I'd get some cramping, but never too bad and it didn't last too long each time. At mile 3 I ate a bag of those jelly beans instead of shot blocks. I really liked those. They were easy to get down, and very yummy! At maybe mile 4 1/2 my right ankle really started to hurt, like, it was really hurting! I'm not sure why. I think I twisted it on uneven surface. I specifically thought to myself "you're so close now, you've trained this hard, you can worry about the darn ankle when it's over!! Forget about it!" I did... It's fine now. Who knows. But the "lady in the red tri-suit was still ahead, but getting closer. She stopped for water at the last water stop - I didn't. I'm going to get her. I get close enough to try to see what her race age is. Is that 35? 25? 33? Why couldn't they write it more clearly?!? (not knowing that the ag was 20-39 at the time). I figure she's a woman, that's reason enough to want to pass her! But, when do I make the move? And, is she the type that will hunt me down and not let me pass her? hmmmm... what to do.... I end up passing her with probably 1 mile left. Was that too soon? Now, I didn't have her like a carrot dangling in front of me. I had a bloodhound behind me chasing me and I better make it to safety first!!! I passed 2 guys running together and one guy said something like "go get em'" No, she's going to get me!!! is what I should have said!! I ran like she was running me down! I made it to the grassy straightaway which was so so so long. It totally reminded me of the finish at the snowshoe race in January (and, for those of you wondering, NO I DID NOT WEAR MY SHOWSHOES!!) :) I ran my little heart out. I heard the family cheering me on, but I couldn't look over at them. It took all of my concentration to keep my legs moving. But, I didn't feel like puking! I don't know if that's a good sign that I had prepared well, or if I just wasn't pushing it hard enough!?!?!
But, I did it!! I finished my first OLY!!!! And, maybe my last? I doubt it. I found myself getting very jealous of those people running in and finishing their HIM's! Ha, I think I'll just stick to sprints and olys, though!
What would you do differently?:

Not much here.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around for a minute wondering if Rob and the kids were coming to find me. Went over to transition and finished the water I had there and then decided I better go look for the fam since they didn't seem to be looking for me! Found them in their lawn chairs watching the racers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Shall I go on some more about my bike and lack of cycling ability?!!? No, I think not.

Event comments:

You can kind of tell the oly is an afterthought next to the HIM, which is understandable, to a certain extent. I came away thinking that you'd think after 25 years they'd have some of the bugs worked out. Like, what the distances actually are. Their maps are primitive. The bike turn around point was iffy and no one seemed to be monitoring it. But, dexter is right, the town seems to love it, and I know it's got to be good for them. There were a lot of volunteers that were very happy people. And it's in the ADKs, what a great place!!




Last updated: 2007-05-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:17:22 | 966 meters | 01m 48s / 100meters
Age Group: 9/55
Overall: 37/180
Performance: Below average
MAX HR 153 AVG HR 143
Suit: sleeveless, full leg
Course: Inverted V out to a yellow floating cone, right turn and straight a little ways to another large orange float, then right turn back to shore. Water temp was warmer than air temp at the start.
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:33
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:14:56 | 20.6 miles | 16.49 mile/hr
Age Group: 25/55
Overall: 103/180
Performance: Average
MAX HR 163 AVG HR 149
Wind: Some
Course: Hilly out and back. Turn off onto Mt. Arab road until it ends then back again.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:24
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:49:21 | 06.2 miles | 07m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/55
Overall: 37/180
Performance: Good
MAX HR 177 AVG HR 161
Course: Starts up on grassy park grounds for 1/10th of a mile then crosses a street to go into a neighborhood. Makes right onto a street under construction - the road had been graded so it was very bumpy and rocky.. Left onto busy street that goes by an old and currently in use mental hospital. Behind hospital, back out onto busy street and back again.
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 Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4