Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Lake San Antonio, California
United States
Tri-California
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 33m 19s
Overall Rank = 158/2374
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 25/247
Pre-race routine:

I almost didn't go to Wildflower. I was awoken Friday night before the race to some nasty food poisoning, possibly bad guacamole. Spend Friday night and Saturday feeling terrible. Tried to do an easy run Saturday and my HR was through the roof. I decided to go as a spectator, and possibly race if I woke up Sunday feeling better. Sunday AM I felt decent so I decided to give it a shot. I figured I was going to have a long day, so the plan was to take it easy and finish. That all changed after the swim. Woke up at 520, ate some toast with peanut butter, drank some OJ, then drove to the site from Pismo Beach.
Event warmup:

Warmed up with a jog to my car after realizing I left my sunglasses there, then stretched. Ate a Powergel. Got transition ready and headed to the swim start.
Swim
  • 28m 27s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

Felt solid on the swim, navigated well, didn't get too excited at the start. Maintained good form(for me). Wasn't able to draft very much. Despite feeling like my swim went well, I ended up 4 minutes slower than the last race. Either I lost a lot of time not drafting or the last course was shorter, not too sure.
What would you do differently?:

Swim more, I focused on the bike/run since last race. Felt my arms and shoulders getting a little sore during the swim, probably due to a lack of consistent swim training for about a month.
Transition 1
  • 02m 49s
Comments:

Transition went smooth, took a few extra seconds to get the wetsuit off my left leg.
What would you do differently?:

Practice wetsuit removal, rubberband shoe to my frame to avoid some minor shoe dragging.
Bike
  • 1h 16m 52s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 19.40 mile/hr
Comments:

Went out hard on the bike, spectators were awesome. I heard someone yell "Holy &*^% look at the guy on the Felt, he's hauling ass!" while going up Lynch Hill. That gave me a huge confidence booster (even if I wasn't hauling ass). I pushed hard the whole way, noticed I was feeling a little fatigued on the last couple inclines, so I focused on my heart rate and didn't over-do it coming into the run. Since there were multiple waves on the course already I passed people like it was my job, which feels awesome, but I think this is due to getting behind during the swim haha.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, except train more (of course). I do want to drop my bars a bit to get a little better position, and to be nitpicky I ended up having a 3/4 full bottle of gatorade in my cage, could have filled it half way instead of full to reduce weight, but that's nitpicky. Oh, and next race I'm rocking an aero helmet.
Transition 2
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

Smooth transition, took the extra few seconds to get a good swig of water from my aero bottle before taking off. Threw a powergel in my pocket and took off. No socks.
What would you do differently?:

Not much.
Run
  • 43m 23s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 06m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

Again spectators were great. So much enthusiasm and encouragement. Aid stations were fabulous, tons of volunteers, never felt dehydrated and had water available when I needed it. The run went smooth, pushed as hard as I though I reasonably could, then finished fast and strong. I felt like I stuck right at my limit then ruined myself going down Lynch Hill and through the chute. One interesting note was that I didn't clue into the KILOMETER markers. I thought I was keeping bad time or running fabulous miles for the first few. I guess that's not as bad as the racer I spoke to afterwards who did his final kick after Kilometer 6....oops.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Hydration was perfect, ran well.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked slowly around the finishing area until finding my girlfriend, then begging her to get me burrito and a rootbeer. Best meal ever. Stretched out a little while later. The hardest part of the whole race was carrying my bike and ridiculous bag of tools/transition gear up the dirt path to our car. GF had to get out early to study so we hiked. I almost went man down going up the hill.

Event comments:

Loved Wildflower, definitely doing Long Course 2009.




Last updated: 2008-05-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:27 | 1640 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/247
Overall: 0/2374
Performance: Average
Suit: Zoot Z1
Course: L-shaped course by marina. Water felt warm to me.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:49
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:16:52 | 24.85 miles | 19.40 mile/hr
Age Group: 15/247
Overall: 0/2374
Performance: Good
HR of 184 going up Lynch Hill yikes!
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:45
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:43:23 | 06.21 miles | 06m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/247
Overall: 0/2374
Performance: Good
Course: Hilly with steady climbing and rolling hills until around mile 5, then a steep return down Lynch Hill.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5