2008 Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek

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2008 Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek - TriathlonSprint

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

Mount Sterling, Ohio
United States
HFP Racing
85F / 29C
Sunny

Total Time = 2h 25m 58s
Overall Rank = 195/197
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 23/23

Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5:15 a.m. Ate 2 bowls of Capt. Crunch and drank 2 cups of coffee. Went over my checklist, packed-up and left the house at 6:45 a.m. Gary and I had driven up the day before to pick up my race packet, so that allowed us to sleep in longer. We got to the site around 7:45 a.m.

Event warmup:

I jogged for a couple minutes and then stretched for several. I got in the water a couple different times to get used to the feel of the water.

Swim

47m 45s
925 yards
05m 10s / 100 yards

Comments:

I was really nervous about the swim. Gary was with me on the shoreline and he noticed my unusual broodiness. He said, "Honey, if you're dreading this and it's not fun for you, don't do it. If it is fun, go out there and have fun." That advice would help me later on.

It just seems to take me a few minutes to find a good groove. I was hoping that warming up beforehand would help but it didn't. I did the final and third wave of the Sprint race, all the females. By the time I just started to find my groove, the girls were many yards ahead of me.

A minute or so later, I heard splashing behind me and it was the men from the Mini (Oly) heading my way. "Crap!" I told myself. I knew there'd be no way I was going to swim fast enough to get out of their way without killing my groove and running completely out of breath, so I decided to just keep swimming and just kind of tread until they got out of my way.

I did consider (for 5 seconds) that it would be easy to just go ahead and quit. There would be many more waves of swimmers, plus the HIM competitors would be going around twice and I didn't know if I could handle the onslaught. Right after that, I got my groove back.

I was really worried about getting bumped and kicked to death going into this swim, but it wasn't that bad. A couple people even apologized. I said, "That's Okay, Sweetie."

Compared to my first race where I had the guidance of #22, I was completely on my own. That was really okay this time. I was ready for this.

I didn't even try to take the standard advice to "just swim to the next bouy." I was just enjoying the fact that I was swimming - really swimming - and that it was a pleasurable experience. I was just going to "have fun." Before I knew it, I was almost at the final turn before the turnback.

I thought this race was 900 yards, so that's for what I've been training. It has taken me about 45 minutes to do that distance, so when I got out of the water and looked at my HRM to see 46 minutes, I was pleased. I seriously thought it was like an hour. When I saw the results posted online, the racing company said it was a 750 meter swim. That saddens me that it took me that long with that distance, but - oh well.

What is great is that I wasn't worn out from this.

What would you do differently?:

Train even more beforehand so I'm faster!

Transition 1

01m 57s

Comments:

Wow. I didn't even use my towel to dry off. Wearing a tri suit was a major boon to my speediness as I wasn't soaking wet and didn't have to change clothes.

What would you do differently?:

Not much, really.

Bike

1h 00m 33s
12.4 miles
12.29 mile/hr

Comments:

That headwind was a beast. It was easily 20-30 mph. Later on that night, pretty much the whole state of Ohio's electricity would be out because of winds up to 70 mph. Mother Nature was giving us a taste of what was to come that morning. Thanks for the preview, Mother Nature!

Once I changed directions and the headwind was gone, I went much faster. I kept on getting passed by people doing the HIM. I saw no one from the Sprint. Why should I? I was the last one out of the swim and everyone else was probably done with the bike.

Unlike my last race, I passed no one - no one! Three people that passed me told me I was looking good and to keep up the good work, or something along those lines. That was really cool.

What would you do differently?:

I absolutely HAVE to get a road bike. If I don't have one by my next race in April, I just won't do it. I know that getting better is all about time in the saddle, but it also makes sense that the less weight I have to carry around, the faster I can go.

Transition 2

02m 1s

Comments:

I was at the end right up against the fence. Somebody had left a big box of their stuff in the middle of the aisle in front of where I needed to rack my bike. With my area limited, I took extra care not to knock over somebody's bike, but I wasn't worried about stepping on this guy's towel or shoes. Get un-rude, buddy!

Again, having the tri suit helped soooo much. It was great not to have to change shorts.

What would you do differently?:

Have a road bike so it's not so heavy. I also need to figure out what to do with my hair. It adds a few seconds to have to put it up in a ponytail and put a ballcap on over it.

Run

33m 42s
3.11 miles
10m 50s min/mile

Comments:

For coming in last, I'm pretty pleased with my run time against the others. I thought I was moving much slower, but my pace was pretty consistent with my training. I was very pleased that the swim and bike didn't wear me out enough to mess with my running pace.

I walked the last few feet of the grassy part and started the run again when I got back to the pavement.

As I was approaching the finish line, there were two guys in front of me who crossed it pretty much the same time. The announcer called their names. I was excited that that would happen for me. Throughout this whole race, you're just a number, a face in the crowd. To be called by name, above all places at the finish line, really helps personalize your accomplishment.

What would you do differently?:

Get faster.

Post race

Warm down:

Drank a bottle of water, ate half a banana and stretched a little bit. Instead of rushing out, Gary and I just hung out a little.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

While I've learned to swim sooo much better since my last tri, I need to work on speed. Not being faster really put me back there.

Not having a road bike, one that is specifically designed to be light-weight and for speed.

When I look at the results, if I could've just knocked a couple minutes off here or there, I would have done better.

Event comments:

Triathlons remind me of politics - in this regard. Once Election Night is over, the results are in and the winners and losers are declared, there's nothing left to do. It is what it is. But the next day, the campaign already begins for the next election.

Yesterday's race is what it is. I'm now looking to April, to my next race and to moving up in the rankings.

After my first race in June, I had this euphoria that lasted for a day or two. I didn't have that this time, nor did I expect to, really. Last time truly felt like a baptism of sorts. That can only happen once.

I also wasn't as worn out as my last one. It's probably because of all the training I've been doing. My body's more used to it now.

My goal heading into this was to come in under 2.5 hours. I did it.

So, 197 people started the race, but two DNF and never made it to the bike. So, the big question is did I come in dead last or did I come in third to last? I'm leaning towards the latter.

Profile Album

Last updated: 2008-05-10 12:00 AM

Swimming
00:47:45 \| 925 yards \| 05m 10s / 100yards
Age Group:	23/23
Overall:	197/197
Performance:	Good
Suit:	Tri Suit
Course:	The swim was a rectangle, with the race starting in the middle of the long side, heading right, then making three lefts and finishing with a right turn heading into shore. There was somewhat of a current. Luckily, it was heading to the shore and not away from it, although it really was insignifiant - until the final turns. The waves got incredibly choppy and were pushing several people inside of the course, so we had to swim out to circle around the bouy. After that turn, the water calmed down.
Start type:	Run	Plus:	Waves
Water temp:	76F / 24C	Current:	Medium
200M Perf.	Bad	Remainder:	Average
Breathing:	Average	Drafting:
Waves:	Average	Navigation:	Good
Rounding:	Average

T1
Time:	01:57
Performance:	Good
Cap removal:	Good	Helmet on/ Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck?		Run with bike:	Yes
Jump on bike:	No
Getting up to speed:	Average

Biking
01:00:33 \| 12.4 miles \| 12.29 mile/hr
Age Group:	21/23
Overall:	186/197
Performance:	Average
Wind:	Headwind with gusts
Course:	This course was really smooth - and really flat. While I train on hills (I do live in "Hillsboro" afterall), the two at the end of this course were short but unexpectedly steep. As slowly as I was going up them on the bike, I was able to go just a little faster by walking a few seconds of them.
Road:	Smooth Dry	Cadence:
Turns:	Average	Cornering:	Average
Gear changes:	Good	Hills:	Average
Race pace:	Comfortable	Drinks:	Just right

T2
Time:	02:01
Overall:	Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike		Good
Running with bike		Average
Racking bike		Below average
Shoe and helmet removal		Average

Running
00:33:42 \| 03.11 miles \| 10m 50s min/mile
Age Group:	16/23
Overall:	141/197
Performance:	Good
Course:	We started out on pavement, moved to grass, then to a sidewalk crossing a dam, then back on to pavement, then turned around and headed back. Running on that grass was a pain. There were all of these little divits (I think that's a word), that kept on making my feet roll. My ankles were a little stressed toward the end because of that.
Keeping cool	Average	Drinking	Not enough

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Good
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:	Average
Race evaluation [1-5]	4