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E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Sprint Triathlon XXV
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E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Sprint Triathlon XXV - TriathlonSprint
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 Swim
Comments: There was a dad with a son/daughter pair a few people behind me, and I and a couple of "seasoned" guys ahead of him were kidding around that the boy had to do the swim butterfly with weights on his wrists. Funny thing is he did in fact do at least one length butterfly!! The first 100m was great! First time I've done 100m continuous crawl stroke. The rest of the swim was, objectively, horrible. Lots of breaststroke, which made my arms and chest very tired. Lots of overbreathing and hyperventilation when I *did* crawl. But, I met my goal time, somehow. And I was only passed by one little girl (the daughter of the dad/kids set mentioned above) and a couple of adults. What would you do differently?: Spend a lot more time in the pool training. I've made good progress in learning to swim, but things are just now "clicking", and I need to drill them in well so that they're second nature. The adrenaline rush of racing basically overrode all my training to date. Nothing a good solid winter of pool time won't cure.  Transition 1
Comments: There is a long run between poolside and the T-zone, which accounts for most of this time. I estimate I spent :90 actually changing, and the rest running or walking from the pool. Still had to fiddle with the #$@! jersey. What would you do differently?: Learn to swim better. I was so hyperventilated from swimming, and my chest was so sore from all the breast stroke I did, it was hard to run to the bike. Also, get a tri-top or trisuit so I don't have to mess with a wet bike jersey. I could also do some of the "tricks" like losing the socks and bike gloves, and having my shoes pre-clipped, but there's not much point - yet...  Bike
Comments: Hmm... some more hill work would have helped me keep my pace higher. It's a beautiful course, with lots of shade over about half of it. I played leapfrog with a guy who was a few folks behind me on the bike, and cheered on the two kids who were racing with their dad when I saw them (on their way out) on my way back. I can't wait to do that with my kids!! What would you do differently?: More mileage, mostly. I actually surprised myself. It was an awesome ride. Only thing is I need to work on my fueling a bit. I think I could use a little more and/or different to set me up better on the run, and I lost a little bit of time coasting while I drank. Transition 2
Comments: A very good transition. Again, there was a fair amount of running throught he T-zone that added to the time. I changed fairly quickly, and took a moment to have one last drink of Gatorade. What would you do differently?: Not much specific to this.  Run
Comments: Ouch! The bike-to-run transition killed me. My calves cramped up, and my energy was low. I walked about half the first mile, and took very brief walk breaks during the second and third mile. Around mile 2, my stomach knotted up and I thought I was going to hurl, but I managed to hold it together and run strong to the finish. The third mile was pretty good, and I encouraged a few people who were on their way out. My wife+kids were just walking past the announcer lady on their way to watch the finish when she called my name, so they got to see me finish! Oddly, I didn't like the flat run. My usual training course has some good rollers in it, and I think I've gotten used to the exertion/recovery pattern of going up and down... so the steady effort of the flat run was a little odd. What would you do differently?: 1) BRICK BRICK BRICK BRICK BRICK 2) Tweak the nutrition somehow 3) MORE BRICKS 4) More (and faster) miles on the legs 5) Did I mention BRICKS??? 6) Oh, yeah, and some BRICKS! Post race
Warm down: Post race, I walked around, chugged another Gatorade, and had a group picture with all the other guys where racing from my employer (unofficially). The kids had a hard time understanding that the tin bathtub full of iced Gatorade was ONLY for the racers... and why I couldn't shag a second one for them to drink... Then we packed up, went back to the hotel for a shower and ~30min nap before grabbing lunch and spending 3 hours at the Zoo. Finally after a long drive home and another short nap, we went to a Sunday school class picnic for 3 hours. I'm bushed, but it was an AWESOME day. What limited your ability to perform faster: Training, plain and simple. I need to learn to swim much faster and FAR more efficiently. I need mucho more miles on the legs, and I desperately need to do some BRICKS. All the mental stuff clicked well, with the possible exception of nerve-induced overexertion on the swim. I just need more miles/yards under my belt. Event comments: An excellent race - and a good one for beginners. A nice, safe TT-style pool swim, a relatively flat bike, and a VERY flat run. Plenty of room for the family to spectate and recreate while you're racing, and lots of stuff to do nearby. I highly recommend it. Last updated: 2006-08-05 12:00 AM
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 2006-08-14 1:55 PM |
Extreme Veteran  494   Horse Country |  Subject: E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Sprint Triathlon XXV |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Louisville Landsharks Tri Club
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 197/227
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 17/17
We stayed at a hotel very nearby the night before - me, the wife, and the kids. This was quite an adventure for the kids...
I woke up at 5AM, got dressed, had some breakfast (brown sugar cinnamon mini-bagels and a yogurt smoothie), and fixed the cooler for the wife/kids. I had to pick up some breakfast for me the night before because the hotel cafe didn't open till 7AM. Snuck out of the hotel by 6am, and after stuffing my gear in my duffel bag, I biked the 1 mile over to the park. Just as I was about to leave, I reached around to the right to turn on my tail flasher. Since I was clipped in on the right side, I promptly fell. For some reason I was able to unclip and catch myself, but the bike took a tumble on its right side. I think the geartrain was saved by the pedal, because it was miraculously undamaged by the fall. The ride over was uneventful, except for the constant stream of cars and SUV's with bikes on them. You'd think they were having a race or something... :)
Aside from the bike over, I didn't do much to warm up. Probably mistake number one... but with a time-trial swim start, and being racer #300, there's not much I *could* do. I suppose I could have tooled around on the bike for a while. In all, I had nearly two hours to kill before my start, so I just watched some of the other guys from work swim (I was last into the water).
Packet pickup was pretty easy, and I got a nice "polo" style shirt with an embroidered logo, plus a free water bottle.