General Discussion Race Reports! » SuperFrog Triathlon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

SuperFrog Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Coronado, California
United States
Navy Seals
65F / 18C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 37m 26s
Overall Rank = 73/
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 17/
Pre-race routine:

My Race Report:
Well, the day began at 4:25am for me. Slammed down cereal and a bagel and was out the door. Light rain was falling for much of the 75-mile drive to Coronado. By the time I got there, it had let up, and it was just getting light, but the skies were pretty ominous. Couldn't help but make comparisons to the 70.3 event in 2006. I had checked the weather and knew we were in for south wind and clearing by late morning though.
Checked in, got racked, and suited up. Fortunately, I arrived later than last year, where I ended up sitting around alot. Checked out the surf and it was blowing pretty good from the southwest with plenty of chop, some southerly current and waves in the 1-3 foot range. Perfect for me! The bummer was, they shortened the swim and made it 3 loops where we'd have to get out and run up the beach after every loop. Running in my wetsuit really zaps me! Anyway, got to meet ST'er JPFlores and Tom Demerly and his wife Sarah (BikeSportGirl). Also saw Woofy, and later met GTingley after the race.
Okay, on to the race. Thought I'd outsmart everyone by starting the swim well south of the buoy. I ran into the ocean and dove under a few waves, and instantly, my left goggle started leaking. I kept adjusting it trying to get a better seal, but had to stop several times to clear it! Very annoying considering it NEVER leaks when I train. Anyway, the strange thing is that the southerly current wasn't as bad as I thought, so once I got outside the surf zone, I had to swim 40 yards north to the first buoy, thereby adding alot of distance to that first swim lap! Arggg. I couldn't seem to get a good rhythm going either. I was sighting alot and stopping to clear the goggles. The second and third laps, I started further north cutting off most of that distance I had wasted in the first lap and managed to bodysurf waves in. I know I connected my heel with someone's chin in the swim, and someone slapped my in the head with a forearm at one point. It felt like cold meat. So, I got to the beach for the last time and pulled off my entire wetsuit right there as I had planned, so I could run easier up the sand berm. Unfortunately, I dropped my goggles (the leaky ones!) in the water and couldn't find them, so I pressed on.
It was raining once I got into T1 and I had put everything in garbage bags, so it took a little time to fish out the bike shoes, socks, etc. and then fill my pockets with gels, bars, put on my race belt, goggles, glasses, arm warmers, etc. I decided against the rain jacket as I could see blue sky to the south.
Once on the bike, the rain was coming down light to moderate and we had a nice, stiff...I'd say 10-15mph breeze in our face. This is a 4-lap, straight, flat ride south, and then north. They actually close one entire side of the road, so it's about as safe of a course as I've ever raced on! So, 7 miles south into the wind pushing maybe 15mph with rain pelting you, and then 7 miles north with a great tailwind x 4. I had on amber lenses which were perfect, and pressed on. On the return trip, I just sat straight up and held the bullhorns and was trucking along at anywhere from 25-30mph without too much effort. It was great. I figured I'd save my back and my body would act like a sail. I was passing dudes with disc and aero helmets sitting up. After lap one, the sun popped out, but by lap 3, a squall had moved back in and we got blasted once again. Fortunately, it's completely flat and straight with very good pavement, so pretty safe even when wet. I was on a steady diet of gels at every turnaround and also ate a Clif Bar and a Mojo bar during the bike and drank G'ade and water. I was feeling good at the end of the bike.
T2, I changed my socks as the other ones were soaked, and started the run forgetting to take my damn arm warmers out of my back pocket, so they were bouncing around, so I stuffed then in the back of my shorts. The sun was out now, and on the first turn south along the beach, the SW wind felt great. Like air conditioning as you ran along the hardpack. This is a 5-lap run with about 1 mile of each lap in SOFT sand and 1.5 miles on hardpack sand, with the rest on pavement. Since I'd done the race last year, I really had a grip on my pacing this time around. Last year, I was pretty shredded by the last lap and I didn't want to have that happen today.
On lap two, I gave the arm warmers to one of the volunteers who kindly agreed to put them on my car windshield (which was around the corner from the run course).
I kept a regime of water/gel every lap and some sports drink (not sure what type it was, but they were yelling out "Gatorade" at the aid stations even though I'm pretty sure it wasn't). Anyway, highlights of the run were one lady using hiking poles and what looked like moon boots on the soft sand section. Is that legal? She wasn't going very fast anyway. Saw another guy on his hands and knees on the beach..probably puking.
By lap three, I felt some fatigue, but nothing insurmountable. I tried to think about other things than the run itself. Races in the half and full IM distance are all about discomfort/pain management I think. For the soft sand section, you'd just try to find some tire tracks to run in and for me, I'd just shorten my steps to minimize the push off, which resulted in less slippage. Definitely different techniques to running in that stuff. Some freaks seemed to just glide over it, and a few I saw ran barefoot.
By lap five, another squall had moved in and it started raining pretty good, but I was ready to up the pace for the last 1.5 miles, which is mainly the soft sand, and did just that, passing probably 20 people in that last 1.5 miles. When I hit the final 1/4 mile of pavement, I was striding big and going by folks to the finish. I wrapped it up in 5:37 and change. I can't really compare with last year since the swim was shorter this year, but I think my bike was slower (not that much slower though) and my run was faster, so all in all, given the conditions, I was happy with the race.
Moki Martin and company do a great job with this low-key, challenging race and the volunteers were outstanding and put up with some fairly miserable conditions at times to make sure we were taken care of. I wanted to get on the road, so I didn't stick around to wait for the awards, but great job to all the ST'ers and everyone that put up with the conditions today. It was for sure the most challenging weather I've raced in during my 3 years in the sport. I enjoyed that part of it actually, but didn't enjoy the hour plus it took me to clean the sand/dirt from every crack of my bike and other gear.
I'd definitely like to have this race on the schedule for next year.
Swim
  • 28m 16s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 53s / 100 meters
Transition 1
  • 02m 46s
Bike
  • 2h 55m 11s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.18 mile/hr
Transition 2
  • 01m 50s
Run
  • 2h 09m 23s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 53s  min/mile
Post race



Last updated: 2007-09-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:16 | 1500 meters | 01m 53s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 02:46
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:55:11 | 56 miles | 19.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:50
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:09:23 | 13.1 miles | 09m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

{postbutton}
2007-09-25 7:10 PM

Extreme Veteran
464
1001001001002525
San Clemente, California
Subject: SuperFrog Triathlon
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » SuperFrog Triathlon Rss Feed