TriAmerica Olympic - TriathlonOlympic


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St. Paul, Minnesota
United States
Sommer Sports TriAmerica
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 56m
Overall Rank = 15/35
Age Group = W30-35
Age Group Rank = 2/5
Pre-race routine:

got up at 4:15, before my alarm went off. fi woke up too, so i nursed her back to sleep. she finally fell back to sleep around 4:40 or so. got up, dressed, made coffee/teecino and some sturdiwheat cereal. grabbed the last few things i needed and headed out.
Event warmup:

i bike to the race, about 7 miles. its been a long time since i rode in the dark. i had a little cat eye and the street lights helped, plus i rode the same rode last wednesday. got to the race at about 5:30. had the bike guys put some air in my tires, set up transition, then pulled on the wetsuit i borrowed from kelly and headed to the lake to try it out (yea i know, don't try something new for the first time on race day - lucky for me it went really well!).
Swim
  • 28m 30s
  • 1637 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

two of the bouys were not inflated, and at least one women was dq'ed because she missed one of the bouys (i was a close second, but i saw the kayaker near the bouy and realized i needed to go over towards him). this was the first time i've been in wave one at a race, and i never realized how helpful it is to see someone do the course before you! wetsuit REALLY helped (THANKS KELLY!!!!).

oh, and kelly - WEEDS! thick weeds that wrapped around my neck! eeek! i'm usually SO good about weeds, but i got a bit creeped out. at least i had the wetsuit to protect me.
What would you do differently?:

pay more attention to the pre-race announcements about the course. be ready with my finger on the start button on my watch, because there was no count down, the announcer just yelled 'GO!' so i was frantically trying to get my watch started while underwater. still, this was a good swim performance compared to the last few races (due in large part to the wetsuit - THANKS KELLY!!!!).
Transition 1
  • 03m 18s
Comments:

this was a fast t1 for me, despite getting out of a wetsuit for the very first time...and also my error in placing my transition bag under my bike, so when i went to take it down, it was stuck on the bag! silly me. still, it went well.
What would you do differently?:

not put my bag directly under my bike.
Bike
  • 1h 22m 22s
  • 24.8 miles
  • 18.07 mile/hr
Comments:

this was slower than average for me, compared to the last few races. still, i placed 1st in my ag. i didn't have my cyclometer, so i had no idea what my speed was while riding. my best time of the season was at heart of lakes where i also didn't have my computer, so i wasn't worried. spent a lot of time in my aero bars, even bombing hills in them! hurrah!
What would you do differently?:

drink less. it was a cool day and i drank too much. i had that sloshy feeling for a bit, and going into the run i REALLY had to pee!
Transition 2
  • 01m 28s
Comments:

this was a good transition for me. could have moved faster than i did, but the sequence of things was spot on otherwise.
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Run
  • 1h 00m 24s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 09m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

saw a fellow bt'er on the run, doing his FIRST tri! go tom! anyway, the run started out great - first mile was <8 mm, but by the time i finished the first lap i was starting to feel tired and i really had to pee. i didn't slack off, but i also didn't push really hard. it was my last tri of the year and i wanted to finish feeling good, even if i didn't place. of course, it seems to be the races i want to place at where i don't, and the races that i'm happy just to finish that i place! oh well, can't complain too much.
What would you do differently?:

run faster. drink less on the bike, maybe even a bit less on the run (then again, this is the first race in a while where i didn't get a headache afterwards).
Post race
Warm down:

as i got to the finish line, i saw my husband and girls. ella had made me a new sign that said 'go mama go!' with a drawing of a butterfly and an egg (she wanted me to know what she'd had for breakfast). after crossing the finish line, we met up, got some food, and then went down to the beach (well, after i went to the bathroom and rounded up my stuff from transition). bill had biked over with the girls and had a lock, so we locked everything up and played for a while. after the awards ceremony, we biked home (which felt really good, much to my surprise).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

staying up late last night, getting up early this morning. alternating attitude of wanting to place (which stressed me out), and not caring (which probably led me to slack off a tad).

Event comments:

the race org didn't list overall results - just overall women and overall men, so for the purposes of this report, i used overall women since it was much easier figuring out my placement for each event. my actual overall was 88/138 (103 men, 35 women - no wonder guys kept passing me on the bike!). i raced as an athena and won 1st (out of 2, but hey, its still 1st!)! at the race they had me in both ag 30-35 and athena for some reason and didn't bat an eye when i won twice! 1st place athena and 2nd in ag. plus everyone had a finisher's medal, so this was a hardware heavy race for me! there were LOTS of people from the county cycle tri team. one woman won the short course, another won 1st in her age group, and her husband won 2nd in his ag for the short. for the long, another team mate won his ag. so, we had a great performance at this race! 6 trophies in all! :)

winning athena and 2nd in my age group was a GREAT way to end this season. i still have a duathlon and a few running races, but this was my last tri of the year, and i'm glad it ended in such a nice way. even though my performance overall wasn't much different than the other races i've done, winning still feels good! plus, now i can say i actually did a full olympic!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2005-07-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:30 | 1637 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/5
Overall: 10/35
Performance: Good
Suit: promotion (kelly's)
Course: rectangular loop around the lake.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:18
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:22:22 | 24.8 miles | 18.07 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/5
Overall: 16/35
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: along the road next to the lake. sharp turn around, then out along wheelock parkway to lake como. another turn around, back to lake phalen. out along the other side of the lake. another sharp turn around. rinse. repeat.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 01:28
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:00:24 | 06.2 miles | 09m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/5
Overall: 20/35
Performance: Average
Course: around lake phalen twice
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3