Elephant Man Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Elephant Butte, New Mexico
United States
Chasing 3
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 00m 34s
Overall Rank = 212/228
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 12/14
Pre-race routine:

Woke up entirely too early (couldn't sleep in the crappy Motel 6 that only had smoking rooms left). Ate a gu and drank about 1.5 btls of water throughout the morning. Got the car loaded up and checked out, then headed to the lake.
Event warmup:

Pretty much nothing. Got plenty of warm up walking down to the transition and back up to my car (it's a giant hill). Waited for my start time, since they kicked everyone out of transition at 7:15 and my wave started at 8:15. Bummer to have to wander around that long, but that's alright.
Swim
  • 42m 10s
  • 1760 yards
  • 02m 24s / 100 yards
Comments:

I feel like I had a decent swim, considering this is my second time in an OWS and the first in race conditions. I need to work on swimming in a relatively straight line; I'm sure I added 20% to the distance with all of my zig-zagging.

The start of my wave was kind of hectic. I kept trying to wait for people to clear out of my way to get in a groove. Next time I think the way to go is to just get to swimming. Not a lot of jostling around happened, but there was some bumping and contact. Nothing serious though.

Once I got going I just kept chugging along. I caught a few from the waves in front of me, which was a nice bonus.

On the final leg of the swim my shins began cramping up. Not sure why, but this happens to me when I swim in cold pools, too.

When you hit the beach, there's quite a long run up to transition from the lake (not sure how far, but it's a good couple of tenths). Part way up they had wet suit strippers and the kids they had doing this were AWESOME! They were having a blast, high-fiving people, competing with each other to get the suits off faster, etc. Really made it fun.

The final walk/shuffle up to transition wasn't much fun (or fast) because of my cramping shins.
What would you do differently?:

Sight better
Swim straighter
Start more confidently
Transition 1
  • 06m 22s
Comments:

Pretty slow transition, although I kept moving along. I know most of the time is spent coming from the beach, though.
Bike
  • 1h 49m 3s
  • 26.5 miles
  • 14.58 mile/hr
Comments:

Coming out of transition is a long, steep climb that goes forever. I stayed in my small ring up front and one of the bigger in the back and just spun up everything getting to the course. Lots of shifting going on for the first half or so to get through all of the rolling hills.

When you get to the climb at about mile 13 or so, it's spin spin spin! I even had to tack back and forth a little to get up the final push. Then there's a false flat and another longer, not quite as steep, climb to reach the summit of the mesa.

Once past that and across the freeway you can start to gain speed. I was riding around 18-21 mph from here on back to transition.

Remember that steep hill out of transition? You know have to brake down it all the way to the dismount line. I didn't see any wrecks but I hear there were a few exciting moments.

They had 2 bottle hand ups on the course, at miles 10 and 20, which was awesome. I picked up a gatorade at the first one, then realized I really didn't have anywhere to store it and wasn't ditching my $25 podium ice ones. So I held it most of the time and stick in my shorts behind me when I need two hands. I'm sure those passing me enjoyed that :)

At the second one I grabbed a water and tossed the rest of the gatorade. With that fresh, cold water I filled up my used bottle while riding and planned on carrying that one on the run in a short bit. Worked out great.
Transition 2
  • 02m 13s
Comments:

I think I wasted a few seconds here, but not much.
Run
  • 1h 20m 46s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 13m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

This run course is no joke. The first mile is pretty much all uphill in the sand, which makes from some challenges to say the least. My plan going in was to walk the water stations and run the rest. This went out the window at about mile .65, as I just couldn't run up those hills in the sand.

I ended up walking a lot of the long uphill sections.
What would you do differently?:

I don't know. That run course isn't for me, though!
Post race
Warm down:

Sat in the shade tent with my friends, drank some gatorade and water. Ate a couple of cookies and some banana.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2011-07-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:42:10 | 1760 yards | 02m 24s / 100yards
Age Group: 12/14
Overall: 177/228
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 06:22
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:49:03 | 26.5 miles | 14.58 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/14
Overall: 199/228
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Very hilly for the first 15 or so miles, culminating in an evil grade of around 20%. It's a short climb but terribly rough. The final 8-9 miles is flat to slightly downhill, so you can make up some time.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:13
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:20:46 | 06.2 miles | 13m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 14/14
Overall: 221/228
Performance: Below average
Course: Hills, sand, hills, hills, hot, hills.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4