Lake Stevens Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Lake Stevens, Washington
United States
BuDu Racing
71F / 22C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 29m 6s
Overall Rank = 115/159
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 6/7
Pre-race routine:

Peanut butter and honey toast. Packed gear and headed to tranistion which was only a mile away!
Event warmup:

Nothing...and this would be come back to bite me on the swim.
Swim
  • 15m 45s
  • 440 yards
  • 03m 35s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was a really disappointing swim for me. I'm not a strong swimmer by any means but I felt like I had made a lot of progress this season - and I still have, but it did not result in a good performance today. After about 150 yards for some reason, my form and technique fell apart to the point that I couldn't even keep my head in the water.

The only thing I can think of is that I didnt do my normal 10-15 mins of warmup in the water, so when we started that was the first time I put my face in and got hit with that initial shock. The sprint course sort of dissected the olympic loop and the oly swimmers had started about 20 mins earlier so they were in the middle of their swim, which made finding a spot to get in some practice strokes difficult or confusing at best. Being still very much a novice swimmer this is by no means ideal, my heart rate accelerated and I couldn't recover. After that, it was a matter of gutting it out just to get it done.
What would you do differently?:

Find a spot to warmup no matter what the course. Also stash some kind of footwear to use pre and post swim for the run up the boat ramp to transition.
Transition 1
  • 02m 55s
Comments:

So glad to be out of the water. This was not actually too bad of a transition by my standards! Had my wife and son screaming at me to get moving. I was relaxed enough by now I was able to lighten up and crack a few jokes about taking breaks during transition! My transitions will improve with more experiences but I had no issues with this one. It was fun laughing and teasing my family and fellow competitors.
What would you do differently?:

Like my son said, hurry up Dad!
Bike
  • 38m 4s
  • 9.8 miles
  • 15.45 mile/hr
Comments:

An ok bike effort. I didn't push too hard. I should have pushed harder. My training has been very run focsed and it showed. Even though this course is literally in my back yard I was not prepared very well for the rolling countryside, and there is no excuse. Having said that, I enjoyed my bike ride. The one main hill though was a bitch period, but it was fun flying down the other side. I thought I handled my bike well and was a little surprised I wasn't a bit faster - I screwed up my multisport mode on my watch so was flying blind on pace so just went with effort. Think I might have taken it a bit too easy but by this point I was determined just to enjoy my last tri of the season...so I did!
What would you do differently?:

More bike training. Dont screw up watch settings. Ride faster.
Transition 2
  • 01m 55s
Comments:

Another fun T2 singing out SpongeBob Squarepants to my son - I use my SpongeBob Squarepants beach towel in transition in honor of my son's favorite show. Heckled from the gallery from a kid yelling, "wow Dad, that sure took you a long while on the bike....!!" Will be consulting with my fan club director for future events!
What would you do differently?:

Get changed faster.
Run
  • 30m 26s
  • 3.2 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Legs were shaky coming out of transition but found a comfortable pace and stuck with it. Watch was messed up and not giving my instant pace or splits and I couldnt be bothered to figure it out, so just went with what felt good. The hill was tough the first time but didn't bother me as much after the turnaround. Really enjoyed cruising the final mile to the finish line. Saw a couple of friends from Blue Fire Fitness and waved and high fived them along the way.
What would you do differently?:

Could have run faster but I'm about a month into my marathon training and just was not willing to redline it all the way.
Post race
Warm down:

Found family. Bagel, quick stretch and walked around the park.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not warming up during the swim was a big mistake - that cost me at least 4 minutes. Not enough bike training on the local course...shame on me. Relaxed on the run but no regrets.

Event comments:

This was my final triathlon of the season and it has been a fantastic rookie year. I'm overall happy with this race and my results this year. I'll race this sprint again next year and use it as a benchmark for improvement. Big time thanks to my wifey, Paula and son AJ for putting up with my training and supporting me through this first season. Also, a huge shoutout to my online Rookie teammates, Erin, Kate, Lisa, Mike, Bernard, and Roland....wow your advice and support this year was just fantastic and kept me going through the tough training sessions and instilled the belief in myself that I can be a triathlete. This is just the beginning of the journey. All y'alls rock Beasts!!

Now there is just the matter of my first full marathon to get through later this year!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-09-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:15:45 | 440 yards | 03m 35s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/7
Overall: 150/159
Performance: Bad
Suit: Profile Wahoo
Course: Out and back that dissected the olympic loop
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:55
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:38:04 | 9.8 miles | 15.45 mile/hr
Age Group: 6/7
Overall: 97/159
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: Mostly flat with some small rollers and one nasty short but very steep hill that we hit twice as it was an out and back.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:55
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:30:26 | 03.2 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/7
Overall: 90/159
Performance: Below average
Course: Out and back along Lake Shore Drive - segment used by the IronMan course. Again one nasty hill that we went over twice.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4