Swim
Comments: I had 1X Roctane just before the swim. The swim is my weakest event. I was told there would be kayaks every 150 m, but I could barely see them. There were probably five or less going around. I thought I would not be able to do point-to-point swims of 150-200m each with 15-second rests like I practiced. But I knew the lake gets shallow about ten yards from land, so I decided to stay to the side. After the gun went off I was last of the pack, so I settled to the side and away from fish. During the first 150m my goggles would not hold seal and kept flooding. I stopped maybe ten times to adjust my goggles. I cleared the first turn buoy after about 300 m, but with no kayak in sight, I headed toward a boat dock for a 20 sec rest. I started swimming again--still no kayak--and after 800m I swam close to land to stand still and fix my goggles. There was a kayak about two-thirds of the way through, and I hug on. The old big bellied dude on the kayak told me the water was only four feet deep. So I stood up and walked ten meters before swimming again. I thought the kayak should have been on deeper parts of the swim route. In the last 1/3 of the swim there were no kayaks again so I held on to the last buoy, swam 200 meters and finally found a kayak to hang on. The volunteer on the boat pointed out I was only 200 m away from finish. I kept going until a group of volunteers yelled at me to go back because I had missed the finish. I swam an awful time of 3:02/100 yards. According to my Garmin, I swam 1.01 miles instead of 0.93 miles, so my actual pace was still a very bad 2:49/100 yards. What would you do differently?: Lessons learned: I should have anticipated a potential problem with goggles and I should learn to thread to rest or swim backstroke. Transition 1
Comments: This was a long transition, as we have to jog .4 miles to our bikes. I felt cold, drank Gatorade, and grabbed my bike. What would you do differently?: should have drank balanced water and electrolytes. Bike
Comments: I started off strong, passing those who passed me on the swim. I averaged 20 mph on a course with no hills. The wind was not bad. After 15 miles my tummy started feeling funny. I felt my legs were tiring and about to cramp. I had not done bricks prior to the race, and the last one was more than six weeks ago. I was paying the price, and started cramping at mile 18. I tried my best to shake off the cramps and tummy problems. Cramping felt worse than the tummy issues so I continued drinking Gatorade to overcome cramps. I tried my best to hold 20 mph. As soon as I reached dismount both of my legs cramped. I had to rest it off a minute or two, until eventually I could walk my bike to transition to prepare for the run. What would you do differently?: Lesson learned: I cannot rely on Gatorade for hydration, because of tummy problems. I need to switch to an electrolyte supplement. Transition 2
Comments: I could barely walk and I was trying to shake off cramps. I drank more Gatorade despite tummy problems. I could not even lean forward without cramping to put on my socks. I really needed to rest for a while. At last I was able to shake off the cramps. The tummy issues remained, therefore I decided to use just water. What would you do differently?: Need to practice more brickwork swim and bike. Run
Comments: I tried to run the best that I could, even with stomach problems. I drank water cup after water cup at aid stations. I figured I'll try to hammer the last two miles to better the 11 min/mile. I tried to increase my pace after mile 4 but the tummy problems held me back. On my last mile, I tried to give everything, but my calves and glutes were cramping. I just closed my eyes, bore the pain and thinking this would all be over. What would you do differently?: I need more brickwork for Bike and run . Post race
Warm down: I had fun. My family was waiting for me at the finish. I will do it again and I will be more prepared next time. I need to practice swimming more, so I won't have to rely on kayaks. I need to train on more bricks and change my hydration source. In the future, I would bring an electrolyte supplement in case I need to switch to water. I may have finished in the last third of my age group, but I thought that wasn't too bad for a first time triathlete. My next olympic triathlon is in 3 weeks. What limited your ability to perform faster: slow swimming,nutrition, fitness on brickwork, Event comments: Will do it again!!!! Onurmark Productions are the best!!!! Last updated: 2013-08-29 12:00 AM
|
|
United States
Onurmark Race Productions
79F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 378/571
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 70/81
I wanted to prepare early, because I thought 24 hours of preparation would not be enough. I worked the night of Aug. 31. When I came home the morning of Sept. 1, I prepared what i could before going to sleep. I only slept for four hours. Fortunately, I was not working Sept. 1 so I had one full day to rest before
the race. I prepared everything. I tried to sleep the night before the race, but good Lord I was too nervous and was only able to sleep
2.5 hours. All I had for breakfast on race day was one Clif Bar, a banana and Gatorade. After some last minute preparations, I left at 4:45 am and drove 45 mins to the race. The transition was set up well, because racks were assigned and the entrance and exit were not confusing at all.
Standard stretching for 30 mins. 1 Roctane Gu and a Drink of Gatorade.