Memorial Hermann Houston Towne Lake Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic


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Cypress, Texas
United States
Onurmark Race Productions
79F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 31m 45s
Overall Rank = 378/571
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 70/81
Pre-race routine:

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.

Event warmup:

Standard stretching for 30 mins. 1 Roctane Gu and a Drink of Gatorade.
Swim
  • 50m 1s
  • 1500 meters
  • 03m 20s / 100 meters
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
  • 09m 40s
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
  • 1h 12m 7s
  • 24 miles
  • 19.97 mile/hr
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
  • 08m 39s
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
  • 1h 11m 15s
  • 6.3 miles
  • 11m 19s  min/mile
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!!!!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2013-08-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:50:01 | 1500 meters | 03m 20s / 100meters
Age Group: 69/81
Overall: 0/571
Performance: Below average
Suit: Tri shorts
Course: L-shape Loop
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 77F / 25C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 09:40
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:12:07 | 24 miles | 19.97 mile/hr
Age Group: 54/81
Overall: 0/571
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Rectangle two loops.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 08:39
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Bad
Running
01:11:15 | 06.3 miles | 11m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 63/81
Overall: 0/571
Performance: Average
Course: Subdivison concrete paved running trail.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5