The Wildbear Sprint TRI/DUATHLON - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Poland, Maine
United States
TRI-ME
66F / 19C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 22m 38s
Overall Rank = 35/158
Age Group = M3539
Age Group Rank = 11/21
Pre-race routine:

The Great Falls Balloon Festival was taking place over the weekend, so we stayed at the hotel on Friday night and enjoyed the festivites at night. Got to bed at a reasonable time, around 10pm and was asleep by 10:30, surprisingly little butterflies the night before. My son came down with the sniffles around midnight, which disrupted the sleep a little, but not too bad. Got up at 5am, dressed, packed the bike and gear in the car, and woke the gang up to go. We got to the park entrance by 6:25 and got in line with the other cars waiting for the park to open. I was a little concerned with how the morning registration was going to go as they had not really made it very conveinent to register the night before, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how they did it. Organizers came to each car and got us registered, took entrance fees to the park for non competetors, etc. The park opened a little early, and the transition area was easy to get set up in. I had a cinnamon rasin bagle and a few sips of my wife's coffee. Sips on some home made sport drink.
Event warmup:

A little stretching on the beach. Brief swim, maybe 100 yards.
Swim
  • 12m 14s
  • 547 yards
  • 02m 14s / 100 yards
Comments:

What a wake up call this was in many ways. I came into this feeling pretty comfortable with my skills in the water based on the pool work that I've done over the summer. Over confidence was the first problem. Second, no matter how nice and warm the summer has been, this is still Maine, and the water is going to be cold! I decided not to use my wetsuit, hoping any time I lost with speed would be make up in transition. The water seemed cold when I went out to test it but I thought I would stay warm with the exertion of swimming. The chattering teeth before the pre race talk should have been my big warning sign. Anyway, I was in the first heat, and just after taking off, the combination of cold, and extcitement got my heart jacking so fast I couldnt breathe fast enough!! Then the anxiety set in and I couldnt tolerate having my face in the water for more that a stroke or two and couldnt get into a rhythm, so I was forced to breast stroke and side stroke for the entire swim. The worst part, was when the next wave, which started 3 minutes after me, started to pass me. I finished just before the wave after that reached me (started 6 minutes after I did)
What would you do differently?:

I need more open water training before the next race. I will wear a wetsuit whenever allowed, no matter how warm the water may seem.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Bike
  • 49m 57s
  • 16 miles
  • 19.22 mile/hr
Comments:

I was determined to make up as much time lost on the swim here and didnt worry much about how the exertion would affect my ability to run. Luckily, the first 4 miles were flat which allowed me to get into a good rhythm. The hill at mile 4 was a killer, 10% grade and 100% pain, but luckily it is only .25 miles long and was over in relatively short time. Around mile 7, I passed on guy, then he passed me and another guy in the next mile. From there on out, the three of us continually fought eachother back and forth to the end. This definately helped my overall time, plus it prevented me from getting stuck at a train stop around mile 11. We saw the barriers lower and the red lights flash as we approached about 200 yards. Luckily, the train was slow moving and significant distance away, so we "snuck" across the tracks and continued along the course.
What would you do differently?:

bring different drink. I researched home made sports drinks last week and decided to give it a try. I didn't taste test the batch which was a BIG mistake much and it turned out to be way too sweet and salted. I may be a little spoiled from all the delicious lemon-lime Gatorade ive consumed this summer, but this stuff was truly horrid. My mouth was so dry from the salt and sugar and the drink was just too sweet to tolerate so I only took in about 10 oz during the ride.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Some difficulty getting my running shoes tied.
What would you do differently?:

I will look into elastic shoe laces to improve this time.
Run
  • 20m 26s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 06m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

I was rather pleasantly surprised that I didn't suffer too much from ther "rubber legs syndrome" (RLS) after pushing the bike as much as I did.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. Maybe try to push it a little harder.
Post race
Warm down:

Drank some water, ate fruit, cookies. Met up with a couple of BTers: Jackemy and Huskyboy. Evaluated the race and picked up some good pointers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

That swim is still haunting me. I really need to get comfortable in open water. The pool training is great and I couldn"t feel more comfortable in that environment, but the open water is alot different and I just need more exposure to it to gain some confidence, plus get used to the wetsuit.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2006-07-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:12:14 | 547 yards | 02m 14s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/21
Overall: 125/158
Performance: Bad
Suit: tri shorts and shirt
Course: Range Pond. Triangular course with two buoys.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 65F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Below average
Waves: Below average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:49:57 | 16 miles | 19.22 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/21
Overall: 26/158
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Rolling hills, some flats, one killer hill with 10% grade at mile 4.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:20:26 | 03.1 miles | 06m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/21
Overall: 30/158
Performance: Good
Course: About 2 miles of this course was on trails. Lolipop course. Relatively flat with one small but steep hill and a short area with sand.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3