North East Triathlon - Sprint Course - Triathlon


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North East, Maryland
United States
Piranha Sports
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 37m 55s
Overall Rank = 107/228
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 1/17
Pre-race routine:

Awoke around 3:45 am for a 4:30 am departure. Ate a Pop Tart and drank some iced tea on the drive. Got to the race venue flying a bit blind - I'd never been there before and wasn't certain of the lay of the land, so to speak, as far as parking and the race site. I parked in one of the suggested lots, walked with my gear and followed the crowd to the race area, probably close to a mile.

Next up: visit registration to get my packet, get weighed to prove I am an appropriate weight to race Athena, put race numbers on my bike, get body marked, set up transition. Chatted with my neighbors, fellow Athenas, and in the small world category, discovered one of the girls used to play ice hockey in my league! Pretty cool. Eyed up the competition; there were a lot of ladies registered Athena (17!). I'd have to stay on top of my game, no slacking. And that's how I chose to do this race regardless of the competition since it will likely be my last tri of the season: with a purpose and with speed. I'd like to finish the season with no regrets.

Ate some Stinger chews. Rejoined LT and the other friends who were racing, a combo of her friends and some of the folks who all stayed at the house this summer in Lake Placid, fun reunion! We got some pics, chatted, and lined up for the swim. The one girl (who I only met today) decided she was going to stick with me and line up where I did.
Event warmup:

A little bit of arm swinging, then a slow Tarzan swim out to the starting area (deep water start).
Swim
  • 18m 42s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 29s / 100 meters
Comments:

Seeded myself mid-pack, a big mistake as I'd soon learn. It was an MMA match from start to finish, I really didn't find clear water for more than a few yards at a stretch. I felt very constrained. The worst incident was when I got kicked in the side of the head by someone breaststroking so hard it moved/pushed my head and upper body ~1 ft. to the right. Knocked the air out of me, even though it wasn't a body blow. Glad it wasn't face (nose, mouth, eye), that would've been VERY ugly.

There were so many people breaststroking, backstroking, sidestroking it was tough to avoid people and visibility was nil in the murky, brackish inlet. Punching, kicking, both giving and receiving. I accidentally swam over a backstroker (sorry, couldn't see you in your dark wetsuit in the dark water).

Sighting didn't go too badly. Finally we passed the last major turn buoy and I hoped for a clearer shot to the finish - nope. Toward the end, I got sandwiched between a girl on my left and a guy on the right who ended up punching me in the side/back of the head 2x as he was stroking. Argh! Bad, bad, bad, I COULD NOT WAIT to get out of the water! Long run to transition. Passed a few, got passed, too.

So much for no regrets! Totally should've seeded myself differently. I think this one got the title for [my] Worst Tri Swim Ever.
What would you do differently?:

Start farther up? Wear my goalie gear? Don't get roped into talking to people right before the start who inadvertently cause you to not thoroughly think through seeding strategy?
Transition 1
  • 01m 21s
Comments:

Found my spot quickly. I already had my cap and goggles off and didn't have a wetsuit to mess with, so I got right to the task of putting on my bike stuff and trotting out of transition.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, it was a typical T1.
Bike
  • 47m 9s
  • 13.5 miles
  • 17.18 mile/hr
Comments:

Got on the bike and headed out to the main roads of the course, traversing a few speed humps along the way. When I got out to the main road I put the pedal to the metal, so to speak. I wanted to have a strong bike without blowing up and I also wanted to make up for the time lost in the swimming melee.

There was a TON of blocking (people not riding to the right) and people riding side by side. Frustrating since it wasn't a closed course and frustrating because it was tough to advance. There was a lot of "on your left!" going on and not just from me. On one of my passes, when I crossed the fog line, I went into a huge rut that I didn't readily notice since the rut was also white and I thought for sure I was going down but somehow I managed to keep 'er upright. Not too long after this mishap, DD passed me on her 'rocket ship', as she calls her bike. She's a speedy little thing!

It was a nice course, rolling hills with no major climbs IMO. I was steadily picking people off, making gains as I took in the surrounding area of the course. Kinda pretty - woodsy in some places, rural-suburbs in others, just a nice mix. After a turn, I spotted a fellow Athena ahead of me and I promptly left her in my proverbial taillights. I had a strong feeling she was my main competition and was the only one ahead of me based on the bikes in T1.

Dealing with blocking continued. I yo-yoed with a guy in a Dogfish Head jersey more times than I can count and also with racer 413. On one uphill, a lady called out to me, "on your left" just as we were nearing the top, and then she added, "see you on the downhill", knowing that as a dump truck, I mean, Athena, I do downhills much faster than she and on uphills I slow down a bit. Sure enough, not even a minute later I went blazing past her on the descent. We had a good chuckle at the quick exchange of positions. I didn't see her again.

I kept the speed up, trying not to let myself slack off. At some point I passed DL (not Dead Last, but a friend with the initials DL). Continued to mainly pass but occasionally be passed. Finally we were back to the road with the speed bumps heading back to transition. Took my right foot out of my shoe and rode with it on top, then, whoops! Ran out of real estate before the dismount line!

15/97 women. I'm proud of that and of my OA bike placement.
What would you do differently?:

Hmm, not much. Definitely I would not recommend going in the pothole again! My word, that could've been SO ugly!
Transition 2
  • 01m 11s
Comments:

Heh, mistimed where the dismount line was, only had one foot out of my shoes. Dismounted with one bare foot, one shoe-ed foot, then immediately ran to the side out of the way, took off the other shoe, and ran in holding one while the other scuffed along attached to my pedal. Dork.

Quickly racked my bike, set down my shoe, took off my helmet, slipped into my sneakers, and put my hat on while trotting to the run out.
What would you do differently?:

Get both my feet out in time, ideally, but it was no biggie.
Run
  • 29m 31s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Saw LT and I smiled because I saw she was winning the women's field; that's my speedy pal! Later I saw DD who told me to chase her (DD) down. Um, yeah, right. If only! I kept pushing myself to run fast and not let up, which must have worked pretty well because mile 1 was 9:36 and mile 2 was 9:37!

Felt like I was running through quicksand. I watched countless people I passed on the bike pass me on the run, per usual, but dang if it doesn't sting a little.

Thankfully the run was partially shaded because I think could've gotten pretty hot out there if it wasn't. I felt bad for the Olympic distance racers who started an hour after us, they'd be having a very hot run!

Got passed by DL with under .75 miles to go, dang it. Kept pushing hard to the finish, saw LT, DD and DL cheering me on near the finish. Decent run for me.
What would you do differently?:

Ah, someday I'll learn to run faster. And/or lose weight. Or whatever it takes to be faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Chatted with AY, the local pro who swims with us at masters sometimes and LT. He won the men's race, no surprise there.

We were walking toward the transition area when we heard an announcement over the loudspeaker for LT to report to the RD's table. Turns out the 3rd place woman, who coincidentally was the woman LT was talking to at the beginning of the race, complained to the RD and basically accused LT of starting with the men's wave since she had such a fast time. Uh, no, sorry lady, she's just that fast. Check her for gills: maybe. Accuse her of cheating: not cool.

I grabbed a few snacks for later (I can't eat right after a race) and a Gatorade and a water (they got guzzled instantly) and changed into dry clothes to wait for the award ceremony. The majority of the group won some sort of award whether it be OA (LT) or winners of AG (AY, DD, B, S, me). Apparently half of the medals got stuck in customs, including the one of yours truly, LOL. They will mail them when the arrive.

Chatted with some of the Athenas again, including hockey girl who ended up getting 3rd AG in her first tri!

LT, P and I went to brunch in to a cute little place in town. They had a very nice Bloody Mary bar of which I enjoyed and we all had some good things to eat.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Age, weight, swim placement. Oh, the swim was just the worst. Bad, bad, bad. Lesson learned.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2015-08-14 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:42 | 750 meters | 02m 29s / 100meters
Age Group: 6/17
Overall: 103/228
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: Start at public boat dock and finish at the southeast corner of the park. For most intents and purposes - a rectangle-ish shape.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 78F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:21
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:47:09 | 13.5 miles | 17.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/17
Overall: 78/228
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Bike for sprint is 13.5 miles - rolling hills.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:11
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:29:31 | 03.1 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/17
Overall: 156/228
Performance: Good
Course: Run for sprint course is 3.1 miles (out and back). Stay to the left of each other throughout run.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4