Tri For Real - TriathlonSprint


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Pleasanton, California
United States
On Your Mark
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 35m 20s
Overall Rank = 65/281
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 16/59
Pre-race routine:

For the past couple tris, I had stayed in a hotel in Pleasanton with mixed results (one good hotel (Wyndham), one crappy hotel (Ramada)). Since DW and I had just spent the week in Wisconsin, in felt nice to stay at home for a change instead of off in a hotel (plus, our cat appreciated the company). This meant having to get up earlier. I got up at 4am and felt quite awake. I think this was partially because we had just spent the week in a time zone 2 hours ahead, so waking up at 4am pacific felt like a reasonably civilized 6am (central).

I drank some water, had an energy bar for breakfast, and some coffee. By 4:40AM, we hit the road and arrived at the park by 5:30am (perfect timing since that was when checkin opened) thanks to there being no traffic. I had a few brief pangs of did-I-forget-some-crucial-piece-of-equipment, but I learned to rely on my preparations (in this case a checklist) and all was fine.

I racked my bike and was able to get a spot in the first rack near the start/finish areas for the bike and run. There were already a few bikes there, almost all of them tri bikes with aero wheelsets. It was already starting to look like this was going to be a more competitive group.

I went over to registration, signed the waiver, checked in, and received my bib number. I got body marked, picked up my t-shirt, then finished setting up my transition area. It was still dark out and I forgot to bring a flashlight (note to self, add to equipment checklist), but it was fine since the lighting from the registration area was enough. I ate a half an energy bar.
Event warmup:

After setting up my transition area, I went the bathroom to take care of pre-tri business (I know men do this as evidenced by the long lines for the toilets/no lines for the urinals. Do women?). I went back to the car to hang with DW for a bit. Drank some energy drink. Then went off to do a short warmup run/strides. Legs felt good, not sluggish like the last time. The parking lot wasn't very full compared to the tri for funs and there wasn't even much of a line to get into the park.

Went to go pee and then came back to the car. Got out and stretched a bit. Wandered around the transition area to take in all the activity of everyone prepping for the tri. Seemed a bit more of a regular mix of Came back to the car. Drank some more (I'm actually normally very bad about hydration in the morning) and then one last bathroom break. By now, it was already 6:45 and I was actually a little behind in getting suited up. So, DW helped me on with the wetsuit. I went down to the water to warm up and she went back to the car to grab the camera.

I only had a little bit of time to warmup before they started the pre-race announcements. I had forgotten how bouyant it is with a wetsuit on (this is only the second time using mine). I only get in maybe 100 yds of warmup. I listen to the race directions. I can feel my bladder somewhat full. I know it'll be uncomfortable holding it for the next couple hours since I kinda have to go already, so I go ahead and break in my wetsuit. It's all warm inside now. I pull the collar of my wetsuit to let some water in to hopefully flush some of it out, which seems to be the case as I get out of the water to walk to the start area and feel the water draining from inside the suit.
Swim
  • 00m
  • 700 yards
  • / 100 yards
Comments:

The waves are M 29 and under, M30-39, M40+, F 29 and under, F30-30, F40+ and relay teams and five minutes between each wave. I'm in wave 2.

It's a bit difficult to site the first bouy because it's close to where the sun has risen. Wave one starts and they end of a bit off course, a bit too much to the inside so they'll have to swim back outside to round the first buoy.

I line up toward the front and on the outside. My wife took a panorama of our start group here - http://www.zenhiking.com/06-09-17%20tri%20for%20real/pages/IMG_6127...

The swim starts with minimal incident. People seemed to take very different lines and spread out pretty quickly so not too much jostling. I did whack someone in the face near my release. I know this is a "sprint," but I settle into a decent, but not agressive pace. Algae is pretty think in some sections. First buoy comes up quickly. I round it and head towards the second. Begin catching up and passing some of the slower swimmers from the previous wave. Rest of the swim goes fine and I think I've done okay. DW says I came in the first 25 of my wave (out of 100? 125?).

Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

No problem stripping off the top half of the suit while exiting the water and headed to the transition area. Easy to find my bike. Rest of wetsuit comes off easily (thank you bodyglide). I'm a little woozy as I put on my socks and shoes. I know I can save some time here if I go sockless and used tri shoes, but I didn't train that way and I don't have tri shoes.

Bike
  • 00m
  • 18 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

I start on the bike. It feels cold and it takes me awhile for my legs to get going (I didn't warm up on the bike). A couple times, I thought maybe i had a brake shoe rubbing (it wasn't), but it was just my imagination interpreting my initial sluggishness. I get passed by a few folks. I pass some of the folks from the previous wave. I get passed by some so quickly that I feel like I'm standing still. It's pretty clear to me that the bike is my weakest of the three disciplines.

On the back stretch where they had all the construction last month, is fortunately all cleaned up. There's one short hill followed by a longer strech of downhill. I was passed by a lot of Zipp disks. Those sound pretty cool.

As i come around for the second lap, the first wave of women are already on the course. There's quite a bit more bike traffic to negotiate. A couple close calls, but no accidents. I was good about hydrating on the bike, which normally, I'm only so-so.

Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Transition went well. Racked my bike no problem. Switches shoes, put on my cap, and grabbed my race belt.
Run
  • 00m
  • 4 miles
  •  min/mile
Comments:

For the first time, my legs actually felt pretty good right from the start on the run. Normally, my legs feel very sluggish for 10-20 minutes or even the whole race.

A couple hundred yards into the run, I'm catching up to this guy and then he suddently stands upright and grabs his hamstring (ouch) and pulls over to the side.

First hill, no problem. Weather is cooler than during the summer, so I skip the water at the top.
I kinda like the hills since I train on them. It's usually an opportunity for me to make time on the uphill, since I'm relatively small and light, and on the downhill since I'm comfortable running them.

For the most part, I hold my own in the race. I get passed by a few and I pass a few, but for the most part, it seems status quo.

Before the last hill before the final stretch, this stocky red headed guy in my AG is breathing really hard and passes me. I'm guessing he's borderline anaerobic at this point and I'll have a chance to get him on the hill. I pace behind him briefly and he begins to slow down. At about halfway up, I decide to pass him. He makes some good natured comment about me passing him. I'm up over the top and I take off down the hill. Didn't hear him behind me. I kick it into my sprint mode and finish very strongly.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate the oranges and muffins they had post race and drank the HEED they were serving. Stretched. Watched others finish for awhile. Then DW and i went over to Noah's Bagel's and grabbed some grub.

Pictures courtesy of DW are here http://www.zenhiking.com/06-09-17%20tri%20for%20real/index.htm

Stupid me - I forgot to replace the batteries after our Wisconsin trip so the batteries ran out on her before the run.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2006-09-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:00:00 | 700 yards | / 100yards
Age Group: 0/59
Overall: 0/281
Performance:
Suit:
Course: The swim is more or less a big rectangle - down to the first bouy, over to the second buoy, and then back to shore to the transition area.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:00:00 | 18 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/59
Overall: 0/281
Performance:
Wind:
Course: The bike course is basically 2 loops on roads that circumnavigate the park.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:00:00 | 04 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/59
Overall: 0/281
Performance:
Course: The run course is on fire roads within the park with rolling ups and downs.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]