Take on the Heat Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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The Colony, Texas
United States
Playtri
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 04m 12s
Overall Rank = 10/320
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/27
Pre-race routine:

Oatmeal, a couple handfuls of cereal for the car, and a glass of OJ. Picked up Greg (boiler_97) and headed out. We got there as transition was opening, so I had a nice rack spot on the end, pretty close to bike-in/bike-out. Said hi to BTer Gaaary, and my friend William.
Event warmup:

Couple of miles on the bike, a mile or so run, and 100m in the pool. Just the right amount, I think.
Swim
  • 06m 29s
  • 350 meters
  • 01m 51s / 100 meters
Comments:

I had a great jump into the pool -- flattened out very quickly and didn't get too deep -- which let me quickly catch the person in front of me. I drafted him nearly the entire swim, since his speed was just right. On the last length I passed him then grabbed the ladder to exit, rather than try to clamber out at the wall.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. The draft made for a more comfortable swim. My pushoff under the rope were good, allowing to regain the draft very quickly.
Transition 1
  • 01m 24s
Comments:

Had a smidge of trouble with socks (I had blisters the week before from trying to break in the new shoes without sock, so I decided I didn't want to chance it today.), and my glasses had blown off my helmet. However, I had a short, but fast, run to the mount line and a *fantastic* flying leap onto the bike. I smoked the person who left transition ahead of me but was trying to get feet into shoes already mounted on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Gotta get the feet calloused to run without socks.
Bike
  • 34m 8s
  • 12.8 miles
  • 22.50 mile/hr
Comments:

I was really rocking on the bike course today. I was pushing hard, but it felt good. Legs strong, cadence was staying high, nice and aero position. I was definitely making up time on people ahead of me. Then on the northwest corner of the second loop -- CRASH!!!

We had finished coming up a hill, but I was still carrying a lot of speed from the prevoius downhill. I had just passed several people, so I started the turn from the outside. It was a fairly tight corner (90-deg turn from a single lane into a single lane (we were coned in). I don't know if I was just going too fast, or the wind may have caught the disk (South wind; turn was heading north turning east). Back tire starts to slide... I brake to control it, then whole bike starts moving sideways... car was turning outside the coned lane, so I couldn't swing wide into the next lane.... Next thing I know, the whole bike is skidding sideways just a bit before I high-side to the left. Very fortunately, the car had pulled ahead enough that I didn't hit it as I fell into that lane.

Landed on left side and rolled a bit to absorb impact. Got up, grabbed bike (now I was pissed -- at who, I don't know, probably myself) and took off again. Fortunately, bike seemed to be working fine.

Could feel some road rash on my back, but it didn't feel too bad. But, ow, that left elbow really hurt! Hope that's not fractured, cause it hurts to put too much weight on it. Did finish the second half of the loop pretty well.
What would you do differently?:

Not crash. :) Or, possibly, maybe conceivably, could be imagined... slow down a bit entering corners.
Transition 2
  • 00m 49s
Comments:

Pretty good dismount. Realize again that arm was bad when I went to rack bike and couldn't lift it! Had to turn around and use other arm.

Lost a few seconds when I realized one nose piece of my glasses had come off. I glanced back, spied it on the ground, and turned around a few feet to grab it.
Run
  • 21m 22s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 06m 53s  min/mile
Comments:

Worried a bit when I got shooting pain in my injured arm coming out of transition. Fortunately, if I kept the arm bent in a normal running position, it was OK, so it didn't slow me down. (For a while I wondered if I was going to have to run 5K with my arm hanging limply at my side.)

Legs felt great coming off the bike. Found a solid pace and slowly picked off runners ahead of me. I think I ramped up pretty steadily, with a solid ending effort starting at least 3/4 of a mile out. Had been on the lookout for Dave Young, and caught up to him at mile 2.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Might have pushed a little harder in early miles, but it would probably have impacted the later segments. All in all, a solid effort.
Post race
Warm down:

First thing I asked for was the medical tent. The irony of it all was that this was a charity race benefiting local fire, police, and emts, so there were pleny of them around. Unfortunately, there wan't much they could do. We rinsed the dirt off the scrapes on my back, but they had no way to tell how severe the elbow way.

So I kept a baggie of ice on it. Munched a few bagels and water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Only additional training.

Event comments:

Woo-hoo!! A crash on the bike, and I still pulled first in my age group. Who'd of thought? And not just squeeking in -- I was six minutes ahead of the next person in my AG! (Now the 35-39 AG would have been a different story. I would have been lucky to have held on to 3rd there.)

Race ran pretty well. Got started just a little late (15min), but transitions, routes, etc. were well marked and well manned. The pool facility is fantastic. The course was a little easy overall, but nice and fast if you want to test your speed training.

The special division for the Fire, Police, and EMTs was a neat touch. Wish one of the fire trucks (and/or police cars) would have been open for kids to play on. Not much to do afterwards, but they did handle awards quickly once they did finally start.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-07-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:06:29 | 350 meters | 01m 51s / 100meters
Age Group: 4/27
Overall: 42/320
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Indoor pool. Snake swim - 50m lanes, so lane traffic was one-way. Entry at the deep end (18').
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:24
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:34:08 | 12.8 miles | 22.50 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/27
Overall: 11/320
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Two-loop, rectangular course on city roads. Well controlled for traffic, with dedicated, coned lanes for riders.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 100
Turns: Cornering: Bad
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:49
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:22 | 03.1 miles | 06m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/27
Overall: 10/320
Performance: Good
Course: Since loop, mostly on neighborhood sidewalks. Water and Accelerade at each mile.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3