Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Dewey Beach, Delaware
United States
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 25m 25s
Overall Rank = 486/1082
Age Group = novice
Age Group Rank = 75/130
Pre-race routine:

Drank almost a gallon of h2o, Cytomax, and G2 starting 5 hours before the race. Had a Muscle Milk shake, a slice of wheat bread and four bananans. Did a lot of praying. Since this was first race of any kind, wasn't sure what else to do.
Event warmup:

Got my bike set up and found that since there were almost 1100 participants and I was in the 13th (last) wave and my name began with a "W" I was on the very last bike rack - almost a quarter mile from where you come over the dunes and you begin the bike. Bummer.
Swim
  • 19m 12s
  • 880 yards
  • 02m 11s / 100 yards
Comments:

I made a huge mistake of swimming straight out for the first buoy. By the time I got there I had drifted 15 yards past it and had to swim against the current and 90 swimmers to get around the orange ball. I tried swimming straight - I sighted every 10th stroke, I alternated breathing from my left side (the side I'm comfortable breathing on - but the side facing out to sea) to my right side, but I was zig zagging pretty bad. Went out to sea once and had to be reigned inby a Kayak and went too far toward shore. Still passed a fair number of caps from the wave in front of me and a few from the wave in front off that. My guess is around 17 or 18 minutes for the half mile.
What would you do differently?:

Start up-current from the buoy. Also try to conrtrol my adrenaline. I took off like a wild man when the horn sounded - I was clearly ahead of everyone in my wave for the first 75 yards, by 100 yards I thought I was going to drown - I pushed way too hard all the way through the race - especially on the swim - killed me on the run
Transition 1
  • 04m 52s
Comments:

The hardest part of the whole race was leaving the water and getting to my bike. I ran so hard to get out of the water and then sprinted across the beach and up and over the dunes, when I reached the top of the dune I heard a loud pounding in my ears - I thought "well this is it, I'm going to die right here doing my first triathlon!". coming down the dune I ralized the pounding was the AC/DC they were playing over the loud speakers - but I was still way out of breath from the dune crossing. Did I mention I weigh 265 lbs? running all the way ot the back to get my bike and then all the way to the fron to get on it was a big disadvantage.
What would you do differently?:

I pulled the buckle right off my chin strap of my helmet I was so pumped up. I needed to calm down. My hands were shaking so bad it took , what seemed like - 20 minutes, to get the buckle re-threaded on the strap and get it on my head. Rough transition!
Bike
  • 23m 28s
  • 7.5 miles
  • 19.18 mile/hr
Comments:

This was the easy part. I just stayed in the left side of the lane and rode past hundreds of cyclists. I was shocked by that since I was riding a beat-up 15 year old steel mountain bike - I didn't feel like I was going that fast- maybe because I was in the last wave of three waves of first time triathletes. I was passed by only one rider and he was on a fancy carbon tri-bike with aerobars, and I pretty much kept pace with him for the rest of the race, trying to stay back far enough so I wouldn't be drafting.
What would you do differently?:

Buy a real bike, and loose enough weight to get in an aero position on it.
Transition 2
  • 01m 59s
Comments:

My bike doesn't have toe clips or clipless pedals or the like. Just regular old pedals - so I rode with my running shoes on - that helped the transition - especially since my rack was so far in the back.
What would you do differently?:

I swallowed a Gu gel shot real quick before running - I think it made me cramp up. It was the first time I'd ever tried a gel shot (maybe not a good time to experiment with one) and I cramped up big time right after swallowing it. Next time I'll try new stuff before race day.
Run
  • 35m 56s
  • 3.4 miles
  • 10m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

I was so pumped up with adrenaline I think I used up everything before the run began. That coupled with the cramping and the heat - I was miserable and slow. They were calling for rain, so I didn't have a hat - it was hot and sunny and not having a hat made it eve more misearble - but as soon as i saw that finish line - woo-hoo! I felt much better.
What would you do differently?:

Loose weight, hydrate better - wear a hat
Post race
Warm down:

Not sure what that would be - Dogfish Head Brewery was a sponsor and they were pouring free beers for all racers - my warm-down was standing in line for a free pour (BTW, being in the last wave killed me on this one too - they ran our of beer before I could get one - Duhooow)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Being 6 feet 265 lbs (about 90 pounds over weight). Making rookie mistakes, pushing too hard up front.

Event comments:

What a great day - I finished! I finished 10 minutes behind the winner of the master clydesdale group - and finished ahead of most of the participants - better than I thought I'd do. I'm already planning my training to get ready for next season's races - Oly anyone?


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-07-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:12 | 880 yards | 02m 11s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/130
Overall: 0/1082
Performance: Average
Suit: Zoot tri-suit
Course: Open water ocean swim out about 150 yards to buoy, south straight to last buoy and back to shore.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 04:52
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:23:28 | 07.5 miles | 19.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/130
Overall: 0/1082
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Down and back along ocean highway. Perfectly flat - small tailwind at beginning that built up as the turn around aproached increasing headwind as the race progressed. The course was shortened due to construction on the Indian River Inlet bridge.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:59
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:35:56 | 03.4 miles | 10m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/130
Overall: 0/1082
Performance: Bad
Course: Flat down and back into Dewey and back to the race finish
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5