Webster Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Webster, Massachusetts
United States
Firm Racing
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 39m 36s
Overall Rank = 335/445
Age Group = F 30-34
Age Group Rank = 29/42
Pre-race routine:

We intended to be in bed by midnight, but Jonah's (JonahJay) band was playing a show in downtown Boston...LongStoryShort, 4 drinks later (I was there from 9- after 1am, mind you, so it's not a ton) for me, I stop for gas so I don't have to in the morning, and we're finally home and in bed at 2:00am. He's asleep at about 2:05. I know this by the noises that came with his immediate slip into unconsciousness. I prob pass out around 2:30, listening to the construction noises next to me and thinking about my race checklist.

Alarm goes off at 5:00. I do a double check of gear, check the car, come back and get fully dressed, pull out the bagels and CC. 5:20, you-know-who doesn't budge. Take my blood pressure meds and realize as I'm swallowing that Oh, Crap! I already took it as soon as I got up. Doh! I've never done that before, but not terribly worried since I take such a small amount to begin with. Just hoping it doesn't make me feel woozy later... but then again, I probably wouldn't be able to tell what is that or < 3hrs sleep.

Now that I know I'm so tired I'm being careless and stupid, I double-check my backpack and directions, fill water bottles and try to rouse JJ again. Sometime after 5:30, that other zombie is reanimated. We eat bagels while I am nervously pacing around waiting for him to get ready since I have nothing to fuss over and I know we're more than an hour away. I think to myself, Less Fuss, More Smile! The thought somehow makes me antsier.

Hit the road a little after 6:00am. Misty and quiet morning makes for a zoned out drive. Make it to race site around 7:15. Perfect amount of time to use the rest room, get race packets, get marked, set up... and little else!

Head to use the rest rooms in the bathhouse by the water and am TOTALLY perplexed by the buoys when I check out the swim course. There are just so MANY of them. WTF? Try to not let that bother me and head to packet pickup and transition.

Event warmup:

No warm up, but walking from the beach to the transition site should count, as I think it's about 1/4-1/3 of a mile!
Swim
  • 16m 10s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 50s / 100 yards
Comments:

So, some of you were following my wardrobe issues. Basically, new saddle = pain in the butt. At the last minute (what's that about Nothing New on Race Day?) the afternoon before I pick up some PI shorts that have slightly more padding than my Zoot trisuit. No tops in my size except for this white, see thru job that is not worth my $$ if you can trace the outline of my belly button; head to the next store. Then another. No top. Decide to either do the sports bra only or a wicking running tank. Was feeling like I could share my blubber with the world for a couple minutes to transition, but then when I realized how far the run was from the beach (seriously 1/4 mi PLUS), I chickened out and went for the shirt.

Thought I positioned myself at the front, but the Ready/Set/Go came so quick, I barely got my goggles on, immediately got pushed aside by some overly aggressive woman and found myself just waiting for all these feet, most of these SLOW feet that keep stopping and wading and stopping and changing direction, to get out of the way. Took a couple strokes, hit legs, stopped. Took a few more strokes parallel to the beach, hit more legs, stopped. Thought I was all the way to the outside and I got hit, head on by some woman who swam directly into me on the right.

I'd barely been more than wading out for more than a couple minutes, it seemed, just trying to find some OW to swim in! There were still a bunch of other women trying to wait until the chaos died down, and one woman was freaking out behind me saying, "I can't do this!" I told her it would be ok, just to wait until there was some place to swim and just swim it like she was in the pool. And that was my cue to get to it.

Tried again on my way-outside approach and started to realize that my non-tri-tee was not remotely the best thing to wear. Significant drag as it took on a lot of water, but it stayed in place so wasn't quite as bad as wearing a plain old tee. Still, I giggled to myself as I started to think it was like swimming after being thrown overboard and I was racing to a life boat. I was determined to get to that damn boat before the woman who nearly knocked me off my feet at the start!

Caught up to the majority of the crowd at the first turn (which people seemed to miss and cut corners! I was shocked!) and passed a decent amount of folks before the second one. Right before the second buoy, I caught up to Jonah who was breaststroking away. Stopped to yell "I love you!" when his head was bobbing up. For a second I thought he didn't hear me as his head was down before I got out the whole thing and I had just yelled I Love You to the woman swimming behind him (DOH!) but luckily he heard me and responded. :) He was doing really well, and that made me happy.

Did I mention the water was beautiful?

After the last turn, again I decided to go waaaay outside and in the calmer waters I saw some big fish! They looked about 2' long from where I was, but being that they were calmly munching on some plants, I'm not sure if they were farther away than I thought.

Time sucked, but I dilly dallied, gave some confident encouragement to another woman when I wasn't feeling particularly confident, checked in with my wetsuited man, and dragged around part of the lake with me. Toward the beginning it felt awful - I wanted everyone else done so I could have a turn! - but after the first few minutes, I didn't want to get out, and at the end I didn't want to leave the fishies.
What would you do differently?:

More aggressive start (that does NOT include pushing someone aside!), start the swim right away, and of course, TRI TOP!
Transition 1
  • 06m 1s
Comments:

Stashed a pair of flip-floppy things on the basketball court upon Seth's suggestion, which was super helpful. Still feeling sluggish, and felt every pebble running to transition, but leagues above trying in bare feet.

My suck idea for a top had to come off for the bike because of its sponge-like qualis. Still wet and got my jersey all bunched up when I tried to put it on. But, it would have taken me another 3 minutes to take off my too-tight-wetsuit, so all was good.
What would you do differently?:

TRI TOP that doesn't have to come off.
Bike
  • 47m 49s
  • 12 miles
  • 15.06 mile/hr
Comments:

Bike felt great! I'm not a very good biker, so this was a good ride for me.

That monster hill at mile 5 was manageable, although I totally forgot how many parts it was - thought I was done with it when there was still another uphill stage. But it's worth it for that roller coaster down!!

Played cat and mouse with a woman in pink for the last half. She was either 21 or 27 years old and even though she wasn't in my AG, it gave me something to focus on. She'd kill me on the hills, but I'd always catch up.

I Thought she'd beat me in the last few miles, but all of a sudden, she got tired and backed off. Wonder if she had the same problem as me - my a$$ still killed (!) by mile 9 or 10 and I was dying to get off the bike!
What would you do differently?:

More (ugh) hill training, NEW SADDLE, PLEASE!
Transition 2
  • 02m 3s
Comments:

Totally ran the wrong way to the running start. Ugh! So by the time I ran all the way around the transition area again, that girl I had just passed on the bike was right ahead of me which made me feel like a big dope.
What would you do differently?:

Make sure I knew where the hell I was going!
Run
  • 27m 31s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

Saw Jonah coming in on the bike shortly after I started the run. We waved to one another. Then I ditched the chick in pink. Lots of "Good job!"s going back and forth amongst the crowd since the run doubled up on itself and you were facing the people on the other half of the course. I concentrated on running form and counted the number of teens that were ahead of me on course to pass the time.

Took the first water, and that was it. Decided not to have a picnic since I didn't need one.


After the halfway point, I caught up to FlyTheBlueSky. I was feeling a little spacey, but good after seeing a familiar face, and picked it up a little at the end of the hill. We passed the other side of the lake there and I was thinking it would be great if there was the option to swim it in instead of running back.

On the way back, I saw Jonah a third time. Instead of yelling or waving, this time I moved directly into his path and we stopped, kissed and kept running. Some woman jogging next to him started saying, "That was the cutest..." and I turned around and yelled to her, "I've never seen that guy before in my life!!!" and a bunch of folks laughed.

I picked up the pace again, and felt pretty good. Passed a couple people - which was a total surprise! - and it was starting to drizzle as I came in to the finish. Again, for some reason, I thought the mat was somewhere else... this time because it seemed like the run was too easy or something, so I didn't really sprint it in. Ended feeling like I had a bunch leftover in my legs.
What would you do differently?:

Pick up the pace substantially toward the end. Know where the hell I'm going!
Post race
Warm down:

Got some Powerade, walked up to the corner to talk to Jonah as he finished. Talked to FlyTheBlueSky and IcekreamMan at the end, although I was feeling rather unfocused... I think my lack of sleep was starting to kick in. I was also wired and was thinking of grabbing late lunch and a beer. Then I realized it wasn't 4 in the afternoon like my body thought, but 10:30am. Skipped trying to get times and any semblance of stretching and headed home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of sleep. Wearing non-tri clothes.

Event comments:

Pretty happy with the performance overall. I'm sort of surprised that I did better in my weaker areas than my stronger, but it's nice to know that I really had been working on them.




Last updated: 2009-05-15 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:16:10 | 880 yards | 01m 50s / 100yards
Age Group: 20/42
Overall: 217/445
Performance: Below average
Suit: PI tri shorts, MC sports bra, Adidas run tank
Course: A mess. Extra town buoys made it confusing, the wave starts seemed to spread out a dozen or more people wide, and I saw a bunch of people rounding the first buoy on the INSIDE rather than going around it.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 06:01
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:47:49 | 12 miles | 15.06 mile/hr
Age Group: 31/42
Overall: 381/445
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Flat and rolling except for one 4 part hill at mile 5.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:03
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:27:31 | 03 miles | 09m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 30/42
Overall: 357/445
Performance: Good
Course: First mile is flat, then a couple ups and downs around the halfway point, then flat on the way back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4