Nyon, Switzerland Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Nyon, Vaud
Switzerland
Nyon, Switzerland Triathlon
65F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 49m 2s
Overall Rank = 139/197
Age Group = 1970 - 1960
Age Group Rank = 63/88
Pre-race routine:

I live about 15 minutes from the starting point and the start time was in the afternoon (13:15), so I had a lot of time in the morning to get myself organized. The only challenge was lunch. I ended up eating a late breakfast - cereal, some eggs and a couple of pepto tablets.
Event warmup:

None. Figured that I had three hours of racing ahead - no need to get ahead start.
Swim
  • 24m 58s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 40s / 100 meters
Comments:

I started off with an easy pace as my overall goal was to finnish my first trathlon. The waves presented an intetresting challenge and did my leaking goggles. The wetsuit seemed to be a good investment. Upon exiting the water, we had a 500m uphill run to the transition area - ugh! It took me nearly three minutes to complete the 'wetsuit run' - kind of rough!
What would you do differently?:

The swim went as I had hoped - a good rank within my age group. Time to get some new goggles. I would also try and stay a little closer to the other swimmers.
Transition 1
  • 02m 12s
Comments:

I took my sweet time in the transition area as noted by my transition rank (77/88). I took the time to put on socks and make sure that I had everything in order for the bike ride.
What would you do differently?:

I need to work on getting that wetsuit off. I would also like to see what happens if I bike / run without socks.
Bike
  • 1h 30m 45s
  • 44 kms
  • 29.09 km/hr
Comments:

I averaged just under 30 kph. I started biking about 6 weeks ago, so I was please with my performance. That being said, I think I got passed by about 1,000 people. The top riders finished the course in about 1:06! I had three gels during the ride. Despite getting creamed by the rest of the other riders I was pleased with the ride. One comment on organization - the race organizers had people at evey intersection blocking traffic - very nice.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. However, clearly the bike portion of the tirathlon is my weakest event (see ranking). Additional bike training, as opposed to swimming or running, would pay the biggest dividends.
Transition 2
  • 01m 22s
Comments:

As in T1, I took my time (61/88) - sat down to put my shoes as I did not want to pull my hamstrings (they felt tight). Stretched my quads a bit, had a drink and then hit the road.
What would you do differently?:

I could speed up the whole process, but that might only buy me about 30 sec. In contrast, more bike work could shave 10 minutes off my time.
Run
  • 47m 2s
  • 10 kms
  • 04m 42s  min/km
Comments:

I was pleased. Not too bad of a time considering this 10km was on the tail end of a Triathlon. I would normally run a 40 to 42 min for a 10km race. As I stated the run I figured that I could break 2h:50min. That provided the motivation to push the pace towards the end when I was getting tired.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. While more training would always help - considering my condition I could not have expected more.
Post race
Warm down:

Met the family and sat around and drank water along with the various snacks the organizers were handing out.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I was please with my performance. Looking forward, biking seems to the one area where I can gain some serious improvement.

Event comments:

This was a well organized local Swiss Trithlon. This seems to be a popular sport here as there are races every weekend with a 2 hour dirve. Depending on my condition I am thinking about doing the Lausanne Triathlon in 2 weeks. The Lausanne Triathlon will also be hosting the European Triathlon Champiships at the same time. Could be a good chance to see some world class athletes in action.




Last updated: 2005-08-08 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:24:58 | 1500 meters | 01m 40s / 100meters
Age Group: 24/88
Overall: 88/197
Performance: Good
Suit: Ironman Stealth
Course: Open water swim in Lake Geneva. The course was a big rectangle that ran counterclockwise - out along the shore then out into the lake and the back parallel to shore and then straight into the shore. There were about 100+ people in the start stretched out over a long starting line, so there was not too much bumping and bangin' (+ I stayed on the outside). This was my first open water swim. I discovered that I drift to the right when I swim - so on a couple of occasions I popped up and the other swimmers were about 50M to my left. I guess I added a few extra meters to my swim.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 21C / 70F Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding:
T1
Time: 02:12
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:30:45 | 44 kms | 29.09 km/hr
Age Group: 79/88
Overall: 88/197
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: The course was 4 x an 11 km loop. The loop went up from the lake shore into the vinyards and countryside. The loop then headed back towards the lake near the town of Nyon. The decend down to the lake was pretty cool as you had the view of the lake and the Alps on the other side of the lake. The loop had about 100M of verticle, so over the total distance of the course we did about 1,500 feet in elevation.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:22
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:47:02 | 10 kms | 04m 42s  min/km
Age Group: 44/88
Overall: 88/197
Performance: Good
Course: The course was a 5 km loop that left the sports complex and went up into the hilly farm country behind the stadium. The run went through a old farm, past some cows (this is Switzerland) and into huge fields of Sunflowers. The course had about 50 to 75 m worth of hills, so the total 10km course had maybe 500 feet of verticle.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5