Snake BiteTriathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Morgan City, Louisiana
United States
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 01m 55s
Overall Rank = 16/140
Age Group = M 50-54
Age Group Rank = 1/4
Pre-race routine:

Got there Saturday afternoon to see if we could help, met Annette (RVW RD) at the race site, kicked over some ideas for placing the transition area, then went to packet pickup. Kicked around some more ideas with Lisa, the RD, then went check into motel. Around 6pm we met some friends for dinner at Tampico's, were joined later by Annette and our timers Farrel and Robin. The timers had agreed with the changes for transition and convinced the RD that it would be a better set-up, much better traffic flow.

Race morning, woke up at 4am to the usual coffee and bagels; showered, shaved, dressed and were out of there by 5:30, short drive to the race site. Once there, helped Jerry and John set up the racks and secure the transition area.
Event warmup:

Not much, too busy visiting and talking. Talked with Clay (Cajuntriguy) for a while as we watched them put out the swim buoys, walked back and forth from the transition area to the restroom and helped Angel whenever I could.
Swim
  • 11m 38s
  • 437 yards
  • 02m 40s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swim not as sucky as the time indicates, includes over a minute run from lake to transition area.

Bit of a strange swim, could never get into a rhythm. Would swim 30 strokes freestyle, pop up into a couple breast strokes, then repeat. Bit of a chop, which I'm not used to, so I got a couple swallows of lake water. Seemed to go fast to me, maybe because it was the shortest OW swim I've done, but the buoys seemed to fly by even at my pokey pace.

At 100 yards left to go, people stopped swimming and started walking, waist-deep water. I swam a little more, then said screw it and started running where it was knee deep.
What would you do differently?:

Train more, especially at swimming in the chop and running in knee-deep water.
Transition 1
  • 00m 21s
Comments:

Second fastest T1 in the race, 4/10ths of a second behind Clay.

Uneventful, even routine. Goggles and cap on the towel, helmet on, grab the bike and go.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 34m 4s
  • 13 miles
  • 22.90 mile/hr
Comments:

Nice bike ride.

Kept feet on top shoes until I was out the park and up to speed, got them in quickly, and I was off. Immediately was passed by one of the Lake Charles Triathletes, but he didn't get far. Only person to pass me the whole ride. For a while I followed, about six, eight lengths behind to get a little draft effect, but he eventually pulled away even further. Passed people constantly, until about four miles in when I was pretty much alone.

Breeze was blowing in, provided a bit of resistance. Prevalent speed was in the 22-22.5 range, with the starts and turns I averaged right at 21.5 at the turnaround. At the turnaround, I somehow caught and passed the LC guy, then the prevalent speed became 24-25mph. After about four miles of this, I must have began to lose focus, daydreaming, and my speed sagged to the lower part of that range when the LC guy came by me again. From that point, it was game on, got my speed up to 26-28mph and we leap- frogged a couple times. He finished just a hair ahead of me, turns out we had identical bike splits.Sixth and seventh fastest bike splits in the race.

Roughly 18 minutes out (21.5mph)and 16 minutes (24.3mph)to get back in.
What would you do differently?:

Stop the wind as I was going out? Sure was nice coming in, though!
Transition 2
  • 00m 25s
Comments:

Can't ask for more, as this old fat guy just can't move any faster. Racked the bike easily, no problems getting into the running shoes despite the wet grass transition area, grabbed hat and race belt and was gone.

Sixth fastes T2 time in the race. Second place O/A winner had a crazy 13 seconds, LC guy had 16. Beat Clay, thoough, by six seconds. ;)

Combined T1-Bike-T2 time was 5th overall.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 15m 25s
  • 2 miles
  • 07m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

Didn't mention that the weather for this race was superb, we had a cool front pass through Friday and Saturday that dropped temps down into the upper 60s on raceday morning, but more importantly brough in some much drier air. Makes a huge difference for me, as my run splits were 45 seconds per mile faster than the same distance last week.

Took about a half mile to moderate my pace, to find a point that wasn't too hard or easy and stick with it the most of the way. Got an ice cold towel at the half-mile point to cool off. Found to the turnaround in good shape, but saw that a local friend/rival wasn't 15 seconds behind me. He's in the age group above mine, but I figured if they had a Grand Masters award it would be between him and me, so I didn't want him to catch me. But, he's out-run me in every race since I took June off with my Achilles problem. So I ran the second with a little bit of fear as motivation, pretty much at the brealing point but expecting him to blow by me at any second. ;) To my relief he never did, in fact no one passed me in the last half mile. There was a younger guy that finished right behind me who congratulatied me on holding him off as well.


What would you do differently?:

Nothing, This was the best run I've had in a while. Love the cooler drier weather, hurry fall!
Post race
Warm down:

Didn't puke, so got a couple Gatorades and watched the rest of the race with my sisters and their families. After everyone was in, went to the main pavillion to eat jambalaya and hot dogs and wait for awards.

There was no Grand Master, though I would have won if there was. Only guys over 50 in front of me were the third-place overall and the Masters winners. Had to settle for first in my AG.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Crappy swim. As my run improves, this is once again going to be a glaring weakness, something I'll have to continue to work on.

Event comments:

Very nice inaugural effort. RD Lisa spent a year or more planning this race, did a lot of homework, solicited and welcomed a lot of input from existing RDs, and it showed with a great race. Love being able to come back to my hometown and race for the first time in front of friends and families. Hope this continues and becomes an annual event.


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Last updated: 2009-07-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:38 | 437 yards | 02m 40s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/4
Overall: 86/140
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: Triangular with buoys on the right. Started in thigh-deep water, I don't think it was ever over my head.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:21
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:34:04 | 13 miles | 22.90 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/4
Overall: 0/140
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Out-and-back on LA70 for 6.5 miles then turn around. Great roads, wide, well-paved and fairly clean shoulder, plus a decent roadway to use to pass if needed. Scenic, first couple miles were along the lake, then follow the levee through the community of Stephensville, and the camps along the right.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering:
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:25
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:15:25 | 02 miles | 07m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/4
Overall: 34/140
Performance: Good
Course: Out-and-back, down Fig Street then a right on Veterans Boulevard a short way to the turnaround.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4