Solana Beach Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Solana Beach, California
United States
Koz Enterprises
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 20m 26s
Overall Rank = 781/1071
Age Group = Clyde
Age Group Rank = 20/28
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:30 at the hotel in Encinatis. Ate a Cliff Bar and a hard boiled egg. Drank some diluted Gatorade and a cup of coffee. Got the the race around site around 6:30 and set up the transition area. Chatted to some people and headed down to the beach around 7:30.
Event warmup:

Since my heat was not until about 8:30 I watched the other heat starts from the beach and spent about 20 minutes in the water working on getting through the shore break.
Swim
  • 13m 39s
  • 440 yards
  • 03m 06s / 100 yards
Comments:

Southern California beaches where enjoying the biggest southern swell in apparently 4 years. Great. This was my first tri and I had never done a proper OWS before. I had been really nervous about it the entire week. But come race morning, I felt OK. I guess once I saw what the deal was, I just accepted it.

Anyway, fighting the shore break was tough, but finally I was able to time my "escape" between sets. Once I hit the first bouy (dead on surpisingly), I got a boost of confidence. Heading south along the shore with the current probably helped as well. Rounded the second bouy (again surpisingly) dead on and swam in.

I was sighting every 6 strokes or so. I felt my breathing was good but my overall swim form was terrible, especially my kick which was not smooth at all. Solana has about a 300 yard run up to the top of the bluff before you hit the timing mat, my watch said 11:10 when I got out of the water. So my actual swim was closer to 2:31 per 100 yards.
What would you do differently?:

On the one hand, I am stoked I got it done. On the other, it's time to really work on all aspects of my swimming.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

The transition times for T1 and T2 are built into the bike time, but I can tell you that the run from the beach to T1 (up a hill) shot my heart rate through the roof. So my T1 time was probably at least 5 minutes as I tried to get things under control.
What would you do differently?:

Keep on working on overall fitness to better acomodate for things like running up the hill. Try to brick some swim/bikes to practice the transition.
Bike
  • 40m 19s
  • 9 miles
  • 13.39 mile/hr
Comments:

I really enjoyed the bike. Since I was in the last starting heat, the course was relatively open, especially on the second lap. Passed a few people, and a few people passed me. If I take out the transitions (I'm guessing 7:30 between T1 and T2), I had a bike time of 32:49 or 16.46 MPH.
What would you do differently?:

Just keep working on my biking to get my speed up. I'd like to pull this ride off at an average of about 20 MPH.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Felt good coming off the bike, transitioned much better than T1, about 2:30.
What would you do differently?:

Work on getting the transition times down. I think I let myself mentally shut down for a minute here when I should have just powered through.
Run
  • 26m 28s
  • 3 miles
  • 08m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

I thought this went pretty well, and I think I may have even had negative split times being that I felt stronger and faster as the race went on. The last 200 yards where awesome, finally getting to run down a finish chute.
What would you do differently?:

This was my strongest event of the three, will just keep working at getting better and faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Some walking and a bit of sports drink they where giving out at the finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I just need to overall get better and stronger.

Event comments:

I thought it was great!!




Last updated: 2009-07-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:39 | 440 yards | 03m 06s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/28
Overall: 0/1071
Performance: Average
Suit: 2XU Sleeveless
Course: The course was a 1/4 mile u-shape with a beach start.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: High
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:40:19 | 09 miles | 13.39 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/28
Overall: 0/1071
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Mostly flat 2 loop course through town and along the beach.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:26:28 | 03 miles | 08m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/28
Overall: 0/1071
Performance: Good
Course: Flat double lapped course through town.
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