Old College TRI Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Denton, Texas
United States
Dallas Athletes
70F / 21C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 19m 15s
Overall Rank = 36/201
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 5/17
Pre-race routine:

Ate Wendy's bowtie pasta and spinich dinner. Laid out all items needed the night before using list generated on racechecklist.com and then packed Tri Bag. Mixed Bottles and put in fridge. put bike rack on car and loaded bike (first time ever so it took a while to get right). Tried to sleep but slept poorly. Got up at 4am and had a cup of coffee, 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and a nutrigrain bar. Left at 5am in the driving rain. arrived at 5:40 in Denton, unloaded and went to check-in in the light rain. Being one of first 20 into transition allowed me to pick the rack site I wanted...right at the end. set up site: running shoes, hat and race number/belt in a gallon size zip lock to keep dry. oakleys with amber lenses in a sandwich zip lock to keep dry, Tri bag in back with dryclothes covered in trashbag. One Gu about 20 min before event started
Event warmup:

light run thru transition to get idea on in and out spots. 100m warm-up in the pool at 10 min before start. then sat for 5 min and calmed my nerves
Swim
  • 05m 24s
  • 300 meters
  • 01m 48s / 100 meters
Comments:

Immediately became a clusterF because some very slow swimmers started ahead of me. I almost immediately caught the person ahead of me. at some spots there were 3 people swimming breast stroke behind a slow swimmer. most of them were good at stopping at the wall to let faster ones go but some didn't. at one point I swam UNDER 3 slow people. not bad though. Opened up in the last 150 and I got in some good strokes. but I was GASSED at the end!
What would you do differently?:

report a faster swim time at registration to get a better number. I totally guessed...about 6min...since at the time of registration I hadn't yet even started swim training.
Transition 1
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

walked for 50 yrds our of pool to catch breath. got shocked with the cold rain as I ran out the door. that got me running. got a little confused in T1..started going for running shoes. oops. helmet on and glasses on pretty quick after i got my head straight. Not much traffic in transition since I was out of pool pretty quick. Long run out of transition back infront of pool and out onto street to mount. no one else getting on bike at the same time. got up to speed pretty quickly. Had to really work to get feet into shoes and keep bike balanced due to the rain.
What would you do differently?:

leave running shoes alone!! need to work on running mount still but do start with shoes already clipped in!!
Bike
  • 46m 17s
  • 16 miles
  • 20.74 mile/hr
Comments:

Hammered on the way out with the tail winds. Averaged 25mph. Passed several riders and only got passed 2x. drizzle intermixed with hard rain through out the ride. drank too much Gu2O too fast in the beginning...got stomach ache. a good belch made that better though. one Gu at about 20 min into the ride. periodic sips between Gu20 and water.
What would you do differently?:

prepare for dismount farther ahead of time...which means at least walking that portion of the course to know how fast it comes up.
Transition 2
  • 01m 12s
Comments:

did not do dismount at the end of the ride well at all...it came up too fast and I wasn't thinking about it like I should. distracted by the sudden left turn and the spectators. didn't get shoes velcro loosened in time to pull feet out and do running dismount. Had to unclip and almost fell over! Because I dismounted this way, I knocked one of the bottles out of the carrier behind the saddle and had to retrieve it. Started running in bike shoes then stopped, took them off and carried them...long run in to the transition.

Once in, I was fast. racked, helmet off but kept amber shades on due to the rain, slipped Vibram 5 Fingers on...relatively fast...grabbed visor and race number and Garmin 305 off bike (clipped it onto the wrist strap I was already wearing) and put stuff on as I ran out of T2.
What would you do differently?:

again, prepare better for the dismount
Run
  • 24m 54s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 08m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

left the 3rd GU behind. Didn't need it. ran in my Vibram 5 fingers. Felt really good. First mile I had to work hard not to go out too fast. HR was at Max and i was at a 6:50 pace...too fast for me. Once I hit the first hill, I worked on slowing the pace a bit and bringing heart rate down. glasses started fogging up as the rain let up so I took them off for most of the run. Finished strong for me but it was pretty obvious that I am a slow runner...got caught by several people that were far behind me on the bike. None the less, I kept up a high pace for me and pushed it pretty good.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really.
Post race
Warm down:

none to speak of. walked around inside the rec center a bit since the rain started to come down again. Ate pancakes and chatted with other finishers as we waited for the transition to open up so we could pack up and get out of the rain.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

the rain. I was a bit cautious on the bike...but only a little.

Event comments:

Great race and really fun experience for my first time out...even with the constant rain. I really enjoyed talking with all the athletes before and after the race. Everyone is so supportive and happy to be racing!! One lady summed it all up for me as we were packing up after the race. When she discovered it was my first Tri and that I had really enjoyed it, she said "if you loved it in these conditions, you are so hooked!!"




Last updated: 2009-08-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:05:24 | 300 meters | 01m 48s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 38/201
Performance: Average
Suit: 2XU elite tri suit
Course: lined up by number which was supposedly sorted by reported swim time. one person started every 8 seconds. one length then under the lane lines then laps in the next 5 lanes followed by a final length in the last lane.
Start type: Inside Pool Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:30
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:46:17 | 16 miles | 20.74 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 34/201
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: WET! Out and back on a mix of roads going west from UNT. Not as slick as I thought they would be due to the driving rain that had been ongoing for 2 days. rough roads the first 1.5 miles leaving the campus on city streets. but Very little standing water once we were out of town and over I35. virtually no traffic (course open to traffic) so I used the entire lane...avoiding the slippery painted lines. once past the airport it was mostly farm land and good 2 lane road. One major turn controlled by police. Back into town was well controlled by police but were on same, low quality (lots of pot holes) city and campus streets. at the end of the ride was left turn followed by dismount about 400yds later. Came up very fast.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 01:12
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:24:54 | 03.1 miles | 08m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 69/201
Performance: Good
Course: Good course thru UNT campus. first half mile was up a long, slow hill. the rest was flat to rolling. there was one water station at the 2 mile mark that you actually passed 2x due to the way the course looped inside of itself.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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