Hickory Knob Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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McCormick, South Carolina
United States
Set-Up, Inc
50F / 10C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 38m 34s
Overall Rank = 135/145
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 8/10
Pre-race routine:

This was my first triathlon ever. My goal was simply to finish and to finish under the 2 hour time limit. I learned a few weeks before the event that this course is one of the toughest courses in the South Carolina Triathlon series. So finishing was good.

Set up my transition area, walked around and talked with other triathletes. Took my daughter through the transition area. Hung out with wife and daughter
Event warmup:

Stretching. I really hope to improve this in the future, but this race was about having fun, and that I did.
Swim
  • 20m 37s
  • 547 yards
  • 03m 46s / 100 yards
Comments:

I wanted to get an idea of where I am regarding open water swimming in this race and I have. I changed my stroke two weeks before the event (since I have only been swimming 3 months I wasn't really attached to my original stroke anyway).

This was only my second open water swim and the first of any distance. That really showed! I started as far wide as I could (I read that advice in an article somewhere) in order to minimize my participation in the frenzy of moving body parts during the start. I think next time I will start in the middle of the pack. As when the first time I looked up to sight (which I had already swam like 50 yds) I had started at the wrong angle and was way away (behind and severely off course) from the other athletes in my wave

The actual swimming was the easy part. I had not worked on my sighting nearly enough, as I hardly did any sighting in training. This really hurt my swim. I swam WAY out off course a couple of times, and never really got on course until the last 200 yards. I ended up dog paddling alot just to keep on course. It seemed that every time I would swim normally I kept getting off course. So for most of the course I was just swimming a few strokes and then dog paddle a little while I was figuring out where I was, and then start swimming again. Why don't they have the big black lines in the lake??? That would have been so helpful. When I finally made it back to the dock, I had to climb this hanging rope net to get on top of the dock which sat 12-15 inches above the surface of the lake. There was a volunteer there offering to help me out of the water, but she was small and I was afraid that I would end up pulling her in the water instead (my weight on race day was 252lbs). Once I got on the dock, then I had a 1/4 mile hike up a steep incline to the transition area. Though everyone else jogged up this climb, I decided that I would walk up to the transition area to allow my heart rate to recover.
What would you do differently?:

I will add sighting to every swim session from now on. Starting in the middle of the pack.
Transition 1
  • 03m 59s
Comments:

I did not dry my feet off well enough, and so I had a hard time putting my socks and shoes on (I only have cages on my pedals). I also walked mostly through this transition, that way slowed me down. I also had a hard time getting my jacket unzipped (I should have had it unzipped and ready before hand).
What would you do differently?:

get my area set up better and practice my transition more.
Bike
  • 38m 36s
  • 10 miles
  • 15.54 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike is the best event for me. It is not that I am especially good on the bike, rather that I am worse at the other two events. A few weeks before the event I rode this course and I had to get off my bike twice during the ride (something I did not have to do at any other point in my training). During the race I told myself that my legs were going to have to fall off in order for me to get off my bike and push it. Since I still have all of my limbs attached, I did not get off the bike and push during the ride. The ride was good, and very similar to my training rides. I got a new bike 2 weeks before this event, and during my training rides, the chain would come off often when I switched from the small to the large
gear on the front. It really got to be frustrating during training, and I was afraid it would happen during the race. Well, with a mile or so left to go, my chain came off the front gear. I was immediately frustrated. So as I coasted looking for a good spot to hop off and put the chain back on, I noticed that the chain was on the gear at the bottom of the gear somehow. I slowly pedaled backwards, and the chain stayed on the gear! I didn't have to get off and put the chain back on. That was the highlight of the ride for me.
What would you do differently?:

Figure out why my chain keeps coming off, and do what I can to prevent that.
Transition 2
  • 01m 26s
Comments:

I didn't try any fancy dismount/mount stuff. I just got off the bike normally and jogged it into the transition area. I took off the jacket top, drank a little G2 (i barely drank on the ride), and grabbed a gel from my bike pouch. I ingested the gel as I jogged out of the transition area.
What would you do differently?:

Not much.
Run
  • 33m 58s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 10m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

I really enjoyed the run. I waved at the other runners, even giving a high five to another novice that I had met in transition area before the race! I remembered that this race was all about having fun. I took in the scenery as I jogged. The course really is beautiful. I could have pushed it harder, but I knew at the beginning of the run that I would meet my goal of finishing in less than 2 hours, so I just jogged and soaked it all in.
What would you do differently?:

Run a little harder.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around with my wife and daughter, light stretching.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience, and training.

Event comments:

This was a great event. I haven't been to any others, but I hope they are a well ran as this one.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-10-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:20:37 | 547 yards | 03m 46s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/10
Overall: 138/145
Performance: Below average
Suit: No suit
Course: Deep water start. Swim clockwise loop around two bouys, then climb a rope net to get out of the water.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 03:59
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:38:36 | 10 miles | 15.54 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/10
Overall: 107/145
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Out and back. Hilly, including a steep one on the way out and a nice one near the end.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:26
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:33:58 | 03.11 miles | 10m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/10
Overall: 136/145
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back (same as bike course, but only the first 1.55 miles) from transition area. Hilly but beautiful
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5