Tritonman UCSD Sprint - TriathlonSprint


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San Diego, California
United States
UCSD
Total Time = 1h 16m 10s
Overall Rank = 226/334
Age Group = 30-39
Age Group Rank = 25/42
Pre-race routine:

Well, the craziness began here. My plan was to wake up at 5:00, pack, go to starbucks for coffee, go to Einstiens for bagels and get going. Woke up and packed fine (was out the door at 5:15), but apparently Starbucks opened at 5:30, not 5:00 like the girl said the night before. Einstiens didn't open till 6:00. I was a little paniced. Luckily, got to a gas station that had Cliff Bars and Powerbars. So, b-fast was two Cliffs and a Powerbar. Also, couldn't find any Gatorade/Powerade/whatever bottles that would work well in the bike cage. They were all full twist off caps. So, bought a couple and decided to just pre-race hydrate heaviily. Drove up to the spot and parked no problem. Set up my transition spot and watched the sun rise.
Event warmup:

Did a little swimming in the bay and was very happy to find it was warmer than expected. Had ridden the bike course the day before. So, no need to worry about that.
Swim
  • 08m 58s
  • 500 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

There were only about 40 people in my wave and I still couldn't swim around them. I tried going out near the back, which was apparently a mistake. Every time I'd get in a rythm, I'd crash into somebody in front of me. I'd swim out wide to apss and it'd be like they were there waiting for me to block me. argh. Spent a ton of time just padlding with my head up trying to find a clear path to swim. I knew was in the bottom 1/3 of the swimmers, for sure. Also, found it was much easier to sight without the goggles. About 20% of the way through the swim, I just moved the goggles off my head and that helped a lot. I could see the people and markers in front of me. Didn't have any of the wrong directions stuff today, since whenever I varied 10 degrees of course, i'd crash into somebody.
What would you do differently?:

Start further up/sprint the start. Learn to dodge people better. No goggles from the start, or maybe different goggles.
Transition 1
  • 02m 33s
Comments:

This was 'fun'. Transition area was a giant mud pit. They tried putting the matts down along the middle, but it was futile. Feet were an inch thick with mud by the time I got to my bike. got my suit off and just scraped as much mud off as I could with my hands. Tossed the bike shoes on without socks, hoping they'd dry some and I could get more off when I got back to run. Waded through mud to the end of transition, put on my Garmin, and tried to hop on bike. Turned out shoes were so covered in mud that I couldn't clip in.
What would you do differently?:

Go barefoot through the end of transition and put shoes on on course. Put baggies over shoes, maybe? Get a bigger towel to transition on so I dont have to change in mud.
Bike
  • 40m 18s
  • 12.3 miles
  • 18.31 mile/hr
Comments:

Bike was awesome. One problem, I wasn't able to clip in the whole way. The transition area was a giant mud pit. By the time I got out, my shoes were caked in mud. I tried kicking it off and even got off the bike about a half mile in to try to dig it out, but there was no hope. So, rode the whole way without being clipped in. Even with that challenge, had an amazing pace on the bike.
The backside was much slower than the first part due to the wind. So, that's why those splits were so much slower on every 3rd & 4th mile of the three loops. I anticipated this from my ride the day before and, in fact, the wind wasn't as bad. I was almost thrown off when I saw 22mph on the Garmin at one point.
What would you do differently?:

Push harder. Didn't realize how much I'd have left later. Also, fix T1 so I could clip in.
Transition 2
  • 01m 9s
Comments:

Waded through mud again and put the bike away. Got out of shoes easilyl. Socks went on nicely thanks to tip to roll them partially. Running shoes slipped on nicely thanks to Yankz. Overall, I was very happy with this transition. Flipped the Garmin to run at the end of transition area.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 23m 18s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 07m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Run was great too. Threw socks on at transition and got shoes on pretty easy. Course was very winding through a park (on grass) with gradual hills. Like someone said, it was like a high school cross country course. The guy who was directly ahead of me on the bike and I were running together the whole time. He was about 4 yards ahead of me most of the time.
GREAT pacing by dude ahead of me. I thanked him when we got in and he thanked me for the motivation by breathing down his neck the whole time. Felt 100% fine after the run. Didn't have a good idea on total effort going in. I think I would have pushed the bike a little harder and maybe even have made a move on the run, but with those splits I'm not going to complain. Also, the kid in front of me was in the open 20-29. So, I beat him by 4 minutes, anyway .
What would you do differently?:

Push harder. Do some off-road work. It was the first non-pavement running I had done in forever.
Post race
Warm down:

Walk around. Put stuff away.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Mud in transition area. Going too tentatively on run & bike since I didn't have an idea how hard to push for the distance.

Event comments:

I don't think they could have done much more about the mud. Its San Diego, its not supposed to rain anyway :). They did have the matts out and made a solid effort. Great race for a first race. Would be tempted to fly out and do it again. Plus, nice college chicks to look at (kidding).




Last updated: 2009-12-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:58 | 500 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 28/42
Overall: 0/334
Performance: Below average
Suit: Blue70- Revolution
Course: Rectangle course.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 61F / 16C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:33
Performance: Average
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
00:40:18 | 12.3 miles | 18.31 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/42
Overall: 0/334
Performance: Good
15.7 (including the time I got off to try to screw withg my shoes), 20.6!!, 19.0, 19.6, 20.9, 21.0, 18.3, 18.1, 20.5, 21.4, 17.5, 17.8.
Wind: Some
Course: Three loops around the island. Very nice course, super smooth with a couple tiny hills. Good visuals all around and wide enough to pass easily.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:09
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:23:18 | 03.1 miles | 07m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/42
Overall: 0/334
Performance: Good
Gamrin showed 3.0 miles at 7:47, 7:51, 7:49.
Course: high school cross country course was the best description I heard. Mix of sidewalk and rolling grassy hills in a park.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5