Gator Grinder - TriathlonSprint

Ran into the pool area through the spectator door - threw my jacket and sandals at my husband, pulled on cap as I ran to my lane and jumped in! We had a quick explanation by a volunteer while I put on my goggles. I managed to do one lap half-assed behind another swimmer (who was barely swimming!) as a 'warm-up' but I was pretty jacked by that point anyway. I was in position 4, so I watched three others leave before me and then when I heard the whistle for me, I took off. For the first 4 laps, I easily did freestyle and was right on the tail of the woman in front of me. It felt effortless! She was doing a backstroke breast stroke thing but was actually moving pretty quickly! I had to switch to alternating in lengths of breaststroke when my HR got too high and I felt a bit sick to my stomach. I managed to keep up pretty well and did the last lap all free style. It felt like it went pretty well. When I jumped out of the pool, I was a tad wobbly, but I managed to head the right direction. My swim instructor was there (he was the lifeguard) to cheer me on and told me that I did it under 11 min (my best time yet). Yay!

More pool time. I know that if I was in better shape (cardio), that I'd have been able to freestyle the whole thing and drop at least 0:30 off my total time.

I could have been faster here. I did ok though. My cap didn't come off as fast as it could have but I didn't pull it off getting out of the pool knowing that they were taking photos at the pool door. Stupid reason, but whatever. I got the cap off, my tank on, my buff on and I was held up slightly by my helmet which NEVER goes on quickly. The buff helped, but not enough. I'm glad I'm due for a new helmet soon anyway! The shoes/socks went on as well as can be expected. I do need to practice getting from running with bike to riding bike (while wearing bike shoes) faster.

Better helmet. Take off swim cap coming out of water.

My legs were freezing for the first 1/3 of the course due to evaporative cooling on tri capris. Those things should only be used for HOT days. I was only passed by people on aerobars and only one or two, so I felt pretty good about that. I think I could have been faster but I was thinking of the bike as the place to recover from the swim and rest up for the run, so I didn't push as well as I could have. I did feel like I was trying to 'catch up' in terms of hydration. While I did ok, I expected to do better on this leg, so I'm a little disappointed. I think part of the problem is that I didn't see hardly any other racers out there, so the 'competition' feeling wasn't there. I guess I need to make sure it's stronger within me, huh?

Carry HEED next time. Get aerobars. Go harder!

I really didn't do well with the running with my bike in road shoes after just having ridden. I need to practice this part, next time. My spot was also not optimal for transition from bike to run, so a lot of time felt wasted by the walking/running with the bike around barriers and stuff. Switching to run gear went really well. I also paused to see where my H was (he hadn't left yet for his bike leg).

Not look for my husband. ;-) Practice running in bike shoes with bike after biking.

The run actually went pretty well considering how unprepared I felt for this segment. 35:19 is 0:41 faster than I've ever done 5K, so I'm pleased. I never even once thought about walking, so that's also good. I ran one lap around the paved track with a friend who was doing her second one (my first one). That helped make the time go faster. I was suffering pretty badly until I got to the drink station - I needed water! I felt much better after that. All in all, I'm pleased. I have lots of room for improvement, but I think I did as well as can be expected given my training.

Run faster. I think I could have turned it on quite a bit at the end, and I didn't. I could easily have come in under 35 min had I started pushing a little more once I saw how far I had to the finish (it was in sight for awhile).

Warm down consisted of running back to transition to pick up my timing chip band that I didn't use and then running back to the finish line to cheer on others finishing behind me (from later heats). I should have eaten something closer to finishing than I did.


training


I thought it was a very well organized race. I don't have much to compare it to since it was my first, but based on other reports I've read and other biking events I've attended, this one was very well done. The only mark against them was that the post race food was kind of lame. Mostly 'rest stop food' like you'd find at bike rides - nothing really substantial.