White Lake Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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White Lake, North Carolina
United States
Set-up Inc.
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 271/290
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 47/49
Pre-race routine:

Drove down to White Lake the day before the race and stayed in a hotel close by.
Event warmup:

My first Tri, I tried to take it all in. Mostly I just stood around worrying about getting through the swim.
Swim
  • 28m 16s
  • 820 yards
  • 03m 27s / 100 yards
Comments:

I stood in the water, waiting for our wave to go off, already terrified. I had a tiny bit of hope that somehow I'd find a way to swim 750 meters; after all look at all these other guys who are going to do it. About 50 meters in my lack of swim train and fear of open water, unknown to me until that moment, took over and I went into full panic mode. Now on my back, not even doing backstroke because I didn’t know how, I tried moving my body in the direction of the finished line – a mere 700 meters away. Ten minutes later I was exhausted and still not to the halfway point. Decision time; ask the guy in the canoe who had been following me to pull me out of the water, OR suck it up and finish my first Tri?

DFLast is better than DNFinsh, which is better than DNTri, so on I went.

What would you do differently?:

Learn to Swim and get over my new found open water anxiety.
Transition 1
  • 05m 30s
Comments:

At this point, I'm literally happy to be ALIVE – not to mention completely exhausted. Kissing the ground was a thought but I felt poor form so instead I just jogged up the little hill into T1. I put on my sneakers and hopped onto my mountain bike, now determined to finished what I had started.
What would you do differently?:

Too many things to print, but T1 this race was more about salvation than speed.
Bike
  • 52m 4s
  • 14 miles
  • 16.13 mile/hr
Comments:

A strange feeling came over me once I got on the bike. I was suddenly calm, happy, and just enjoying the race. If you’ve ever seen the movie Office Space I was Peter right after seeing the hypnotherapist. Wow, was I slow.
What would you do differently?:

Again, it comes down to training, and mostly swim training. It's amazing to me how much a poor open water swim can impact the bike portion.
Transition 2
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

Uneventful.
Run
  • 25m 56s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 08m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

My run fitness, although not great, was the best of the 3 sports, and it showed in my results. I'd normally be very pleased with an 8m 20s mile pace but I rested on the bike allowing me to be fresher and the course was very flat.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Post race
Warm down:

None.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not knowing how to swim and not realizing I have a fear of open water.
Also, my mountain bike didn't help, but by that point the real damage had been done.

Event comments:

The race itself is fantastic; I would recommend it to anyone, especially beginners.

I'm writing this RR in 2010, over five years after the race to help me remember where I started and hopefully down the road not forget how far I've come. After the race the huge challenge open water swimming presented for me kept me away from doing Triathlons. I knew I wanted to come back to the sport “someday” but not until I was properly trained. A little more time passed, my wife and I had two beautiful children, and all of a sudden 4 years had gone by. Once again, it was decision time – let “someday” stay off in the never foreseeable future or get back in the water and overcome my fears. I’m very happy I made the decision to TRI again in 2008 as I’ve found my passion for this sport! Although I’ve yet to overcome my open water swimming fears I know with proper training and the great advice I find at BT I will someday soon.





Last updated: 2010-01-12 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:16 | 820 yards | 03m 27s / 100yards
Age Group: 49/49
Overall: 279/290
Performance: Bad
Suit: No wetsuit, part of my downfall.
Course: 2 right turns, out then back to shore.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 05:30
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:52:04 | 14 miles | 16.13 mile/hr
Age Group: 49/49
Overall: 274/290
Performance: Bad
Wind: None
Course: Pancake flat, too bad I couldn't take advantage of it.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:30
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:25:56 | 03.11 miles | 08m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 39/49
Overall: 189/290
Performance: Below average
Course: Pancake flat.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4