Tritonman UCSD Sprint - TriathlonSprint

It has taken me days to wrap my brain around my splits. 8:33 is crazy fast for me, and I would have bet anything that my time was over 12:00. I had my stroke for the first few yards away from shore, but after the first turn our wave swam into the blinding sun. I couldn't see the far buoy until I was near it, and was very disoriented for most of the swim.

I had taken advice to start my first swim on the outside, and count to 10 after the gun. Excellent advice. I was the last person in the last wave, but finished the swim in the middle of the pack.

I had tried to make sure to practice everything so nothing was new on race day, but I forgot about the morning sun.

I felt like I lost three minutes since I kept stopping to sight, and I was a little panicky the whole time I was into the sun, but every time I stopped, I saw that I was leaving people behind, so I told myself I had no excuse to feel rattled. My breathing was all over the map, but I never had to think about which side or when to take a breath. The pool work really came though.

The whole experience of swimming in a pack for the first time was very de-mystifying, and next time should be fun.

I immediately went out and bought mirrored and smoke goggles. I wish I had thought of the sun direction, and will do that on future races.

T1 went really well for me, 6/20 in the AG. When I took off my suit, I slung my timing chip across the aisle, but that wasn't a huge problem, I strapped it back on just before I grabbed the bike. The helmet went on okay, as did the shoes, which were on the towel. The mtb shoes were perfect for running through the T1 slop, and once I mounted the bike, they clipped-in automatically. I heard complaints about people clipping in, but SPDs were perfect for these conditions.

Not much. I would push harder and keep track of the timing chip.

The split includes T2, so although the pace was respectable for a mountain bike with skinny tires, it screwed with my head that me, a former college cyclist, had a solid time on a ragged swim, but a below-average time in the saddle. My bike computer said 18.4 mph, but that doesn't synch with the published splits.

I had the time of my life in the saddle, and felt like I pushed just right. I did pass some expensive carbon, so that made the mtb ride worth it.

I'll save money for now and ride a few tris with the mtb, but a road bike is in my future. It does screw with me that I see myself as a cyclist, but lost the most time on the bike leg.

The T2 split wasn't broken out, but both transitions were fine. I did what most people did, and went into transition by swinging my leg over and coasting while standing on my left pedal, then running to the rack in my shoes. The running shoes with Yankz went right on.

Not much. Thanks to advice from the BT forum, my transitions were strong, especially for a first time.

I survived! And, sadly, I didn't lose as much time as I did in the saddle. I'm barely a runner, but had fun, and felt strong for my very first, dreaded 5k. The course went past two aid stations, spaced perfectly for thirst.

Not much. I'm spending all my time in the pool and saddle, and as if by magic, my 5ks are getting faster.

I saw my wife and said Hi to our perplexed dog on the way to the finish line, then went straight to the fruit, chatted with some age groupers.


It's supposed to be training, right? As crazy as it is, I lost as much time relative to what I would have done on my college road bike as I did because I didn't train seriously for the run. Both will come with time. Maybe I'll be in the top 1/3 of the AG by the end of the year if both click.


Results:

http://www.ucsdtriathlon.org/tritonman/2010/results2010.txt

Hats off to the UCSD tri club. For a volunteer race, this was excellent (and I know, because I've spent a lot of time organizing volunteers).

The college vibe and games after the race contribute to the positive vibe. Where else can you see athletes going all out for a burrito or a water bottle? The announcer was excellent, and the crew made the best of the conditions.

Areas of improvement? I would have liked a souvenir, and would have preferred to not swim into the sun, or at least been told about it beforehand.