Kona Eastside Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint


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Baytown, Texas
United States
outloud
Total Time = 1h 03m 59s
Overall Rank = 53/164
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/11
Pre-race routine:

Breakfast on the way (45 min drive). My first tri so I wanted to get there early and get a feel for how everything worked. Got my transition set up, had someone show me how to rack my bike :)
Event warmup:

Being my first OWS, I swam the swim course once to warm up.
Swim
  • 05m 57s
  • 300 yards
  • 01m 59s / 100 yards
Comments:

First OWS was fine - I wasn't sure how it would go. What I didn't appreciate until actually doing it was the congestion in the water...even for such a small race (only 40 people in my wave). I tried to hang back and to the left to get a feel for it, but I still couldn't find open water short of swimming AWAY from the buoys. I don't know if it's because the swimmers were weak (being a Mini Sprint)? I feel like for the first 250 yards out of 300 I was just trying to find space.
What would you do differently?:

Since I am a strong swimmer I might try to get out front and not be as passive at the start. I got kind of caught up in getting in so I didn't really pay attention to the rows of people in front before getting in the water to get an idea of how to navigate around people.
Transition 1
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

I was THAT guy with a hybrid bike and regular pedals so I had to actually lace up shoes and unrack a more unwieldy bike, but I felt comfortable doing it.

Before the race I had made a point to walk from the swim to my bike a couple of times.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, went smoothly.
Bike
  • 39m 49s
  • 10 miles
  • 15.07 mile/hr
Comments:

I knew biking was my weakness coming in. I was riding an 8 year old hybrid with standard equipment. Most of my training up to this point has been on spinning trainers at the gym so I don't have a feel for speed or power. My main indication of my speed was that I was getting passed like crazy.

As it turns out I had it in the wrong gear (you can laugh) so I was on the middle ring instead of the big ring...on a flat course. As I tried to change gears my chain started spinning and I thought it was going to come off. I managed to get it back in the original gear until the halfway point. Then I tried again, but it in the highest gear and took off. I wish I knew my splits on that one.

I felt strong the whole way so once I'm more comfortable with the bike I will be in good shape. My first tri, so I was going to PR anyway...I just set the bar low :)
What would you do differently?:

Pay attention to the gear, perhaps? Spend more time riding the actual bike. Get something so that I can see feedback on speed, distance, power, etc. so I can get a feel for when I need to make adjustments/what adjustments to make.
Transition 2
  • 00m 44s
Comments:

Made a rookie mistake in not paying attention that the bike in was in a different place than where we entered transition so I went down the wrong aisle the first time.

Don't have biking shoes and only a 2 mile run so just stayed with the same shoes, grabbed race belt and took off.
What would you do differently?:

Walk from where the bike in will be to the rack a couple of times.
Run
  • 16m 2s
  • 2 miles
  • 08m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

After everyone had passed me on the bike it felt good to reel some of them back in. Kept up what I thought was a good pace and caught as many as I could.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Post race
Warm down:

Got some food and walked around, watched some of the Sprinters transition from bike to run, cheered on some of the Sprint finishers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Inexperience

Event comments:

Really enjoyed my first race and learned a lot. Great introduction for me at a short distance and now I have extra confidence for my next race.




Last updated: 2010-04-15 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:05:57 | 300 yards | 01m 59s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/11
Overall: 10/164
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Out and back, turn around a buoy.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:27
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:39:49 | 10 miles | 15.07 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/11
Overall: 113/164
Performance: Average
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Out and back course, very flat. There was a relatively hard right turn heading back to transition in the last mile.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:44
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:16:02 | 02 miles | 08m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/11
Overall: 22/164
Performance: Good
Course: Flat out and back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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