Subaru Shawnigan Lake International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Cowichan Valley, British Columbia
Canada
LifeSport
7C / 45F
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 59m 47s
Overall Rank = 102/165
Age Group = F20-24
Age Group Rank = 6/8
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:35 to have a bagel for breakfast and get dressed. Got all my stuff sorted out on Sat before dropping my bike off. Drove up to the race site and got my transition space organised, body marking, etc.

Was sick with sore throat on the Friday and Sat leading into the race. Feeling really tired in the previous few days...probably contributed to a poor performance overall...
Event warmup:

Got wetsuit on and got into the water to get used to the temp...FREEZING...probably took about 5min of doing bobs to stop getting a brain freeze. Not very nice...also did some stretching, etc.
Swim
  • 24m 53s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 40s / 100 meters
Comments:

Just cold...actually cold might be an understatement..it was FREEZING. Also the start had some pretty hard/sharp edged rocks and it hurt to enter/exit the water. My toes went numb about 400m into the race and that continued to increase to the end. Got caught up in a little bit of mayhem at the beginning and was having a hard time getting my pace going with all the other cold, floundering people.
What would you do differently?:

Try and get a better start to get to pace earlier. Was stronger in the second half...but just slowwwwwww....
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Time of T1 included in the swim time. A girl almost toppled over right next to me when she jumped on her bike...Glad she went to the right and not left into me.
What would you do differently?:

Felt a little disconbobulated. Just get a system going.
Bike
  • 1h 37m 8s
  • 44 kms
  • 27.18 km/hr
Comments:

BAD BAD BAD BAD...I'll add another one--BAD. Honestly probably one of the first times I have solidly considered packing it in half way through the event. Just had a miserable ride--Cold...Really thats kind of what did me in overall today I think. Which is a poor excuse for a really poor performace. My feet continued to be frozen numb for the entirety of the bike...couldn't really wiggle my toes at all to get some blood flow and running like that in cleats is just a mess--haha...I must have looked ridiculous...Some pretty rough areas, but they were well defined with paint on the road. Roads were wet due to the rain. My aerobottle decided to come loose...so for the last 7km I ended up strapping it to one of my aerobars with an elastic that was on the bottle...not the best choice...but I didn't want to stop to figure out what to do with it. I heard this whizzing noise for most of the bike too...thought it might be my brakes, so I stopped once to see if they were hitting my front rim...but they wern't--it was a twist tie from my race number on the bike. It was aggravating me for the first 20km or so. Also, going up one of the hills I ended up slipping my foot out of the pedal while riding out of the saddle...could have been a bad scene...but I worked it out.
What would you do differently?:

Sort out my aerobottle issues...make sure nothing is rubbing on anything else to make annoying noises for the duration of the bike. Just go faster in general and work on maneuvering tight corners.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

T2 time included in the bike time. So I took off my shoes and my feet were WHITE...Not like I'm a pasty white person kind of white either...actually white...it definately was not healthy...probably not the best and compounded my Reynaud's syndrome...woohoo!...poor foot circulation!!! Still couldn't move my toes. (I'd say I went 2-2.5hrs without being able to move my toes..) Legs were numb after the ride too. So getting feet like that into shoes was interesting...
What would you do differently?:

Not have numb, white feet?
Run
  • 57m 47s
  • 10 kms
  • 05m 47s  min/km
Comments:

Well...took 2km for my legs to dethaw...at that time I was honestly probably at like 6:30/km. By 7km I actually started to get some tingly sensation back in my feet and was able to bring it up a notch.
What would you do differently?:

Run faster off the bike. It takes me too long to transition into the run...Run faster in general. Thats all that really needs to be said.
Post race
Warm down:

Some nice man gave me some gatorade when I finished the race. Sucked that back and walked around. I must look out of it when I race. We all commiserated back at transition about the cold and various body parts that wern't working at various parts of the race. Some people it was their hands...I think hands might hurt more to go numb...but with a run at the end...I would prefer that compared to my feet.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cold--partly my fault for not putting a longer shirt on and spending more time to dry off my feet, etc. My being a moron definately contributed to the fact that it was already FREEZING and that the rain had started.

Messing around with my bike--the twist tie thing really threw me off as I was more focused on figure out what it could possibly be than riding my bike for a good part of the bike. Then the aerobottle thing...*sigh..

Not working on more bike-run bricks.

Getting sick a few days before the race. Tried to get lots of rest and fluids in, but probably added to my poor performance.



Event comments:

The race is great. The report must seem really negative but it was really more me/the weather that contribued to that. There are a few things I have concerns about: 1) The rocks at the swim start in the water by the shore. They hurt to step on and could lead to an accident or someone getting injured. 2) The bike water/fuel station was more or less at the crest of a fairly steep hill...probably not the best placement. On my first lap both me and the guy passing me were gasping by the top and not really in the best place to be able to focus on grabbing a waterbottle or fuel IMHO and still be able to move forwards.

Other than that...given there is better weather at the end of May in the future...this is a great race!




Last updated: 2010-05-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:24:53 | 1500 meters | 01m 40s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 21/165
Performance: Bad
Suit: Xterra Vortex 3
Course: Triangular course--2 laps
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 13C / 55F Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:37:08 | 44 kms | 27.18 km/hr
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 104/165
Performance: Bad
Wind: Some
Course: Extremely undulating and extremely technical course. Lots of up and downs and sharp corners. Definately need to have good descending and climbing skills and to be adept at shifting properly.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Bad
Running
00:57:47 | 10 kms | 05m 47s  min/km
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 131/165
Performance: Below average
Course: Trail course with uphill start then fairly level with minor undulations. Trail was gravel.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Bad
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4