Jackie Kallal Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Penn Run, Pennsylvania
United States
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 17m 54s
Overall Rank = 34/112
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 5/15
Pre-race routine:

Two of my friends from work picked me up 3 hours before race time, so I got to have a nice relaxing ride to the race - just like last year.

From about then until 1 1/2 hours before the race, ate a bagel, my dried cereal, a banana, an apple, a bottle of water, and a cup of coffee. Had a couple bites of a clif bar 30 mins before the start, and a gel 15 mins before.

Felt like I hit the nutrition right on this time.

Only bad part was shortly before we got to the race, "Wake Me Up Before you Go Go" came on the radio, and not only wouldn't he change the channel, but he was singing along with it!

My mental imagery was completely shot.
Event warmup:

Just stretched. It was starting to get fairly warm and humid, so took it easy, and I was just about dying in the wetsuit. About a 1/3 of the participants weren't wearing them, and I was starting to wish I was one of them.
Swim
  • 15m 15s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swim went well for me. It was over 4 mins faster than my time last year, so I was happy with that. Cooled off quickly and got into a decent rhythm, so felt pretty good.

Have to admit though that I felt like I was all over the place vs. going in a straight line. Got caught up in the buoy line twice - luckily, because swimmers were coming straight at me in the opposite direction. I think it's just a case of not paying enough attention to where I was.

Very happy that some of the Pgh Tri Club guys scouted out the seaweed, so I knew where to go to avoid it.
What would you do differently?:

Still lots of room to improve, so will keep plugging away.
Transition 1
  • 02m 52s
Comments:

T1 was my best yet - mainly because I cut 2" off the legs of my wetsuit the night before. So I was finally able to get it off much easier. Sat down with it right away and had no problem. Only hairbrained thing I did was start to try to lay it out nicely so that it could dry! Then I realized what I was doing, and tossed it on the rack.


What would you do differently?:

Looking at my time, and how the transition area is laid out, I realize that I had a horrible location with a long run/jog in wet grass with the bike in both directions. That's my own fault. Easily lost a minute between T1 and T2.
Bike
  • 31m 19s
  • 9.5 miles
  • 18.20 mile/hr
Comments:

Beat last year's time by just over a minute. Felt much better going up the hill this year, and was much fresher after reaching the top. This was clearly do to knowing it was there and training for it.

There's about a 1/4 mile downward slope to the turn around, so after going around it headed back up, and then finally to a spot where standing helps. While I was going up, I thought, "boy, my legs are sluggish". Then had a look down and saw I was still in the big ring! Probably didn't hurt my overall time that much, but definitely felt my legs for a while after that.

When I got on the bike at T1, came down on the seat pretty hard, and I felt that for the first couple miles. Haven't done that before. Sore enough that I push back in the seat so I could roll forward and ease the pain somewhat. Position difference actually shows in this year's pic vs. last year's taken in the same spot.

Other than that not a bad ride, but guys who I was riding along with through the first half pulled away from me on the way back. Obviously more work is called for here.
What would you do differently?:

More training!
Transition 2
  • 01m 50s
Comments:

okay.
What would you do differently?:

Get a better rack placement to cut down on the run times.
Run
  • 26m 38s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 08m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

One minute and one second faster than a year ago. But still, my running is really my weak spot.

Came out of T2, and my legs were doing pretty well. Felt decent the whole way, and actually passed a couple people. Didn't get overly hot, and was able to finish fairly strong.

But clearly I need to get serious about getting some speed here.
What would you do differently?:

Decent enough for this race, but keep working on speed.
Post race
Warm down:

Grabbed a bottle of water and went back out and cheered in my friends and others from the Pgh Tri Club.

Walked around afterwards and had a bunch of fruit, and some bagel slices and cookies, and gatorade, water and hot tea.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Running speed, overall training

Event comments:

This race is put on by Habitat for Humanity, and they do an excellent job! Volunteers are extremely friendly, and the post race buffet is like you walked into a bake sale!

Two comments on other topics -

My friend who drove had a DNF. He came out of the water with a HR over 200 (he's 43 like me, but put on a bunch of weight over the last year). So he sat at T1 for 5 mins, then went ahead on the bike. He had no chance on the hill, so walked it. Finished the bike, and now his HR was 220. Went out on the run, but stopped to talk to the paramedics to confirm, and sure enough they measured 225. So he called it a day.

I saw him after I finished, which was about another 10 mins later, and his HR was still at 180. While we were talking he said, "I suddenly feel better" and just like that his HR dropped to 110.

So he has an appointment with the doc tomorrow. Very important to get yourself checked out, and stay healthy to do this stuff. I don't know exactly what triggered it because it doesn't happen when he trains. Maybe it was the anxiety, and the heat and wetsuit.

The other one was coming down the hill - stay conservative and safe! I was thinking on my way down that although I could go faster, I knew I would arrive in one piece.

Unfortunately one of my friends from the Pgh Tri Club had a major wipe out on it. I've never seen so much skin rash - knees, hands, elbows, shoulders, back... They drove him and his bike in.

So stay safe!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2010-06-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:15:15 | 880 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/15
Overall: 30/112
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Full Wetsuit
Course: Straight out and back in the lake. Very nice that there's a buoy line to follow! Not so nice that there's a lot of seaweed.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:52
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:31:19 | 9.5 miles | 18.20 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/15
Overall: 30/112
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Starts flat for a mile, then rises over the next mile or so, then hit a 200' decent hill. Definitely standing here. After that, all rolling, until you go back down the hill at serious speed. I take that conservatively going off and on the brakes and still got up to 39 mph.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:50
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:26:38 | 03.11 miles | 08m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/15
Overall: 53/112
Performance: Below average
Course: Flat for the first half mile coming out of the park, then up and down slopes until you come back in. Not really hills, and not even noticeable for this area.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4