Chaska River City Days Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Chaska , Minnesota
United States
Midwest Events
77F / 25C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 25m 25s
Overall Rank = 76/299
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 10/31
Pre-race routine:

Same old same old - took a quick shower and suited up. Breakfast was a bagel with peanut butter and a banana. I made it to the course just before 6am and claimed a spot near the Bike/Run Out before picking up my packet.
Event warmup:

I wandered around the park just taking it all in. After some light stretching I hopped on the bike for a few minutes to loosen my legs up.
Swim
  • 09m 18s
  • 586 yards
  • 01m 35s / 100 yards
Comments:

My goal for the swim was to keep my splits under 2:00/100y, push hard through the 1st half and stay smooth and relaxed for the 2nd. This was my first ever time-trial style start. It was nice to have people spread out from the beginning rather than throwing elbows for the first 100 yards. My wave was one of the last to go, so there were plenty of swimmers already in the water. I tried to stay to the outside to keep away from the heaviest traffic.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. I wasn't expecting to do as well as I did. I opted to use my wetsuit and was a little warm prior to the start, but didn't feel over-heated during the race.
Transition 1
  • 01m 19s
Comments:

No real issues here. I put my shoes on in transition rather than strapping in on the bike. I suppose I could have saved a few seconds doing it the flashy way, but didn't want to over-complicate things.
What would you do differently?:

Practicing the flying-mount may speed things up by a few seconds, but I've already slimmed down the process quite a bit. If I do the race again next year, I'll have to squeeze a couple transition practice days into my schedule.
Bike
  • 48m 27s
  • 16 miles
  • 19.81 mile/hr
Comments:

Last year, my pace was 17.4 mph. This year, I wanted to bump it up to 18.5. I had a bit of trouble getting into a rhythm during the uphill. But, again, since they did a time-trial start, there was a steady steam of cyclists both ahead and behind me. I just tried to reel people in one at a time. I still got passed by plenty of carbon fiber steeds, but that's to be expected. In the end, I was both surprised and pleased that I did as well as I did.
What would you do differently?:

When I set up my Garmin prior to the race, I forgot to enable the multi-sport option. The end result was that all of my data for the bike was formatted as if I was running. Whoops. I never got my current speed during the bike, but at least I got my mile split to know whether I was speeding up or slowing down.
Transition 2
  • 01m 3s
Comments:

The biggest issue here was getting my socks on. It probably added a good 20 seconds onto my time, but I wasn't going to risk getting blisters. Those suck.
Run
  • 25m 19s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 08m 08s  min/mile
Comments:

Last year, I ran an 8:52 average split, so this year, I was aiming for 8:30-8:45. The uphill at the start sucks. There's no way around it. I just had to keep reminding myself that it would only get easier. Once up the hill I started to feel really hot for the first time that day. Fortunately a volunteer gave me a gi-normous glass of water at the halfway point. Some went in my mouth, but most of it went down my back. Getting cooled off REALLY helped me feel stronger. I kicked it up a gear and headed for the downhill. I haven't run an 8:10 split in years, so today's results felt great.
What would you do differently?:

I suppose I could always push harder on the uphill. But I think the only way I'll speed for this one is by training more. Hopefully, next year my splits will be somewhere in the 7s.
Post race
Warm down:

I hung around to cheer the other riders and sucked down some more fluids to cool off.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

There's always room to improve my fitness level, that seems to be the biggest limiting factor at this point.

Event comments:

I like this race. It's just the right size and is on a really fun course. Who am I to argue with negative splits on both the bike and the run? They upped their game this year with color-coded age groups (last year as BYO-Swim Cap). I also like the time-trial start as a change of pace. They even had meals for everyone after the race. I also loved that they had race results available immediately after the race and posted by 2pm the same day.




Last updated: 2010-07-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:18 | 586 yards | 01m 35s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/31
Overall: 24/299
Performance: Good
Suit: QR Ultra-John
Course: A counter-clockwise rectangle.
Start type: Run Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:19
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:48:27 | 16 miles | 19.81 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/31
Overall: 74/299
Performance: Good
Max: 177 Avg: 160
Wind: None
Course: Medium-Grade uphill for the first 4 miles. Long, steady rollers through the middle and a long downhill finish.
Road: Smooth  Cadence: 92
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:03
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:25:19 | 03.11 miles | 08m 08s  min/mile
Age Group: 18/31
Overall: 126/299
Performance: Good
Max: 169
Course: Mile 1: Straight uphill Mile 2: Pretty much flat as a pancake Mile 3: Downhill to the finish
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4