Westside YMCA Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint


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Knoxville, Tennessee
United States
Race Day Events
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 39m 40s
Overall Rank = 5/217
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 1/15
Pre-race routine:

Up early as always. Took care of business, last test ride on the bike (couldn't the night before as it was storming) ate breakfast, gassed up the ride, and drove to the site.
Event warmup:

Set up my transition, talked to some people I had met before and the girls next to me on the rack. Had to get a little firm with a kid next to me and his dad who thought it would be fine to set up their transition IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE outside the racks... I think they got mad, but hey, rules are rules. Got marked, went out and rode the course with my new friend Andre, and jumped in the pool to get in some laps. Couple minutes seeding ourselves, and off we go.
Swim
  • 03m 37s
  • 219 yards
  • 01m 39s / 100 yards
Comments:

Actually finished the swim in 3:20'ish. The run to the timing mat was halfway down the (long) run to transition. Still not smoking fast or anything, but good for me, and importantly, I felt great coming out.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing comes to mind, get better swimming (I'm working on it!!)
Transition 1
  • 01m 43s
Comments:

Ok... so I don't want to think this of somebody else, but "somehow" my strap for my bike shoe had actually came undone. I've never seen this before, and couldn't get it to do it again afterwards even with all my strength pulling on it... so I can only guess either it worked its way out on it's own sitting on a towel, or somebody messed with it. Regardless, getting the strap back in was a job of itself, and it really killed my T1 time.
What would you do differently?:

One MORE last check of all my stuff I suppose.

Also, I've been practicing putting my shoes on ON the bike, but I was timid to do it with all the rocks in T1's pavement.
Bike
  • 18m 52s
  • 7.46 miles
  • 23.72 mile/hr
Comments:

Came off the bike with the fastest bike split of the day... just re-assuring that I need to become a pure roadie... ;)

Otherwise, bike was mildly technical (I heard some people complaining about it) but I never found any of the turns very dangerous, even at speed. All those handling drills are starting to pay off it seems.

I kept getting stuck behind people who would "try" to pass somebody, then just fall in step beside them. Very frustrating. One guy towards the end I believe was actually trying to block me. So annoying. Sorry if I yelled at anybody haha.
What would you do differently?:

-More Handling drills to take the corners sharper and faster
-More threshold / Vo2 work to get my out of saddle efforts up

Transition 2
  • 00m 55s
Comments:

Again, I left my shoes on instead of taking them off and running barefoot because of the pavement. My T2 time is still about 20 seconds off of the fastest though, so I need to work on my t2 some more.
What would you do differently?:

Get my feet tough enough to run without socks... that would help a LOT.
Run
  • 14m 34s
  • 2.49 miles
  • 05m 51s  min/mile
Comments:

Time to run some people down. I felt good going into the run (well... as good as you can feel at times like that.) and had one thing in mind... break 40 minutes overall.

I don't know that the course was really 2.5 miles long... my time seems unrealistic for my abilities... whether that means I just need to re-assess what "my abilities" are or somebody needs a new measuring stick... I'll leave up to interpretation. I see Andres, on his way to winning his age group... we slap hands in congratulations to each other.

As I make the last turn I see that my watch shows 38:2x... I have around a minute and a half to cross the finish... Now two choices come to my head.
1.) Continue running my current (hard, for me) pace... hoping that 1:30 is enough time to get me across before 40:00
2.) Start my sprint now...without the finish line in sight and risk completely blowing myself up and walking across the finish line like a dummy.

"Nut up or shut up"

I start sprinting. It is terrible. I'm not 100% sure how far I need to go. A volunteer sees me in my Herculean effort and gives a supportive "wow, way to go." I nod and blurb something incomprehensible. I turn out of the trees and see the arches of the finish. I'm still a ways off. Time is ticking down, I've passed 39 minutes. My legs are on fire and my blood is battery acid. I grit and continue on my silly looking sprint (a mix of sprinting and doubling over for breathe) I cross under the arches. 39:40 on the dot. I double over and laugh to the thought that I could have possibly taken it a bit easier.
What would you do differently?:

I don't know. haha get faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Jogged around a bit, stretched, walked up to get some smoothie king (well done Race Day Events)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Some dismal Transitions, still needing to work on my swim speed and bike handling skills.

Event comments:

One year later, I went from middle of the pack in the beginner division to 5th overall and 1st in my age group. Hard work does pay off sometimes.

RaceDayEvents of course put on a great show. Everything was well set up. Can't wait til' next year.




Last updated: 2010-07-11 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:03:37 | 219 yards | 01m 39s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 47/217
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Snake Pool time trial start. Nothing to see here
Start type: Inside Pool Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder:
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:43
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:18:52 | 07.46 miles | 23.72 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/15
Overall: 11/217
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Up through a neighborhood... two laps. With some of the later competition mixing in with the faster guys on the second lap, it was like a mine field... if mine's drafted each other of course.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 80s
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:55
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:14:34 | 02.49 miles | 05m 51s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/15
Overall: 11/217
Performance: Good
Course: Out into a "P" setup. Lots of turn around points. Very scenic, only one big hill (at the start) then it flattened out.
Keeping cool Good 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] 5