![]() Swim
Comments: Two loop triangle course, probably a minute long. Well, I'm officially over with my fear of wetsuit swimming; unfortunately, I totally pussed out and didn't push myself at all. Waves were well enough constructed that we didn't run into many of the other events; I just kind of moved along, and didn't push myself at all for fear of hyperventilation. My legs started cramping up on the second loop, but I should've just stroked harder. Blah. Swim is the most disappointing part of my triathlon season; haven't really had a great one, period. What would you do differently?: Swim hard. Because, well, it's a race, ya know? ![]() Transition 1
Comments: Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Everything that went wrong went wrong. Watch got stuck when taking wetsuit off, wetsuit got caught on heels, lost goggles, got lost in the transition zone, had to stretch out a charlie horse, etc. AT LEAST a minute and a half lost. Terrible. What would you do differently?: EVERYTHING. ![]() Bike
Comments: Greatest bike ride I've ever had. My previous PR on the bike was a 1:09, and needless to say, that got crushed. My legs were cramping badly coming out of T1, and of course we began by riding up a false flat for the first three miles; I couldn't figure out why I couldn't break 20, and kept on hammering, passing a ton of people in the process. Eventually, the course leveled out, and we got some downhill to match that false flat uphill; I really, really started passing people now. Hit 27-28 for a couple miles straight. Of course, all good things must end, and I crashed going into the first sharp turn, an entrance to a 2.5 mile out and back. After being shaken up, I quickly jumped back on my bike, and saw I had been repassed by something like 4-5 people, and I set on recapturing my position. Saw my buddy David on the out-and-back, about 2 miles in front of me, and knew I wasn't going to catch him; turns out (I found out later) he had gone a 19:46 in the (long) swim. Passed everybody who had passed me, and then set myself up well, passing another 5-6 people going up hills (How?). Forced myself to take Gatorade at the turnarounds, and took them very, very easily, to ensure that I wouldn't crash again. Really clear I need a new cassette that's not an 11-23. Had to mash my legs, which were already cramping. Once I got to the top of the hills that were coming at me,the course went onto the false flat that we had started on; I smoked this part of the course, and came into transition; took it very easily so as to not crash again. Happy with nutrition; had taken a gel in T1, and forced about 150 calories of Gatorade in 12-15 ounces into me, and felt much better than at the Lake Meridian tri. What would you do differently?: Don't crash. I probably lost 50 seconds from the crash itself, and another 20 getting back up to speed. I could've had a top-3 bike split, at sub-1:04, maybe closer to 1:03:30. So happy with my bike ride and fitness... goal is to break 1:00 next year. ![]() Transition 2
Comments: Not bad; need to get stretch laces, and didn't want to take my feet out for fear of sliding out. Can get 20-30 seconds faster with practice. Watch band was a little tricky to get on, might have lost 5-10 seconds doing that. What would you do differently?: Get stretchable laces, so no shoe-tying, and get my feet out before dismounting, as opposed to unclipping and running with shoes on. Those two things would probably save me a half minute ![]() Run
Comments: Fun course; 2.4 miles to a turnaround, going back, and then 1.4 on a trail. Coming out of transition, my shoes came untied twice, and that just pissed me off. More reason to get stretchable laces. Other than that, race was straight forward, and I was rocking 6:30s until 5 miles in. Legs had been progressively getting tighter, clear evidence of a lack of run training, which I've been putting in about 15-20mpw for the last three months. Happy with the overall split, though I think I should be able to go 3 minutes faster with run fitness; wasn't my aerobic fitness that was challeneged, but rather my leg strength. I had to walk up one of the last hills, as my quads were toast, and I didn't want to blow myself up so close from the finish line, where a big PR was waiting for me. Hydration leading up to the race would also help. What would you do differently?: Run more. Going to focus on run and bike this winter, and better hydrate and take care of myself in the days leading up to the race. I pushed myself to the point where I could barely walk anymore, so there's not much more I could do. ![]() Post race
Warm down: After refueling and waiting for splits, David and I biked back to his vehicle to pack up. He ended up getting 3rd overall, with the 3rd fastest swim (19:46 on a long course) and the 7th fastest run (38:42)... absolutely amazing. Of course, I held my bike split over him :) What limited your ability to perform faster: Training. I've held since I started this season that this was a learning season, and I wouldn't put pressure on myself. Now that I've learned what this is all about, its time to set some goals. Event comments: Great race and course, lots of volunteers. Would recommend for anybody looking for a late season race. Last updated: 2010-09-27 12:00 AM
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United States
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 15/173
Age Group = M20-24
Age Group Rank = 3/4
Egg whites and oatmeal; had a decent enough sleep, and actually felt ready to go. Met up with my buddy David, who I was purportedly going to be challenging during the race, at the University, and we packed up and headed to Enumclaw. Made it on time, set up transition, and then shuttled out of the parking lot so we could leave early.
Did about a mile and a half run with David, and then took a pre-race bowel movement, hopped into my wetsuit, and got in the water. Ran out of BodyGlide; didn't think it was a big deal, but it would turn out to be. Got about 250 meters of swimming in prior to the start of the swim.