Tri the Creek - DAC Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Denver, Colorado
United States
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 08m 27s
Overall Rank = 13/400
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/30
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:30. Power bagel, coffee, vitamins, etc. Same routine. Got to the race really early. I was the first one into transition, so I picked a prime spot by the bike/run out. Set up my transition, talked to Mark and his wife, checked out the swim course and the transition set up.
Event warmup:

Short run and then a little swimming. Probably about 10 minutes each. Should have probably done a little more warmup, and I'll remember that for the next race.
Swim
  • 11m 54s
  • 800 meters
  • 01m 29s / 100 meters
Comments:

The swim start was kind of a melee. I've only done a couple of wave starts like that before, but this one was the worst yet. A little nudging, elbows, even a few kicks is bound to happen, but no one could see the first buoy so we were just swimming all over each other trying to find a line and stay somewhat on course.

Swim time includes about a 100 yard run uphill over grass to T1, so the course was short. I don't know how short, but short. In other words, my time is kind of meaningless, because I don't know how far the actual swim was, what kind of split I had, and whether it was near goal pace.
What would you do differently?:

No real option, so I guess nothing.
Transition 1
  • 00m 37s
Comments:

The transition went fine, but getting onto the bike and getting clipped in sucked. I wasted 15 seconds messing around getting my pedals clipped in and riding.
What would you do differently?:

Pull it together mentally and get going.
Bike
  • 34m 10s
  • 13.67 miles
  • 24.01 mile/hr
Comments:

Though my time was more or less fine, the bike leg was pretty mediocre. My legs felt sluggish pretty much right out of the gate and my breathing was ragged through the first half of the bike leg. Even though I can't really complain about the speed or pace, mentally and physically it just didn't feel good.

Thank god I know the park and the course, because there were at least 2 unmarked turns on the course without volunteers.
What would you do differently?:

I don't know, settle in and pace better. I need a mental strategy to deal with things not feeling "right." I expected the course to feel familiar and for my legs to react like they normally do, and then I felt like I just had no jump. Need to think about how to react mentally to that condition and adjust.
Transition 2
  • 00m 30s
Comments:

This was pretty quick. Very slight hang up getting my running shoes on, but I was out of there quickly. I probably need to practice riding with shoes on top of pedals more and jumping off the bike, but that's a couple of seconds tops.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 21m 13s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

This is the only part of the race that I was fairly pleased with. I basically matched my best open 5K time in this race. That's a very promising sign that I'm getting a little faster where I need the most speed. Still, I was passed by 4 guys on the run, so that part sucks.

Coming back in, they didn't mark the course well and didn't have enough volunteers in place to direct people. Matt was saying that the winner had to basically run around the finish and back in, because no one was prepared. What a joke.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, I ran relaxed, with good form and high cadence, pushed pace but felt steady, and didn't relax anywhere on the course. This was a pretty decent run for me.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretching and walking around. Searching desperately for water and something half way decent to eat. Who the hell serves pizza, pretzels and beer at 8 am, and doesn't offer immediately available water and gatorade, bananas and oranges? I'm not trying to be a health weeny either, I just can't come off a triathlon where I pushed to the point of near puking and take in beer and pizza immediately.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Poor mental game today, and my legs felt sluggish.

Event comments:

I have two overall thoughts about this race. The first is that the field was a lot tougher than I expected. Looking at the past few years results, my time would have placed me at least top 5. So mentally, it was a little discouraging to come out of the water with about 10 people in front of me, then transition to the bike where I couldn't catch any of them, and then transition to the run where I got passed a couple of times. Even though I beat my goal time by a minute and a half, I can't help walking away from this race feeling a little dissapointed. And I think that feeling contributed heavily to feeling like I just wasn't going that fast during the race. Looking at my pacing and result, I can't complain, but while I was racing I just felt slow, and I wonder if that was more related to the competition than my own performance. In the future, I obviously need to focus on myself and not worry about the competition, but right now I can't get past the feeling that I could have and should have gone faster and placed higher.

The second thing, which will probably sound a little like sour grapes after that first thought, is that this race was disorganized, the DAC skimped on everything, and the overall event sucked. Race fees are getting too expensive to have balloons for buoys, all black print crappy looking t-shirts, disorganized and poorly marked course and transition areas, too few volunteers, nasty food, and a shortage of prizes. Again, this will sound like sour grapes, but they claim on the website to give prizes for the top 3 in each AG, and they only gave prizes for top two. That just sucks. The DAC is known in this community as the ritzy athletic club, and the Rattlesnake race last year made this race look like some kind of backwater, podunk, crap-fest. In short, that was the first and last DAC Sprint triathlon for me.




Last updated: 2006-03-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:54 | 800 meters | 01m 29s / 100meters
Age Group: 1/30
Overall: 9/400
Performance: Average
Suit: Sleeveless
Course: This course was pretty straightforward, but very poorly marked. You went straight out from the boat launch to the first buoy, which consisted of three small ballons. Then a soft right to a large orange buoy. Then a 180 degree turn to the next buoy, which again was three small balloons. Then to the beach. The balloons were ridiculous and impossible to see.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:37
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
00:34:10 | 13.67 miles | 24.01 mile/hr
Age Group: 3/30
Overall: 11/400
Performance:
Wind: None
Course: Basically the same as the TT course from the CCTT series, with a couple of slight modifications to make it longer.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:30
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:21:13 | 03.11 miles | 06m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/30
Overall: 31/400
Performance: Good
Course: Flat course with one little hill.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 1