Binbrook Triathlon/Duathlon & Give-It-A-Tri - TriathlonMini Sprint


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Binbrook, Ontario
Canada
HSBC Multisport Canada Triathlon Series
35C / 95F
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 01m 34s
Overall Rank = 56/100
Age Group = 30-39
Age Group Rank = 10/10
Pre-race routine:

Surprisingly I had a good night's sleep before this race (my very first ever). In the morning, especially when driving up to the event, I started to get a lot of butterflies in my stomach. Once I registered and got my transition area set up, I calmed down a bit.

Breakfast consisted of:
-Bowl of oatmeal and half of a banana
-Peanut butter sandwich
-Lots of water
-Coffee
-Clif bar 30 minutes before the race start

Event warmup:

None. In hindsight, this was a bad move.
Swim
  • 18m 21s
  • 400 meters
  • 04m 35s / 100 meters
Comments:

What a horrible swim. I knew that swimming was my weakest sport but over the past couple of weeks, my swimming ability improved alot at the pool so I thought I would be okay. I can swim 200m freestyle continuously take 1 minute recovery on my back or breaststroke and repeat and that was going to be my strategy for the swim portion of the race. I don't think I did more than 25m without being completely winded. I had to resort to side stroke for the rest of the swim portion and even so I was barely catching my breath. A check on the heart rate monitor that I was wearing showed that I was averaging 155 bpm which really isn't all that fast and certainly shouldn't leave me feeling winded. Did I go out too fast? Is it because I didn't warm up at all? I don't know.

As a funny side note, when the "go" horn went off I waited at the right/back of my wave to let the faster swimmers ahead. I waited, and waited and waited some more wondering when everyone else was going to jump in the water. It wasn't until people were half way down to the first buoy that I realized that I was hanging around with the second wave. I probably lost a minute right there. What a newbie!

What would you do differently?:

1) Clearly, I am very far behind when it comes to swimming and I need lots more pool time to improve in this discipline.

2) Start with my wave, not after it.
Transition 1
  • 02m
Comments:

Not a bad transition at all. I was quite surprised at how smoothly it all went. My transition area was set up perfectly and everything worked like clockwork: foot rinse, sunglasses, helmet, race belt, another foot rinse, socks, right shoe, left shoe. Still winded, I walked to the bike mounting point. If I would have run to the T1 timing mat I'm sure I would have shaved another 10 seconds off.
What would you do differently?:

Next time, I will dispense of the first foot rinse and do it just before I put on my socks, probably saving another 5 seconds or so.
Bike
  • 21m 22s
  • 10 kms
  • 28.08 km/hr
Comments:

The swim took a lot out of me and though my performance on the bike portion was good, I know I could have done better if only I wasn't completely spent. I did make up a lot of places on the bike portion. Saying "on the left" over and over sure helped to boost my confidence. I stayed in the aero position for most of the right but could have stayed in it even longer.
What would you do differently?:

Need to practice my mounting and dismounting so that I can jump on and off the bike instead of stopping to get on and off.
Transition 2
  • 01m 9s
Comments:

I thought this transition went equally smooth to the first one but the time just isn't showing that. I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't run into and out of transition and not because of the cycling to running shoe changeover. I think having everything laid out as well as I did in transition helped tremendously.
What would you do differently?:

Run.
Run
  • 18m 44s
  • 2.5 kms
  • 07m 29s  min/km
Comments:

As with the bike segment, the horrible performance in the swim portion really affected my overall performance. Though my normal 5K pace is 5m 38s/km, my 2.5km pace was dreadfully slower. Took some water at the first station and immediately got light stomach cramps which went away in about a minute.

One disconcering thing that happened is that at a HR of about 170bmp, I started to get a wheezy sounding inhale. I've maintained an 170bmp HR for long periods during training and never had wheezing before. I'm not sure if it was the high temperatures or perhaps the air quality. Whatever it was it impacted me and as a result I had to slow down and walk a couple of times to catch my breath.
What would you do differently?:

Train outdoors more especially in the heat. Practice taking water during the run.
Post race
Warm down:

Lots of hugs from my wife! Kept moving for a couple of minutes and took in some water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I definitely should have warmed up before the race with a quick jog and maybe even a light swim.

My pre race nutrition (3 days before the race) was horrible. I over ate and generally for dinner I ate the wrong things. What was I thinking?

Event comments:

This was my first triathlon. As a result of the horrible swim segment I found this to be a lot more difficult that I had imagined. Still, I was proud of myself for finishing.

Race photos can be found here - http://www.pbase.com/ctenche/binbrook_triathlon_2006




Last updated: 2006-04-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:21 | 400 meters | 04m 35s / 100meters
Age Group: 10/10
Overall: 87/100
Performance: Bad
Suit: Ninteen full wetsuit
Course: Triangle shaped out and back.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 21C / 70F Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:21:22 | 10 kms | 28.08 km/hr
Age Group: 6/10
Overall: 23/100
Performance:
Wind: Headwind
Course: L-shaped out and back with some rolling hills.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:09
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:18:44 | 02.5 kms | 07m 29s  min/km
Age Group: 9/10
Overall: 69/100
Performance: Below average
Course: A mix between grass, gravel and some trail running with some small hills thrown in for good measure.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4