Patriot's Sprint - TriathlonSprint


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Williamsburg, Virginia
United States
Set Up Events
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 52m 18s
Overall Rank = 379/562
Age Group = Clydesdales
Age Group Rank = 14/16
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4am, pack the last few things in the car and drove the 50 minutes to the race site. I stopped and got some breakfast on the way and it kept me full until well after the race. Having picked up my packet the previous day I was able to skip check in and have extra time to go to transition and set up. I chatted with some other triathletes and then headed down to the swim start a little after 7am.
Event warmup:

Headed into the water to check temperature. It was able quite shallow for the first 100m or so which was a little reassuring.
Swim
  • 29m 13s
  • 820 yards
  • 03m 34s / 100 yards
Comments:

I was extremely nervous about the swim as I had tried one open water triathlon in the past and was unable to finish it and I wanted to do this to prove to myself that I could swim in an open water tri. The swim is certainly my weakest of the 3 sports. I did pretty well until the first bouy and then lost momentum. I took a quick break at one of the kayaks before moving on. The second part of the swim was by far the worst as I was being caught by other waves and this distracted me greatly but this is something I will overcome as time goes on. My supposedly fog proof goggles did not help so I pulled them off about half way and left them on the top of my head and I could see much better. The swim took a lot longer than I had hoped but I was able to complete it and that was a huge acheivement for me.
What would you do differently?:

Train in the open water. Pool swimming is better than nothing but really can't prepare you as well as being out in the open water where there are no walls or floors to rest/stand on. My plan is to spend more time in the pool to build up stamina and log more time in the open water to get more used to this setting.
Transition 1
  • 06m 3s
Comments:

The transition area was a little over 1/4 mile from the swim exit. I was exhausted after the swim so I walked the first little bit until I recovered a little bit. They had an area where you could leave your sandals to run this part but I chose to run barefoot and it worked out well. I was able to jog the last 2/3rds of the way to the transition area and did ok getting ready for the bike. I skipped the socks for the bike as my feet were still pretty wet and figured it would be easier to put them on in T2 where they would be drier. That worked out really well.
What would you do differently?:

Everything went pretty well. I am still learning how to speed things up and that will come with time and practice.
Bike
  • 43m 9s
  • 12.43 miles
  • 17.28 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike is by far my favorite and strongest part of the race. I don't have a road/tri bike so it holds me back some but I can still pass quite a few people on my hybrid. It was a nice course that was mostly flat and was closed to traffic for about half of the course. There were a few spots where people were 2-3 abreast and not passing quickly enough but this was probably due to the fact that there were a lot of newbies out there who may not know the drafting/passing rules. This slowed me up a little but not worth worrying about as I was not in contention to win or place. I went fairly strong for the majority of the race as my biking legs are strong but let off a little for the last mile so I had something left for the run.
What would you do differently?:

Train a little more in the rural areas so I get more used to riding at race pace for longer periods. But I was very happy with my performance on this part of the race.
Transition 2
  • 01m 58s
Comments:

T2 was pretty good. I had a little trouble racking the bike as I was the last one of my group in and I have a taller bike, so it took a few extra seconds to get it in place. Changing shoes and putting socks on went pretty well (Usually I put socks on in T1 and this was the first time trying it in T2 and it worked much better as my feet were much drier) Overall it was a good transition for me.
What would you do differently?:

Work on racking the bike more quickly. Practicing it a few times before each race would be a great benefit.
Run
  • 31m 57s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 10m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

The run went pretty well. I had to walk periodically but this was expected as I had not trained in running very much over the summer. Slowing down on the last mile of the bike worked well as it gave my legs a chance to recover and not feel like jelly at the start of the run. I finished the run in approx the same time as my last sprint tri which was impressive due to the lack of training.
What would you do differently?:

Spend more time on the streets running and get my milage up. Doing some more brick training outside would also be benefical.
Post race
Warm down:

Grabbed some water and slowly drank it. Then went over to the food tent and got some candy pieces to raise sugar levels and pizza to replace lost carbs.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of open water swimming practice. Definetely need to spend more time in the water, both in the pool and even more so in the open water.

Lack of running practice also impeded my overall time.

Event comments:

The event was well run and had plenty of volunteers and Police Officers to keep us going in the right direction. The bike mount/dismount area and the first part of the bike course is very cramped but there is little that can be done to improve this due to the location of the race. I loved the race and look forward to running the event next year, hopefully in the Half Iron distance.




Last updated: 2011-09-12 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:13 | 820 yards | 03m 34s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/16
Overall: 552/562
Performance: Bad
Suit: None
Course: Rectangular course with right hand turns. Being a 750m course it was fairly easy to see the bouys and turn markers
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 79F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 06:03
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:43:09 | 12.43 miles | 17.28 mile/hr
Age Group: 14/16
Overall: 347/562
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: 12 mile course over mostly flat ground. The first half mile was on some really narrow trails and some parts had grass growing through it. After that it was all smooth roads and bike paths. I enjoyed the course.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:58
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:31:57 | 03.11 miles | 10m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 12/16
Overall: 430/562
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back on a mix of road and cycling trails. The course is flat and has some shaded areas.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5