Portobello Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Edinburgh, Scotland
United Kingdom
Edinburgh Racing Co-op
12C / 54F
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 20m 42s
Overall Rank = 111/170
Age Group = Veteran
Age Group Rank = 30/54
Pre-race routine:

Stayed at my Mum's the night before. Her house is about a mile from the race start.
Went to a couple of fringe shows with the family, the first was called ghost which was a walk through Leith with headphones on listening to a strange story - quite interesting, the second was called fashion bus - this was terrible, the only good thing about it was it only cost £3 (I guess that was a clue). Dumped the kids back at my mum's and went for a walk along the beach with Z. Ended up at Central Bar which had a Karaoke night on (we did not sign). Only about 10 people in the bar, V. friendly, but bugged out after about half a pint when we started to worry about the number of insects (fleas) flying up from our seat.
Event warmup:

Went into the sea and thought - My god thats cold. Managed to get my head under the water and thought - F*** thats cold. Walked back to the line in the sand and thought - Bugger.
Swim
  • 17m 36s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 21s / 100 meters
Comments:

The swim was bad, bad, bad.
Complete melee at the start. I ended up bugging out and started taking a bit of a wide line to try and avoid the wrestling match. To the first buoy I still had someone swimming on my legs all the way. I think we were swimming against the tide as the first turn took so long to arrive. Main thought at this point was OMG I'm swimming more than double this next week. Headed for the next buoy, although I was just following the crowd as I couldn't see it at all. Eventually did a couple of breast strokes to spot it as I couldn't believe I wasn't there yet, it was still a fair way off. I now had some guy on my LHS who was keeping pace with me but every 10 yards he would suddenly slew right and crash into me. I breathe left and could see the crash coming every time but could do nothing about it.

Round the last bouy, nearly home. I swear the tide has changed, there is no way this is swimming with the tide. As I slowly approach the shore my hand hits something solid, I'm telling you it felt like a brick (the house variety). I came to a complete stop with that age old question running through my head - WTF was that.
Eventually make the shore but it feels like I've been swimming for half an hour.
What would you do differently?:

The swim was bad, bad, bad but in that strange tri way that was good. It was a test, it was hard. To be honest I wouldn't do anything different.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

T1 always feels like an eternity.
I went for putting the shoes on at transition rather than on the bike and inevitably found my station was as far away from the mount line as possible. Did a fantastic 50 yard cat-walk model clip-clop.
T1 time is included in the bike time.
What would you do differently?:

Work out how to put my shoes on while cycling.
Bike
  • 39m 33s
  • 12.43 miles
  • 18.86 mile/hr
Comments:

I went for quite a steady first lap. Came into the dodgy hairpin turn behind a guy who took it unbelievably cautiously. We both got stopped by a pedestrian crossing shortly after. 2nd lap was good, early on 3 women passed me in quick succession for a bit of a wake up call. Used my superior mass to pull them back a bit on the downhill. 3rd lap was good as well, the fast guys from the 2nd wave were now passing me at astounding pace but there were plenty of bodies to race against. Went for it a bit too fast at the dodgy hairpin and my bike went into a skid. I came to a virtual stop half way across the road going in the wrong direction.
Happy to do the bike in sub 40.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Fionna aparently has some video of this transition so maybe I shouldn't rate it until I've seen this footage. All seemed good to me though.
T2 time is included in the run time.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 23m 33s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 07m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

Tried to take it quite easy out to the turn point. My feet felt like blocks of ice, scratch that, I couldn't feel my feet.
Shortly after the turn point I saw Doug, a vintage guy from the Stirling tri club. I knew he would be catching me shortly. I tried to up the pace a bit and pick out targets to aim for. Said hi to Doug as he ran past me and tried to keep in touch with him. Felt pretty strong at the end and managed to run a few people down. Good run.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Post race
Warm down:

As usual no warm down.
Headed up to the meadows for Fringe Sunday, loads of shows on to lie about and watch.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The tide.

Event comments:

My swim time in last years race was 12:23 over 5 mins faster than this year. As an example of how hard the swim was this year the fastest person in my heat did it in 13:15. Taking this into consideration I'm very happy to do an overall time that is only 2mins slower than last year.




Last updated: 2006-04-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:17:36 | 750 meters | 02m 21s / 100meters
Age Group: 29/54
Overall: 103/170
Performance: Bad
Suit: Orca speedsuit
Course: Triangular course, out to the first bhouy, across to second one and then back to shore.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 12C / 54F Current: High
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:39:33 | 12.43 miles | 18.86 mile/hr
Age Group: 30/54
Overall: 100/170
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: 3 four mile laps, no huge hills just a steady incline. The main feature is a hairpin bend at the bottom of the descent.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:23:33 | 03.11 miles | 07m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 38/54
Overall: 119/170
Performance: Good
Course: This is the flattest possible running course. Straight out along the prom and back.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4