Buffalo Triathlon - Sprint Course - TriathlonSprint


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Buffalo, Minnesota
United States
Buffalo Triathlon
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 24m 23s
Overall Rank = 419/953
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 16/47
Pre-race routine:

Had a bad night's sleep --woke up a lot between 1 am and 5 am when I finally got up. But good night's sleep the night before. Since I had 4 hours before my race would start, I had a big bowl of Cheerios and OJ. Should have had a bagel and peanut butter--see below. Packed my bag the night before so I just waited for Ross, who blew up my tires and loaded the bike abd we were out before 6:15 am. Very little training in the 2 weeks before the race bc of hip flexor injury and Italy trip, so I wasn't very nervous. Did slow deep breathing on the way and was pretty chill by the time we got there.
Event warmup:

After setting up in transition and getting marked etc. all I did was pee a couple of times and then swam. Nice water temp. The long sleeve wet suit fatigues my arms a bit, I noticed.
Swim
  • 08m 47s
  • 440 yards
  • 11s / 100 yards
Comments:

I hate swim starts that are mixed gender---guys always think they are better swimmers than they are and I end up behind some breast-stroker who wants to be first in the water. I got out of the scrum pretty quick though and into a great drafting position before the first buoy, but then the last waves' breast and backstrokers were clumped up and I had a hard time getting a clear path away from them. It was quite crowded. My legs were feeling heavy from the start but now it was worse. Should have eaten more substantially at 5 am. But finally got a pretty clear path.
What would you do differently?:

What can you do when other folks are in the way? Look for a way out if possible but it's the nature of the thing. My swim was pretty slow, in part because I had to stop a couple of times to look for a way clear, but the heavy legs too.
I did not run out of the water--too much energy expanded--until we were out of the muddy area. Then jogged a bit.
Transition 1
  • 03m 57s
Comments:

Was it really below average? I truly suck at transitions. Took a bit to get the suit off. I am putzy and I don't run in and out and I don't have my shoes clipped onto the bike, and I don't jump on. Long-ish transition here too and up a hill that was covered in astroturf.
What would you do differently?:

Practice transitions. I spent nearly 6.5 minutes in it over all which is silly. I should set a goal of shaving off 1.5 minutes and figuring out how to do that.
Bike
  • 41m 41s
  • 13 miles
  • 18.71 mile/hr
Comments:

No bike training for 2 weeks. Not a good plan but necessary. Oh well. Still 18.7 is nothing to sneeze at. ALso got spooked by some idiot guy in a Maple Grove tri shirt with gray hair. He decided to pass me on the right, and he had to ride in the narrow strip gravel before the embankment to do it because I was all the way to the right and someone was also passing me on the left at the same time. I heard a guy behind me say the old guy had been riding wrecklessly earlier. Sometimes the clumps of riders at different points mean you need to slow down for safety. I slowed down a few times and it is frustrating but less than a crash would be.
What would you do differently?:

Train on hills.
Transition 2
  • 02m 21s
Comments:

Again, sucky.
Run
  • 27m 40s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

I hadn't run 3 miles straight for about 7-8 weeks because of my hip flexor. I kept it slow so I wouldn't have to walk and I'm pretty pleased that I managed it with minor tightness.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing/
Post race
Warm down:

As usual, nothing much. I took some pix and then put my bike in the car and waited for the Oly folks to come in. Missed a lot of people bc the car was parked far away. But we got together at the end for the awards and food.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

No training for 14 days, save walking the streets of Italy.

Event comments:

I like this race; it has a good vibe. It's community-sponsored and there are no commercial ads on the shirts which is cool. Good prizes for winners and a really nice awards ceremony that included a live band playing before and after.

But they made some changes that were not good. About 1600 between the two distances and this is too many for the venue--not new since it is like that every year. New method of packet pick-up meant waiting in 2 lines instead of 1--that was annoying and no faster in the end. There were not enough volunteers to manage the lines that snaked around and intersected making it confusing as to what the lines were even for. Most races do lines in alphabetical order. Use small intervals in alphabet so you can better spread out the volunteers. Why not use volunteers to pre-pack the packets the week before with everything but the shirt? Because of the location, many people drive in that morning for the race, so early packet pick-up isn't an option for many.

It's nice to do the pulled pork sandwiches, which are different from other races and pretty substantial and good. But that was it--nothing for vegetarians (not to mention Jews and Muslims) except a pickle and chips and a soda. There should be something for non-pork eaters. That kind of a meal also made for more really long lines and waits for food--also a new vendor this year who didn't realize the volume. It would be great to have a table of pick-up and go food that would have a minimal line--like cookies, chips, yogurts, drinks etc. near the finish.

Worse, they ran out of medals for the later finishers--not cool. I wish I had thought to give my medal to someone coming in toward the end of the Oly--they should have had one for sure. Also ran out of small T-shirts really early on in packet pick-up. Why? We all put our size down on the application form. They should say that later registerers may not get a shirt if they don't want to over order. Less swag than last year--no water bottles, no cool mesh bags at the end. Not sure why since they probably had more participants this year than last. Kind of a bummer when you expect it.
I am grateful for every volunteer and they have lots of them. But many aren't very well prepared. Last year and this year, I heard lots of them saying, i don't know where this or that is. They knew their own job but the race director should take them through the pre-race and the layout so they can answer questions from racers about where to go next etc, whether through an email or meeting. I know how hard it is to get adequate numbers of volunteers and how you need to balance how much you can ask of them, but it seems like the race director could work on this.




Last updated: 2012-02-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:47 | 440 yards | 11s / 100yards
Age Group: 10/47
Overall: 0/953
Performance: Average
Suit: vortex full sleeve
Course: It's an out and back loop. Pretty calm but for the churning of the other swimmers. A little weedy and murky, but warm. No complains about the venue.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:57
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:41:41 | 13 miles | 18.71 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/47
Overall: 0/953
Performance: Average
Wind: Headwind
Course: Hills. A lot of them. But it was a nice recently repaved road for a lot of it. I didn't appreciate how hilly it was despite looking at the map and hearing others mention it. But I did a pretty good job of shifting gears. I will need to work on hills before Duluth.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:21
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:27:40 | 03 miles | 09m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 22/47
Overall: 0/953
Performance: Below average
Course: Nice and flat, out and back, same as last year. A little hot because there isn't shade but by the run, it wasn't too bad. You do have to run up a little hill at the finish and take a sharp right and go down a hill through the balloons, which ends in a bottle neck of people and some crashing thanks to the pickup on the downhill. Why not extend the run out a bit on the other end before the turn around so the finish is straight?
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4