Cascade Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Hampstead, Maryland
United States
Piranha Sports
55F / 13C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 37m 4s
Overall Rank = 71/210
Age Group = 24-29
Age Group Rank = 2/4
Pre-race routine:

Out of bed at 4 and on the road by 4:30. I stopped and grabbed a 7-11 coffee and a granola bar to eat on the way. Collected my timing chip, set up my TA and wandered around a little.
Event warmup:

Did some jogs from bike in/out and swim in/run out back and forth to my TA. I had a pretty easy-to-find spot. Once we got to the water I was able to do a few swims to get my arms moving.
Swim
  • 13m 11s
  • 545 yards
  • 02m 25s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swim was an in water start, the outside was in shallow water and the inside was in deep water. Everyone crowded where they could stand up, so at the 30 second warning I moved to the inside and started from the deeper water. I found someone to draft until the first turn and got there in no time without using any energy. I passed the draftee and hit a nice rhythm on the back stretch, going easy but fast enough to pass most people. Sighting was good and apparently years of childhood swimming have given me a pretty even stroke! Final turn was good, although we got a bit bunched and I took a could of kicks/elbows to the body and face. Nothing really bad though. I sighted well on the last leg, but the guy to my left did not, meaning he kept swimming into me. I would get knocked back, then push ahead to pass him while he drifted, get knocked back again and have to start over. Lesson learned, I should have just chilled and cut behind him instead of trying to pass on the outside.

- Swim time includes a 1/4 mile of running up a MASSIVE hill. I knew this, so I it the lap on the Garmin as I came out of the water. My Garmin recorded my water exit at 10:53.
What would you do differently?:

Go harder for the first 100 yards. My parents and wife were watching and said I was in the top 1/3rd from the water. Had I pushed harder earlier, I could have avoided some of the issues on the last leg.
Transition 1
  • 01m 53s
Comments:

I had to put on a shirt because I don't have a tri top under my wetsuit. That took and extra few seconds to get on. I'd also have left my shoes on my bike normally, but there was a nasty gravel run to the mount line, so I decided put them on in transition.
What would you do differently?:

No shirt and shoes on bike. I could save MAYBE 10-20 seconds. not a lot.
Bike
  • 54m 38s
  • 15 miles
  • 16.47 mile/hr
Comments:

I had a good run getting out of the TA and onto the bike course. We had a nice downhill to start with, so I got settled in and comfortable pretty fast. First climb started about a mile in and I took it very conservatively. There were four climbs of about a mile each and I was going to take it easy on the first couple and pace myself from there. First two went by pretty easy. I got passed a lot by people on fancy bikes, but I was also passing people from the Duathlon (which started earlier). Add a few cars and there were some hairy moments, but mostly during the climbs at around 10-12mph.

The middle five miles was a hill in, steady but shallow climb then long downhill. I was recovered almost completely by mile 10, going into the first of the second set of climbs and had passed a number of people on the way up the small hills leading to it, although mostly Duathletes.

I powered through the final two climbs, knowing there was a couple of miles of downhill recovery before we arrived at the TA. At this point I was mixed up with the womens leader and some of the leaders from the men 40+ pack who had started in the two waves behind mine, so I tried to hang with them on the ride back into TA. I failed. I did catch, pass and drop several folks who were struggling up the last climb both from my wave and from the wave after who had blown by. I felt pretty strong and was able to hang with a couple of guys who dropped me as soon as we hit the top. Stupid aero.
What would you do differently?:

Get a fancy carbon tri bike. Seriously though, I need to work more on the flats. Up hills I can kill it, but I struggle on shallow hills and flats. I run out of gears a little early on the downhills too, with my max being a 48x11 so I have to find a way to make up for that.
Transition 2
  • 01m 34s
Comments:

Left shoes on feet for run across gravel, then had to lace my running shoes. It took forever.
What would you do differently?:

Get fancy stretchy laces and leave bike shoes on bike.
Run
  • 25m 46s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 08m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Holy crap this one hurt. I started out slow after having a nasty stitch appear on both my previous bricks. It did appear, but it was manageable and probably my biggest limiter on this run. I'm happy with the time (5k PR), but I REALLY need to figure out what causes the stitches and how to run/breathe comfortably. The course was crowded, but I finished my second loop while there were still a ton of people on the first one so I felt pretty good. HR was very steady throughout. I would have like to have it about 5bpm higher and taken about 10 seconds per mile from my time, but that's a challenge for next time.
What would you do differently?:

Not have a stitch. No seriously.
Post race
Warm down:

Got water, ate food and chatted with parents and wife.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The fact that until 9 months ago I was a smoker and did no physical activity.

Event comments:

Please support this race, it was an awesome experience from start to finish. Yes, the bike course is hard and there's a massive hill at the end of the run, but it's a ton of fun.




Last updated: 2012-03-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:11 | 545 yards | 02m 25s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/210
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Counter-clockwise triangle loop - 100yrds out, 300 yards along the back and about 100 yards back in.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 66F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:53
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:54:38 | 15 miles | 16.47 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/210
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: The course was another triangle, with two significant hills - one straight out of transition and another up to the first turn. Flat along the back stretch with two climbs on the last leg and back towards the TA.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:34
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:25:46 | 03.1 miles | 08m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/210
Performance: Average
Course: Drop downhill to road, two out and back loops of the road, then back up the massive hill.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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