Auburn Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Auburn, California
United States
Bradventures
83F / 28C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 43m 10s
Overall Rank = 106/113
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 8/9
Pre-race routine:

Due to there being limited turn around space at the race start, the husband dropped me off about a mile from the start and I biked in--thankfully its mostly downhill. After that, I got everything prepped. I then went to see how the swim was set up--it was a triangle but you couldn't see all 3 buoys from the start, so I went traipsing through the underbrush to a spot where I could see it. At that point I just sat down on a boulder and chilled--got my head in the right place.
Event warmup:

Walking around and a bit of stretching. There was mandatory 10 minute warm up in the water (its had fairly cold temps in the past), so I swam around for a bit and managed to get a splinter in my foot...At this point my thought is: Crap! How am I going to cycle and run when I can't put weight on my foot!?!?
Luckily, I was able to hop onto the dock and pull out the splinters (it was actually 2 of 'em...just my luck.
Swim
  • 30h 07m 3s
  • 0 meters
  • / 100 meters
Comments:

This was definitely my best swim ever. I was able to keep going, which is something new. The only issues I had was that my arms and shoulders were a bit sore, but it wasn't enough to really hurt my swimming. overall, I was really happy with it.
What would you do differently?:

Well, I got the whole confidence/anxiety thing under control (read--breathing is okay now), so now it is time to work on SPEED! Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.
Transition 1
  • 04m 35s
Comments:

I was a little wobbly getting to transition (lots of run time from water to trans. and the parking lot that trans was in was really rough and jagged--lots of rocks/pebbles--not fun for bare feet!). This transition was faster than the one I did at this tri last year, so I am not disappointed with it
What would you do differently?:

toughen up my feet! practice the transitions.
Bike
  • 2h 02m 59s
  • 0 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Possibly my worst bike performance...I knew the course was difficult, but it truly kicked my butt. I ended up having to walk up the hill of death (no surprise), but I didn't walk up the other hills that I had to walk up last year. Leaving transition one I was having a lot of problems breathing, so that didn't help things. On one of the few flat spots in the first couple miles I managed to get the heart rate/breathing under control, just to have everything rise again at the next incline. When I reached the hill of death, I couldn't even make it a 4th of the way up and had to dismount. When I reached 3/4 of the way up, there were a couple of people 'cheerleading' (there's a lot of those at this race--its really cool!)--they yelled that there was ice-cold beer at the top waiting! Oh if only...
After that it was into some steep rollers--7% up followed by immediately downhill, then another one...and so on..after the long stretch of rollers, it was into a residential area, onto Auburn-Folsom Blvd--a 4 lane street. We followed that then onto the road next to Railhead Park--where transition 2 was; we bypassed the park and went through this business parking lot--that was unpaved, full of potholes, and gravelly...not pleasant. this led to ANOTHER neighborhood, with a couple VERY steep hills. I had to walk one of them. After that it was onto a frontage road next to the freeway--some rolling hills but nothing majorly steep--unfortunately, my speed was averaging about 9mph on those hills. The frontage then went through an underpass across the freeway to another road--more roller and then a STEEP downhill--the sign said it was a 12% grade; my first thought was crap I have to climb this on the way back...the second thought was I am going 42 mph on this!!!! It was very fast. After about 2 more uphill miles, I reached the turnaround, and then got to face the hills I just did. Luckily, apart from the 12% hill(which I had to walk up), it was mostly downhill back to transition. It did NOT help that the bottle of Gatorade I had on the bike was icky. I had filled/mixed it earlier in the week, and it hadn't sat well--lesson learned, mix electrolytes FRESH for the race. This was a tough ride--the half has even MORE hills (including one named "LeMond walked"...that says something), so I'll stick to the sprint...for now.
What would you do differently?:

HILL REPEATS....I need that. I also need to continue working on my speed. As for my bike, I NEED to get it tuned up, the derailler does not like switching gears smoothly. Often when I switched gears on the hills, it would get harder pedaling until it switched--unfortunately that would take anywhere from 2-15 seconds to switch. This was a very tough course, and though I know the lack of training and the bike issues were the main issue, it wont ever be an easy course--I need to train better for next year.
Yes, I WILL do this one again.
Transition 2
  • 01m 7s
Comments:

Nothing bad here--it went smoothly.
What would you do differently?:

nothing.
Run
  • 1h 04m 20s
  • 0 miles
  •  min/mile
Comments:

The run course is decent, its not a hard course, though a bit warm. By this point, my breathing was not good. I was able to run a lot of it, but I did have to walk a bit as well. Luckily, my tri club had an aid station about 2.5 miles in, and they were very good about making sure I had fluids and icy sponges--very helpful on the way back in (it was quite hot by that point).
What would you do differently?:

Run run run--I need to train more. I also need to stop getting colds in the weeks before a race.
Post race
Warm down:

walked around and grabbed my food

What limited your ability to perform faster:

breathing. lack of training for the two weeks prior to the race.

Event comments:

Halfway through the run I decided that I was going to get a burger later on cause "I DESERVED IT!!!". After the race, it turned out that the post race feast included burgers!! Also, the best grapes and strawberries EVER.
Clint was wonderfully thoughtful and brought along a chair to sit in--that was great.
I truly enjoy this race, it will always be special, knowing that it was my first ever triathlon. It does help, knowing that I get a discount for every year I complete in this race, but I would still compete regardless. Its well done, and the community really supports it--there are so many residents that will come out and yell support to us--its such a great feeling! I did improve over last year, moving from 5th from last up to 7th from last! Maybe next year I'll break out of the bottom 10...




Last updated: 2012-03-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
30:07:03 | 00 meters | / 100meters
Age Group: 9/9
Overall: 103/113
Performance: Good
Suit: sleeveless xterra
Course: Triangle shaped course in a canyon surrounded lake--all boat traffic nearby was prohibited, so the water was glass-flat! Until a sheriff's boat had to scare away some boats, then some waves hit in the middle. It was a start from in the water, and you could not see the first buoy at that point, about 100m out, it was visible. Its a good course, just impossible to practice in due to boat activity regularly.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:35
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:02:59 | 00 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/9
Overall: 103/113
Performance: Below average
Wind: Little
Course: HILLS!!!! The first 6 miles was pretty tough, including an uphill climb (not a huge amount but still) coming out of transition, then after about 2 miles, the "HILL OF DEATH", which lead to pretty steep rolling hills for another 3 miles. After that, some moderate rollers, into the park area where transition 2 was at. We crossed through there past a river canyon overlook park followed by a brief ride across a gravel strewn parking lot into a quiet neighborhood. the neighborhood had a couple of really steep hills. After that, the course turned onto a frontage road next to I-80. More rolling hills to an underpass to the other side of the freeway and another frontage road. This road had some very long, very steep hills--one of which on the way out was a steep 12% grade downhill! Finally the turn around came up at about mile 14 (none too soon for me). At that point it was back down the frontage roads to the park--including the 12% grade which was now an UPHILL battle!
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: low
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Bad
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:07
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:04:20 | 00 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 8/9
Overall: 107/113
Performance: Average
Course: Dirt trail along a small canal onto a fire road. The road led into a canyon, where the road turns into gravel, then back into a paved road, then led to a singletrack dirt trail, back onto the fire road.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4