ITU World Championship Series San Diego Triathlon - Sprint Course - TriathlonSprint


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San Diego, California
United States
ITU World Championship Series
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 40m 23s
Overall Rank = 560/597
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 21/22
Pre-race routine:

Seeing that this was the first race of the year, I didnt have many high hopes. Just wanted to finish and survive the hill!
Drove to San Diego on Friday AM to check in and watch the Womens Pro Race. Walked around the expo and checked my bike before walking back to the beach-house (~2miles) then dinner and bed. Got up Saturday AM and my mom dropped me off at the race around 6. Olympic group started at 6:15am and Sprinters were not let into Transition until 6:45am so I sat around, stretched, ate peanut butter crackers and drank water. Got into Transition and set up then walked around to get aquainted with everything and wait until my mom and aunt arrived on bikes!
Event warmup:

My wave was the first of the Sprint Group which started at 8:45am. Before I just walked around, put sunscreen on (apparently forgot my arms) and kept loose while watching the Olympic people finish. Got my wet-suit on and got in the water for a minute before they called us to the start.
Swim
  • 16m 55s
  • 750 yards
  • 02m 16s / 100 yards
Comments:

When the gun went off, lots of people ran out of the chute way to the left to avoid swimming. I hadnt even thought of doing that, so followed a smaller group straight into the water. During my warm-up swim, there was lots of sea-grass, so I hoped that straight out from the start would be cleared a bit, but it wasnt. Guess I should have run left. I had good sighting for the first half but I think I was spending too much time at it. If I were to put my head down and swim, my breathing was easier, but then I became worried about going in the right direction. After rounding the first bouy, I found some open water and swam good for about 200 yards. with about 200 yards to go, a swimmer from the wave behind me caught up, so I jumped in behind him and did some good drafting. It was nice to know that I could follow him and keep up! about 100 yards from shore, it got grassy again. You couldnt really stand up and run because the ground was too mushy, but it was hard to swim through the grass...glad to be done with that swim, but its the bike that has me nervous!
What would you do differently?:

Put my head in the water and swim. I get too worried about sighting so I keep my head up, then it makes it harder to breathe. Also Practice Open-water swimming with my wetsuit
Transition 1
  • 03m 42s
Comments:

My rack was really close to the swim, which made it easier to find, but that meant that I had to run the whole length of the transition with my bike (both ways.) Everything went smoothly, no complaints!
What would you do differently?:

Practice Ha!
Bike
  • 1h 27m 7s
  • 16.12 miles
  • 11.10 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike was what had me worried. I was unable to ride (let alone drive) the course until the day before, I made time to drive it. Being from the desert, I have few hills to practice riding and so was not ready. I knew I could make up some time on the downhill, but it wouldnt be enough. The ride out over the bay, down Reed and up Mission was great. There were potholes, but they had been decently marked and some even filled. I guess I am just used to riding on roads that are rough.
As I started up the hill, I knew I was not going to make it all the way up so I pushed as long as I could and told myself I would not be the first one to walk. I made sure there were a few others walking around me before I dismounted! I would say probably 1/5 people were walking.
The way down was amazing. I reached 36mph at one point. One advantage of being big is that I can coast downhill and pass people that are pedaling. Got a little bit of the speed wobbles but controled it. At one point, coming through the side-streets of LaJolla, I got stuck with another lady who would take the corners slow so I was forced to slow down, but I dont think it took too much time off. While on the course, I kept leap-frogging with another girl (in another age group). Downhills and corners I would pass her, but up hills, she would pass me.
What would you do differently?:

Ride the hill a couple of times before the race so I know what I am getting into. My grandpa used to ride the hill weekly from the beach house and says he will ride it with me this summer once he gets his "super-charger" (Pace-maker)!! I plan on riding that hill several times this summer on weekends.
Transition 2
  • 03m
Comments:

Had to push my bike to the opposite end of the transition again, but everything went smoothly
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really
Run
  • 49m 41s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 15m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

I decided once I started moving I would start my timer and run 3 minutes, then walk 1. I kept pretty consistent with that until about the last mile when I couldnt run much more. The girl whom I was leap-frogging with on the bike ran with me for a while which was nice. She said she was a marathoner so I knew I would be able to keep up for a long period of time, but I did stick with her for about 5 minutes. After about 1.5miles, my aunt made her way on her bike to one of the side-streets and handed me some water and encouragement. She popped in about every 200 yards to make sure I kept going. It was cool to see people there supporting me!
What would you do differently?:

Run more...Im a broken record... The run was a good one for me, but I know that I have more potential.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, ate a bananna, met up with family and friends.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Myself. I dont train to win, I have fun doing Triathlons. I am the type of person that will do something like a triathlon to prove to myself that I can, not to be the fastest. I have never been fast and dont expect it, I just want to be able to go further.

Event comments:

Going into this race, I was worried about what kind of Quality this race would be. They were slow to post lots of information that I felt should have been posted more than 3 days ahead of time (like the fact you had to check your bike the night before, along with wave start times etc.) However I was very impressed with evertyhing when it came to check in and race day. Packet pick-up was easy, great expo, bike check went smooth, and it was really neat to run down the same finish chute as the pros did.
I forgot to mention above all the volunteers. At every road or turn or anything along the bike and run course, there were lots of volunteers. They were very encouraging and kept vehicles/people off the course as much as possible. At the top of the hill, they handed us water or gatorade and along the run did the same. Overall I was really impressed with how the race was put on.

Overall average time for the sprint distance was 1:54:41. That was encouraging to me, to see that it was that slow compared to others I have done. That hill was a killer.






Last updated: 2012-04-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:16:55 | 750 yards | 02m 16s / 100yards
Age Group: 17/22
Overall: 460/597
Performance: Average
Suit: XTerra sleeveless
Course: U shaped course in a cove: Out, Two Right hand Turns and back home. Lots of sea-grass made it difficult to swim/run the first and last 100 yards.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:42
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
01:27:07 | 16.12 miles | 11.10 mile/hr
Age Group: 19/22
Overall: 564/597
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Out along the bay, down to Mission Blvd, then up and around Mt. Soledad before following the same path back
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 03:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:49:41 | 03.11 miles | 15m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 22/22
Overall: 567/597
Performance: Average
Course: From the park, along the bay board-walk, Around the park and back down the Ocean boardwalk. It was well-marked until about the last half-mile when I started guessing where to go!
Keeping cool Good 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 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