Tri-It Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Bear, Delaware
United States
Piranha Sports
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 08m 1s
Overall Rank = 182/335
Age Group = Clyde
Age Group Rank = 17/26
Pre-race routine:

With TSW out of town, I drove down at leisure on Friday night, staying at the Comfort Inn in Elkton, about 20 minutes from the race site. Got in early enough to pick up my packet on Friday and check out transition and the overall layout. One perk to the short drive was being able to get plenty of sleep without having to get up ridiculously early for a long drive.
Event warmup:

As usual, minimal warm-up...just setting up transition spot. Because of a kid's triathlon before the primary event, we had to be out of transition a full hour before the race start. Without TSW there to hold stuff for me, I sat around on a picnic table in view of the water with only my prescription goggles available to see anything.

I did have an unexpected - and unwelcome - bit of a warm-up when the wetsuit zipper malfunctioned...something I'd prefer to avoid in the future.
Swim
  • 14m 4s
  • 440 yards
  • 03m 12s / 100 yards
Comments:

Great start to the morning when the zipper decided to break on my relatively new wetsuit just minutes from the start; this was only the third or fourth race in the Orca. I took it off to see if there was anything I could do, then put it on again scratching my head. I was standing with a group of ladies who were getting ready, one of whom asked if the lube I was using was Astroglide. "No," I said, "that's for another activity." Anyway, Ms. Astroglide said I could wear mine like wore hers, just velcroed up with no zipper ("Mine doesn't fit anymore," she said.). So I sucked it in as best I could while she fastened as much of the velcro as she could. It pretty much came open before I got to the first buoy, but I managed anyway.

That incident aside (does a spare wetsuit sound like a good idea?), I was generally OK with the swim. I didn't breathe as well as I should have, but I exited the water in about 13 minutes; the rest of my time was a wooded jog up to transition. The difference between my water time and normal 400m pool time (usually under 12 minutes) is likely because I came up out of the water every 10-12 strokes to sight, catch my breath, and make sure I wasn't going off course.

I love being in the first wave. I didn't get caught by following wave until around halfway down the far leg of the course, and came out pretty much with the second group. Not sure how many others in my wave were still behind me; I know at least a few.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing; for my swim preparation and overall (lack of) ability, this was probably as good as it gets.
Transition 1
  • 01m 56s
Comments:

Time here had to be due to getting the wetsuit off and unstuck from around the heels. I also took time to start the power by ratcheting the pedals a couple of times. 107th overall out of 335.
What would you do differently?:

Not much...practice?
Bike
  • 31m 56s
  • 10 miles
  • 18.79 mile/hr
Comments:

I raced exactly according to my plan, riding comfortably in the small ring out of and back into the park, quick but not so fast that it seemed unsafe or worrisome. For the time outside the park I pushed pretty good, trying to maintain wattage in the 160-180 range. Coming back in I kind of got stuck in a cluster of riders, forced me to just maintain my position, even though it was a little slower than I'd have preferred. I got my feet out of my shoes too early, just before a 90-degree turn that I thought was the last turn into transition...but wasn't. Doubt it made much time difference. And it certainly seemed to throw the willies into another rider who tried to pass on my right just as I was unfastening my shoes, as a guy in front of both of us weaved back and forth.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a little harder both ways inside the park. Get a better sense of when to pull feet from shoes.
Transition 2
  • 01m 10s
Comments:

I thought this time was pretty good until I noticed it was 176th overall; evidently a lot of people sprinted out of T2 quicker than I did! Overall, I'd say I moved pretty good through T2
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 18m 53s
  • 2 miles
  • 09m 26s  min/mile
Comments:

Love these short runs. They're over almost before your mind wakes up and says, "Wait, we're running? And pretty hard at that?" I kept up a good pace throughout, walked just a bit at the turnaround to drink half a cup of water. Did have some uncomfortable stomach issues as I started out, but nothing I was concerned about due to the shortness of the course, and they went away somewhere along the way.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I ran pretty much according to plan.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking around, grabbing a granola bar, some water, and a sports drink.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Other than my overall slowness, not a whole lot, at least not factors that were within my control, except maybe the swim (although I felt I kept myself under pretty good control there). I knew I'd finish around 1:21-1:22 at the absolute worst, but reasonably expected to break 1:15. Did not expect to break 1:10, so I'm pleased overall.

Event comments:

Piranha always does a nice race; very organized, on time, plenty of volunteers. They have it down. Today they did a kid's tri before ours, pushed us out of transition an hour before the start of the race, which was a little bit frustrating, but understandable and not that big a deal. Venue was nice too, with real bathrooms! I'm just glad I got my number two out of the way before the ladies decided to take over the men's to combat the line to get into theirs.




Last updated: 2012-06-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:04 | 440 yards | 03m 12s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/26
Overall: 299/335
Performance: Average
Suit: Orca Sonar
Course: Counter-clockwise square from the beach.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 77F / 25C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 01:56
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:31:56 | 10 miles | 18.79 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/26
Overall: 103/335
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Once around the roads bordering Lums Pond State Park. Flat.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:10
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:18:53 | 02 miles | 09m 26s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/26
Overall: 184/335
Performance: Good
Course: This was what you'd call a multi-surfaced run course: began on grass, moved into a narrow woodland path - pretty rough and choppy but someone had painted all the rocks and roots so we could see them - onto a paved surface, then back offroad again at the turnaround, with a final finish on grass.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4