Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Birmingham, Alabama
United States
Team Magic
70F / 21C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 19m 22s
Overall Rank = 157/467
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 11/23
Pre-race routine:

Woke at 0400. Had 2 cups coffee, 1 mini cliff bar, and a banana.

Installed a new Garmin Speed/Cadence Sensor on the Trinity race bike.

Drove to the race site and arrived at 0615.
Event warmup:

Body marked, rode the bike from the parking lot to transition, setup the transition area, and proceeded to the swim start.

Swam to the first bouy and back. Actually swim out with goggles and returned without to see if it was possible to go without in the event I lost my goggles (they have come off 3years in a row).

Talked with fellow racers and took it easy.

Went into this knowing it would not be my best performance, but I was here to have fun.
Swim
  • 06m 56s
  • 400 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

Top 3 in the swim!!

Went HARD. Took out quick from the go and started passing. Went hard to the first bouy (150yrd) and then went into a moderate cruise. Figured I would go on a 2 stroke/breath pattern in the cruise mode.

Took a foot to the stomach, immediately swam over the person. Sorry.

Actually sprinted the swim very hard. Swam until my hands raked bottom before standing and running out of the lake. Time includes a decent run up the embankment toward transition.
What would you do differently?:

Swim more. The two weeks prior I had 2 swims and none open water. More swimmming would definitely benefit.
Transition 1
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

Includes long run up embankement, and through transition. Seemed 75yrds or so. I was on the second rack from the start so I had a long way to go.

Bike was in the correct gear.

Ran out of transition, blew over the mount line and across the road to clear roadway before mounting. Had shoes on, threw my leg over (pedal was banded in the 3'oclock position), and rode off.
What would you do differently?:

Practice on the flying mount.
Bike
  • 41m
  • 13 miles
  • 19.02 mile/hr
Comments:

Went hard. Immediatly passed by racer 73, who I leapfrogged for a bit. She passed on the uphills, I blew by on the downhills.

I sat and spun mostly on the uphills and was passed often there. On the descents, I made several of my passes.

Mile 8 of 12 was a horrible accident with a biker and a van. Race directors slowed us throught the site, and it was enough to make it hard to keep racing, seeing the condition of the rider.

Continued hard back up the last hill (1mi to go) coming toward transition. Dismounted (shoes clipped to the bike) at the line and ran into transition.

Bike setup: Aerobottle of water, 1 16oz gatorade. Drank 1/2 water and 3 gulps of gatorade
What would you do differently?:

Work on hills
Transition 2
  • 00m 35s
Comments:

Great transition. Used speed laces on the shoes, racked the bike, slipped shoes on, dropped helmet, grabbed race belt and was gone.

Fully tightened the shoes on the run.

Seems I managed the fastest T2, not sure if that's right or not though.
Run
  • 28m 33s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

This is where I lose it every time.

About 1mi in, felt the heart was beating out of the chest. The HRM was showing 160s, but felt much higher. Took a 15" walk break (#1 of 4) and walked the water stops. Took 1 cup water & 1 cup heed on the course.

Just seemed I couldn't push the run as hard as I wanted.

I'm thinking the 3mo off at the first of the year and the relatively low run volume hurt.
What would you do differently?:

Run more.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked through the chute, grabbed a water and banana and congregated among fellow racers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of real hard training in the last two weeks plus lack of real running since the first of the year.

Event comments:

Great race as always.

Made an absolute rookie mistake and left the timing chip at home. Took my times from my garmin and the race director approved it. Only penalty was that I was ineligible for any awards, but that's okay. Would have needed to get 13' off my time for 3rd place.

The accident on the bike course was pretty bad. A downhill biker collided with an uphill climbing car (who changed lanes to pass). The biker was motionless when I passed and only 1 race volunteer was on the site assessing. I was in the downhill when I came on it and was running the brakes to burn off speed. A couple miles later, I was brought to a complete stop for the arrival of the ambulance and fire truck. Honestly, after seeing that, it really changed my perspective on the race.

The good news is that he was awake when loaded on the stretcher.

Still, the race was fantastic as always!




Last updated: 2012-06-11 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:06:56 | 400 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/23
Overall: 0/467
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: From boat ramp, out to the first bouy, left hand turn, paralleling shore, last bouy turn toward swim exit.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:18
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:41:00 | 13 miles | 19.02 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/23
Overall: 0/467
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Out and back, lots of uphills and technical downhills. Turn right out of the day use, head North to the spillway, turnaround, return.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:35
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:28:33 | 03 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/23
Overall: 0/467
Performance: Below average
Course: Out and back along the fire service road. Out and up 3 fairly good hills, turn around and return on the same hills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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] 4