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 Swim
Comments: It's time I start giving myself a little more credit...For some reason I still have the, "stay to the back of the pack" mentality the way I did for my very first triathlon. I knew right away that I was going to be spending a lot of energy (and time) passing some of the less experienced swimmers. I probably didn't make my way through the first cluster until after rounding the 2nd buoy. On a good note, I felt really strong the whole swim...I know that once I cleared the pack I was swimming and siting exactly the way I wanted to. Would have loved to break 15:00, and I know that I could have, but I'll learn from this swim and will take the positives. What would you do differently?: Start the swim with more confidence. Not try to stay to the back of the pack...  Transition 1
Comments: This was a TERRIBLE transition area. They did it on a vacant beach volleyball court. Which means we had to run in and out of deep sand, soaking wet and with our bikes. I spent a good 20 seconds washing the sand off of my feet just to put on my biking shoes. I had a little bit more to put on than usual too. I put on socks which I normally wouldn't do, wore gloves and had to put on a camelback. What would you do differently?: I think I handled myself just fine in those conditions...The sand was so deep that it was hard to move fast no matter what.  Bike
Comments: It had been a while since I'd pulled my mountain bike out...I think I had been on it twice in the last year before I dusted it off 4 weeks ago to learn the course. I'm lucky to have a friend who did the course last year and was gracious enough to take me on a tour. I rode the course 2-3 times a week for the last 3 weeks and I knew it well. Which helped on a trail like this one...there were a lot of big rocks and loose gravel throughout the whole course. If you didn't have your route picked right you were walking. In fact, I'd guess that as many people walked some of the hills as there were who rode them. I was one of the riders...I knew where my tire needed to be and which gear I had to be in the entire time. Unfortunately, knowing where to ride doesn't completely make up for lack of "mountain biking legs". Still, I was really happy. Anything close to a 10 MPH average would have been good and I almost averaged 11... What would you do differently?: Nothing... Transition 2
Comments: Again, the sand was a bummer...I tried running my bike through it holding the saddle, holding the handles, anything I could think of. I finally decided that walking my bike through the sand would be just as fast without all the effort. I pounded a little Gatorade and squirted some water out of my water bottle over my head...(Scorching. Hot. Water.) I took off all of my gear, grabbed a handheld bottle full of Perform and I was out. What would you do differently?: Nothing...  Run
Comments: I didn't have the luxury of saving my legs for the run...I was pedaling hard pretty much the entire time. I guess it would be the equivalent of doing sprints in the last hour of a regular triathlon. Needless to say, my legs were toast... ...The last thing I wanted my legs to be on this run was toast. Again, a lot of loose gravel and big rocks. You really had to pick your spot here or you were bound to break an ankle. I had my regular running shoes on with my quick laces. They're not as tight as they should have been for such rocky terrain. My feet were sliding around pretty bad over some of those rocky areas. I thought the run was just brutal. Heart rate was high, legs were threatening to cramp and it was HOT! Getting on the pavement again was a God send...I would have loved to break 27 minutes on this run, but that was not happening under the conditions. What would you do differently?: Maybe do a little more trail running, definitely wear shoes with regular laces and tighten them up a bit. Other than that, I pushed it as hard as I could and didn't have to walk any of the technical climbs. Couldn't ask for more than that... Post race
Warm down: Beer... Yep, beer...I don't drink often, but there was a beer tent from one of my favorite breweries (4 Peaks) and I had 2 free beers. My original plan was to run another 6 miles after the race, but about halfway through the bike that plan changed to "beer". What limited your ability to perform faster: The lack of my trusty tri-bike, paved roads and cooler temps... Event comments: Who doesn't love a race that ends with a slip-n-slide and a beer tent? My only issue with this race was that there was no finishing medal. Yes, I want a finisher's medal! The 5k that happened earlier had finisher medals for God's sake!! Profile Album Last updated: 2012-06-22 12:00 AM
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United States
Red Rock Company
90'sF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 63/215
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 12/33
When I first thought about doing triathlons I was a pretty avid mountain biker...When I saw that there was a race called the "Urban Dirt" I immediately thought that it would be my first triathlon ever. That was Urban Dirt 2010 and two years later, I'm happy to report, I finally got to do Urban Dirt...
This race started late so I was able to wake up at a decent hour, make breakfast and chill out before the race...I made pancakes with peanut butter and strawberry jam and had a Starbucks Refresher. This was my first off-road triathlon so I was looking forward to an awesome day. I'm not the strongest mountain biker, nor do I run trails, but both are super fun so I knew I was going to have a blast. Got to the race about an hour before start time and just baked out in the sun...it was HOT!
Not a whole lot of warming up...As soon as they let us in the water I swam about 50 meters or so get used to the [murky] water.