Pensacola Beach Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint


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Pensacola, Florida
United States
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 31m 17s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F 40-44
Age Group Rank = 6/8
Pre-race routine:

Set up transition.
Event warmup:

Jogged around parking lot.
Swim
  • 12m 1s
  • 300 yards
  • 04m 01s / 100 yards
Comments:

Legs spent and winded from wading. Paddleboarder was right on top of me while I was swimming(because I was one of the last few out of the water from the last wave), so that sort of freaked me out a little. Made me think I was in trouble and just didn't know it, so I got a little panicky, which winded me even more. All in all, the swim sucked. The event was very poorly organized, and there were no course instructions before the race, so I had no idea where we were exiting the water or how to get from water to transition, etc. I was headed toward a sandy beach area, and a kayaker redirected me to go up a tiny little staircase that led out of the water and up to a pier. Then had to run off the pier, THROUGH a restaurant, through the restaurant parking lot, across a 4 lane road with traffic on it (and sand spurs in the median), into another parking lot, and finally to transition.
What would you do differently?:

Not sign up for this race.
Transition 1
  • 01m 44s
Comments:

Coming out of transition was a little scary. The bikers in the back of the pack leaving T1 were criss-crossing paths with the fast runners coming back in. It was pretty unexpected, because there were no detailed course maps provided before the race.
Bike
  • 37m 39s
  • 10 miles
  • 15.94 mile/hr
Comments:

I enjoyed the bike course, and it was simple enough that the lack of instruction didn't matter. There were posterboard mile markers along the route at every mile. At the end of 5 miles, there was a really nice volunteer directing us into a parking bay as a turn-around.
Transition 2
  • 01m 11s
Comments:

By the time I finally made it back to transition, the criss-cross problem was over, because most people had already finished. Ha!
Run
  • 38m 42s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 12m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

Ate a peanut butter GU at the beginning of the run with nothing to drink...bad decision. Mostly just had an easy, enjoyable jog.
What would you do differently?:

Not eat that GU, and try to get faster so that I can see where the runners ahead of me are turning.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

As usual, ME! That horrible swim set a bad tone for this event for me. It wiped my legs out for the rest of the race.

Event comments:

From the time I registered, I never received any type of contact, instructions, informational email, nothing. At online registration, all normal divisions were offered (Clydesdale, Athena, First-Timers, para-triathlete). I registered as Athena, along with some others..there were 17 First-Timers. When they posted results on the board, our categories were listed by our names. They called awards for age groups and never said a word about any other division. Later, when the results were posted online, I saw that they had done away with those divisions and placed everyone in the age groups...they should've only offered age group at registration if that's the case. The food they served was red beans and rice (at 9 am). But there was some fruit and cookies to hold me until I could get some food elsewhere. The race was very poorly organized. At arrival, no one would tell me anything. I found the packet pick-up table inside the restaurant, but they didn't know where I should go to get bodymarked or chipped. I just had to wander around asking other racers, many of whom didn't know either...like where to get your t-shirt (found out they were supposed to have given it to me at the packet pick-up table), where to get a timing chip, where to get bodymarked. (None of these things were in the same location.) The only friendly volunteer was the one at the bike turnaround. Overall, it seemed very clique-ish, or maybe I'm just used to the friendly folks of MS and AL. This was only my second tri, but I seriously doubt I do this one again. The bike and run course were pretty enjoyable, but the lack of organization, not having any idea what to expect, and that terrible swim set the tone for an unpleasant morning. I never expect to have a great finish with my slow pace, I just want to have fun. I doubt I do this race again. It did, however, have a great t-shirt when I did get it.
And in their defense, this was the first year for this race. Maybe they'll get it put together a little more in the future.




Last updated: 2012-07-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:12:01 | 300 yards | 04m 01s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Suit: No wetsuit
Course: Swim course was terrible. In water wave start. Wasn't deep enough to swim all the way to the first buoy, then dropped off deep...I was winded from wading and water was very choppy...swim past dock, then around 2nd buoy, then wade back in.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: High
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:44
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:37:39 | 10 miles | 15.94 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Wind: Strong
Course: Simple out and back down Santa Rosa Island. Going out, winds were HEAVY!!! Made for the longest 5 miles of my life, speed was in single digits for much of it. But coming back in, made a great tailwind...was hitting 26-27 mph on flats. They had the road coned off to keep traffic off the bikers for most of it, which was very nice. The bike leg was much fun!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:11
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:38:42 | 03.1 miles | 12m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/8
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Course: Very nice run course through a neighborhood, but poorly marked. It made a few turns that I had to stop and look for signs to figure out which was to go. There was a man running along close to me having a hard time figuring it out also. At one point, we were both stopped at a t-intersection debating on which way to go.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 1