Sportspectrum River Cities Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Shreveport, Louisiana
United States
Sports Spectrum
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 19m 47s
Overall Rank = 746/1129
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 123/138
Pre-race routine:

I drove to Shreveport on Saturday to pick up my packet and see some old sites. I used to live in S'port for 4 years and wanted to check out some places.

The morning of the race I woke up at 5 and began my normal procedure... to include coffee. I just couldn't stomache any food and forced down half a cliff bar.
Event warmup:

I did a short swim to warm-up but mostly planned on the race swim being my warm up. I enjoyed joking around with the other participants....
Swim
  • 19m 47s
  • 805 meters
  • 02m 28s / 100 meters
Comments:

My plan for the swim was to take it easy. I am not a strong swimmer so I didn't want to waste unnecessary energy on such a short part of the swim.

There was a lot of contact and bumping. Nothing major but I was constantly getting bumped and touched. I have been swam over in other races so the minor contact was just noticably frequent but not interfering with my swim very much.
What would you do differently?:

Not much different. I like the idea of taking my time in the swim. I also did very well with sighting. The water was warm and good at the start but at the end it was just a tad to hot.
Transition 1
  • 04m 39s
Comments:

This was my longest transition ever. I had planned to take my time here but not this much. Basically I got everything done as per normal but when I was just about out of transition I realised I forgot my sun glasses.

I went back to get and couldn't find them at my transition spot. I had them in my hand when I put my helmet on so I knew they were somewhere. So I spent a lot of that 4.5 minutes going up and down the transition area looking for them. I finaly realised I had gone to the wrong transition spot and found them on my transition bag.

I woudn't have spent so much time looking but they were expensive perscription sun glasses and I didn't want to lose them.

Other than that I was good.
What would you do differently?:

My new transition backpack looks like many others. Maybe I will put some sort of bright ribbon on it or something.
Bike
  • 54m 50s
  • 18.2 miles
  • 19.91 mile/hr
Comments:

I had heard this was a fast course so my plan was to go easy on the swim and hammer the bike like I didn't have to run afterwards. Basically I was going to go for a PR on the bike.

My bike computer stopped working at 2.7 miles into the ride. This messed up my plan. I had no clue how fast I was going it was all just according to effort. So, I changed my plan to just trying to have a solid bike and run.

I must admit that I handled the hilly areas the best I have ever done. I recovered after climbs fairly quickly and I did much better out of the saddle climbing than trying to spin up them.
What would you do differently?:

I was having some bathroom issues right before the race so I didn't test ride my bike, I didn't check to be sure my brakes weren't rubbing, and I didn't see if my computer was working. I'm sure all that was needed was to check the magnet.

I am surprised that my bike average was close to 20. I definately had more in the tank.... I would push slightly harder next time.

Also, I hadn't eaten anything up to this point so I decided to drink just Gatorade on the bike to get some calories in. I drank a little to much and got that sloshy feeling. I would probably water down the Gatorade next time half/half.
Transition 2
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

I walked through transition this time. It was a long transistion area and part of one of my cleats is broken off so I didn't want to risk any falling/tripping.
What would you do differently?:

hmmmm I would probably learn to leave the shoes on the pedals so I can run confidently.
Run
  • 31m 2s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 10m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Even though I only managed a 10 min pace I was pretty happy that I could run up the hilly areas. I did walk through two water stations and I walked one other time for about 30 seconds but that wasn't to bad for me.

Thank goodness it was shaded because I got really hot on the last half.
What would you do differently?:

Hmmmm, I need to learn to just suck it up and get uncomfortable. I do these races for fun but I also really enjoy moving up in both the standings and relative to my personal previous times. I need to decided which one I like more.... and I think it will be the latter. Steve Prefontaine I am not.
Post race
Warm down:

Drank some nasty tasting amino-sumfin-or-other. Ate a chicken sandwhich and a king don.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Ultimately my limiters were my comfort level, long T1, and my computer problem.

Event comments:

I am giving this race a high rating. It did start a few minutes late but that is forgivable. I have never seen so many volunteers. The swim was easy to sight, the bike was on good roads (once out of the park area), and the run was shaded for 95%.

The swag bag was the best I have ever seen. While I don't do races for swag, this may be the exception.

Overall I could have done a good 2-3 minutes faster if I hadn't forgot my sun glasses and the fiasco following.

I had a good effort and a decent time for me , for a sprint. One of these days I'm going to be able to push myself out of my comfort level for the entire time and knock off 15 minutes.






Last updated: 2006-06-01 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:47 | 805 meters | 02m 28s / 100meters
Age Group: 96/138
Overall: 138/1129
Performance: Good
Suit: none
Course: Rectangular swim around bouys. Easy to sight. No current or chop
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 85F / 29C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:39
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:54:50 | 18.2 miles | 19.91 mile/hr
Age Group: 111/138
Overall: 138/1129
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Rolling hills with some fun turns. A loop course (ie not out and back)
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 02:18
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:31:02 | 03.1 miles | 10m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 125/138
Overall: 138/1129
Performance: Average
Course: Rolling hills but very shaded run.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 5