Katy Triathlon at Firethorne - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Katy, Texas
United States
Katy Triathlon at Firethorne
50F / 10C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 19m 53s
Overall Rank = 65/466
Age Group = M45-49
Age Group Rank = 7/36
Event warmup:

Warm-up is a good term. It was pretty chilly before the race started. I spent a little time in the welcome center staying warm, since my wave started second-to-last. No opportunity to get in the water ahead of time.
Swim
  • 09m 28s
  • 547 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

Since I've swam once in the last two months, I've got no basis to complain about this swim. I figured I'd be happy with anything under 10-minutes.
Transition 1
  • 02m 26s
Comments:

Cold weather, so I took a little extra time to dry off. Also went for a cycling jacket for the ride. The zipper on my jacket is "iffy" and took 2 or 3 tries to get zipped, which cost a little time.
What would you do differently?:

Zipper practice?
Bike
  • 45m 10s
  • 16 miles
  • 21.25 mile/hr
Comments:

I'm a little disappointed in this ride. It's my slowest sprint bike leg of the year by a fair amount. Not sure what happened, except I didn't feel like I had much power on Sunday. Oh well. I didn't wear the HR strap, so pace was by RPE. Maybe I should go back to the HR to have a number to push towards?

My big frustration on the bike leg was blatent cheating by one of the high school kids wearing a tri-suit with orange trim. He had his name stenciled on his suit, but I can't remember what it was. I passed him about 2 miles into the bike leg, and he grabbed a hold of my wheel and hung tight for almost 3-miles. I know someone behind you shouldn't affect how you ride, but the sun was casting the shadows forward, and I could see him glued to me wheel. ARGH! I turned around and glared at him a few times, but that didn't seem to do anything. Finally, I sat up and asked him if he knew this was a non-drafting race. He said yes, and went on ahead of me after I just coasted for 15 or 20 seconds. I let him get about 50-yards ahead then hammered past him and dropped him. About 10-minutes later, a faster rider passed me and this same kid had grabbed onto his wheel. I watched him stuck to this other guy for about 2-miles until the other guy shook him off.

I ended up passing him again, but I think we finished the bike leg pretty close together. The sad part about this was I saw several other kids wearing this same kit, so they must be part of a club or team. If so, that organization has some real integrity issues they need to deal with. Hopefully this is just a bad apple and not a problem with the organization. It's pretty sad to see anyone blatently cheating. It's something I really don't understand.....why sign up for the race if you're not going to follow the rules?


What would you do differently?:

Hammer harder on the bike and quit letting others impact my race.
Transition 2
  • 01m 1s
Run
  • 21m 45s
  • 3 miles
  • 07m 15s  min/mile
Comments:

Good run for me. I felt good and built negative splits for all three miles. I passed several guys in my age group, with the last being at about the 2-mile mark. I lost track of him and thought I had a solid lead built, but he passed me in the chute and beat me by 1-second. Maybe I need to start paying attention and push until the end.
What would you do differently?:

Maintain intensity until the end and don't get beat at the wire.
Post race
Event comments:

This is a great sprint to end the year on.




Last updated: 2012-10-19 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:28 | 547 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 12/36
Overall: 189/466
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: Counter-clockwise rectangular course in one of the neighborhood ponds. Two turns, both well marked. Water is very clear for a Houston-area race.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 02:26
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:45:10 | 16 miles | 21.25 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/36
Overall: 46/466
Performance: Below average
Wind:
Course: 16-mile out and back course. Decent roads, but can be windy. Five-minute wave intervals cut way down on the congestion on the course.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:01
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:21:45 | 03 miles | 07m 15s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/36
Overall: 106/466
Performance: Good
Course: Winding course along the trails of the Firethorne development. Mixture of concrete and gravel. Pancake flat.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3