Got the Nerve? Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Lebanon, Pennsylvania
United States
IM ABLE Foundation
67F / 19C
Total Time = 1h 47m 46s
Overall Rank = 341/479
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 6/13
Pre-race routine:

Eggo waffle with peanut butter and iced tea for breakfast.

Got to the race a little later than I would've liked but it wasn't late enough to be a true issue. Parked, walked to the race area, got body marked, went in and set up my transition spot. Came back out to meet up with some of the tri club, got some group pics and chatted a little. Lingered around a little with DH, then headed in to start the struggle with putting on my wetsuit.
Event warmup:

I was in wave 14 of 16, so there was a fair amount of waiting (not a complaint, just stating how it is) and chatting with folks. As my wave time neared, I did some light stretching and arm swings, trunk twists, etc. to get blood moving. Did some visualization and meditation.
Swim
  • 11m 44s
  • 500 yards
  • 02m 21s / 100 yards
Comments:

Was a decent swim for me. I did a few things different from previous years, such as not start out waaaay out to the side and more in the main group. Also, I played around with my breathing: instead of my steady bilateral breaths every 3 strokes, I mixed it around 2, 3, no real set pattern. I also tried to have a quicker turnover than usual.
What would you do differently?:

Try to focus a little more on overall form. I get caught up worrying about hitting people around me or them hitting me and then I forget to keep my body positioning good and arm movements with a good, strong catch, etc.
Transition 1
  • 03m 28s
Comments:

I think I lost a little time messing with my socks (couldn't quite decide if I wanted to put them on now or later. Don't need them on the bike but wanted them for the run) and putting my Garmin on my wrist. Otherwise I'm OK with my time.

249
What would you do differently?:

Maybe save sock donning for T2?
Bike
  • 58m 8s
  • 16 miles
  • 16.51 mile/hr
Comments:

I was determined that this was going to be the year I get my bike time under an hour. I wanted to push it but not to the point where I blew up.

Started out passing quite a few people, as the beginner waves had started before my wave. Also was getting passed some, too. Saw a few of the hand-cycle guys thoughout the course, felt very bad for one who was having what seemed to be gear-changing issues on a hill. Poor dude was partway up a hill, stopped, and was trying to get whatever was wrong fixed.

On my least favorite hill, Lawn Road, I was chugging my way steadily up when I recognized a familiar face about 100 ft from the top, a guy from the tri club! Just seeing someone I know and hearing some personalized cheering gave me a little boost to get the rest of the way up the hill just a tiny bit faster. My asthma was causing weird, raspy breathing noises, so I took the opportunity to just soft pedal and take a swig of Infinit once I crested. Some dude had pulled over to the side of the road and was leaned over, spitting. Guessing what was about to happen next, I pushed a little harder to get away from him.

Descended the next section quickly, safely made the sharp turn at the bottom. Kept a really good pace/cadence during the next section, which is mainly flat with a few small rollers. Legs felt REALLY good. Picked a few more folks off here and there.

Turned up the next section which is a series of rollers leading to a longer, somewhat steeper uphill. Passed some bulls and said, "Hey fellas!" and heard the biker I just passed say "Moooo" to them. Well hopefully at them and not at me, LOL! Picked off a few more folks in this section, offered encouragement to a few on the bigger hills telling them, "Nice and steady, nice and steady, you got this!" Made it to the top of the hill and did my customary trash-talking to the hill (under my breath, of course). The first year I did this race I had to walk partway up because of breathing issues, so even though I actually like this hill better than the one on Lawn, I still feel the need to verbally abuse it, LOL!

Ah, and now the fun begins! Knowing the course is basically downhill or flat from here, I was all smiles and started hammering it. Made the turn out onto the twisty, turny downhill that is so fun to fly down. Eventually had to brake for a guy I caught - we were near the next intersection and I didn't have time to pass him before the turn. After we made the turn, I announced, "On your left" and took off. This section is still somewhat downhill, so I was going pretty fast when a big SUV started backing out into the road from the pizza shop in spite of volunteers telling the driver not to. Eek! Hit the brakes and kept my eyes locked on the vehicle even after the reverse lights went off, had about 2 feet to go between the yellow lines and the car. Made it through safely and got back on the hammer. Glanced at my Garmin and saw I had 6 minutes to go before I hit an hour.

Heading into the final stretch before the dismount, I saw my husband, glanced at my Garmin again, and said, "I DID IT!!!" and kept on going toward the dismount. He got a picture of me approaching the dismount area, see pics. He meant to get one of the front of me but supposedly his cell phone camera wasn't cooperating.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe go a bit faster yet. Although I'm very happy with my bike time, I do feel I could've pushed it harder still without red-lining and destroying my run.
Transition 2
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

I felt my transition was smooth, the only part that slowed me down a little more than I liked was racking the bike, but that wasn't THAT bad, either. Helmet and biek shoes off, slipped sneakers on, grabbed hat, put it on while I was running out of transition, then switched Garmin from bike to run also while moving. Grabbed a quick water on the way out.

229
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, really.
Run
  • 32m 59s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 10m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt surprisingly good. Legs didn't feel too heavy and I was at a good pace (for me) from the start. I was surprised at my pace and said to myself, "Self, let's see if we can keep this up." Passed a few people and of course got passed, but didn't seem to get passed as much as I did other years, perhaps because I was running better than usual. Was happy to be on the rail trail where I had done some of my HM training in the past few months. Since it's an out and back, I got to say hi to the other tri club peeps and also gauge where any competition might be.

Kept pretty much on pace throughout, had to use some mental tricks to keep me doing what I wanted to do, and I believe it worked. Hit it harder with about a half mile to go, saw some tri peeps cheering for me and my husband (I think), kept on trucking toward the finish line. Usually one of my friends cheers for me near the finish which spurs me to run faster still, but she wasn't there this year. It seemed odd without her, and I realized I wasn't killing myself to get to the line like I usually do, but then I remembered that I was running overall faster than I usually do, so the difference wouldn't be so obvious. Did that make sense? Not really? OK, it does to me. ;) Bottom line: I think I was running to the finish pretty fast.
What would you do differently?:

Push just a little harder? No real complaints, though, I'm very happy with my run time.
Post race
Warm down:

Volunteer removed chip and I headed to the stand for some watermelon and water. Chatted with some of the tri group discussing our races. Ate some orange wedges, too. mmmm!

I was on cloud 9, knowing for sure that I made my bike goal and setting a bike PR for the course and was very happy with my run, feeling that it probably was a PR for the course, too. And I knew that my time was my best yet. Later, when the results and splits were posted, I learned that I set a new PR for everything but T1 including a new overall PR by 7 minutes! So stoked and happy! Guess it was all that HM training and running, because I sure wasn't biking and swimming as much as I should've been. Seeing real results/improvements inspires me to keep up the strong training effort.

Got my things from transition and took them out to the car, did a quick clothing change in the back seat (ahhhh, clean, dry clothes!!) and headed back to the main race area to watch presentations and awards. My mind wanted some of the noodles from the wok stand, but my stomach said no way, not yet! Eventually I grabbed a piece of the 10 year anniversary cake, free to all. Yummy!

Lotsa folks from the tri club won awards - they are a speedy bunch!

Despite my very liberal application of Body Glide, I still had the beginnings of a blister on both sides of my collarbone from my tri top. Also, since I didn't put any Body Glide on my legs, I had cuts/blisters/whatever they are from the grippers of the shorts. Dummy. I should've known better but I thought maybe since they were more broken in than usual that they wouldn't do that. Oh well, it wasn't as bad as it was other times.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Probably still being heavier than I want to be and should be. I will continue to work on this.

Event comments:

This marked the 10th anniversary of the race, and the 4th year I've competed. It's such a great cause, raising money for equipment for disabled athletes. Each year we compete side by side with some of these athletes and it's always inspiring. Each year Chris (RD) has a ceremony presenting new equipment (usually a hand cycle) to a grant recipient.

I really enjoy doing this race - it was my first ever and serves as a great metric to my gradual progression and increased performance. The course is beautiful and new paving of certain areas made the bike course even better.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-12-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:44 | 500 yards | 02m 21s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 349/479
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex 3
Course: Basically an inverted triangle.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 65F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:28
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:58:08 | 16 miles | 16.51 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 298/479
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Love this course! A mix of rollers and hills and some flats, mainly through rural or forested areas.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:27
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:32:59 | 03.1 miles | 10m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 407/479
Performance: Good
Course: Flat out and back starting from the area behind the lake leading out to the rail trail to the turnaround.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
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