General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon


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Marbury, Maryland
United States
Set Up Events
83F / 28C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 30m 59s
Overall Rank = 29/247
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 7/24
Pre-race routine:

Well I'll tell you about my "pre-race routine" going back 7 days... that's when I broke the middle toe on my left foot! I didn't even think that I'd be doing this race the way my toe felt on Sunday and Monday. Went to the doc on Tuesday and found out it was a minor break and that it would be one of those do nothing and it'll heal on its own kinda things. Doc said that I should stay off of it as much as possible and that I should play it by feel as to resuming training and such. He kinda looked at me sideways when I asked about the race... I took that to mean it wasn't advisable. I iced it a lot over the next few days and really just stayed off my feet as much as possible over the week. I did a "test run" on Friday and it didn't "kill" to run so I figured I'd give it a go on Sunday.

My actual pre-race routine was fairly normal... bowl of granola and a cup of joe at about 4:00 AM, drove the hour to the site sipping on some Gatorade and ate a Power Bar about 5:45... check in and set up gear in transition and strolled down to the swim start. I did realize that I forgot my water bottle for my bike so I'd have to go the 16 miles without fluid... that kinda sucked but oh well!
Event warmup:

None.
Swim
  • 16m 40s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 13s / 100 meters
Comments:

71/241 OA and 10/24 AG

So this was a fairly normal swim for me... pretty slow. It kinda sucked too, because I actually felt like I was swimming pretty well, I didn't go off course too much and I felt like I had a pretty smooth stoke. I'm not the fastest swimmer, but at the end I honestly figured I was going to come in at about 14:30- 15:00 so I was pretty surprised that it was in the 16s.
What would you do differently?:

I don't really know, this felt like a good swim, I just gotta spend more time in the pool and pony up for some one-on-one lessons.
Transition 1
  • 03m 1s
Comments:

60/247 OA and 11/24 AG

It was a fairly long run into transition, up hill and on mostly concrete. I was a bit nervous about my toe, so I was really being extra careful here.

Transition was a bit slow for me due to the extra caution and for whatever reason I decided that I would put on socks in T1. For some stupid reason I did this because of my toe... as if a pair of socks was going to help???!!! So this cost me a bit of time, but I decided to do it so I take the blame for it.

I also had to suck down some Gatorade that I brought with me, since I wouldn't have any on the bike, I needed to get some fluid in me in transition, again another waste of time.

All else went well, my helmet went on quick and once I grabbed my bike I made quick work of exiting T1 and executed a decent flying mount. My right shoe, for some reason, I did have a hard time with though. It took me 2 or 3 tries to get my foot in so I lost a bit of time effing with that.
What would you do differently?:

Forgo the socks, I normally don't use them for sprints or olys and my better judgement told me they were pointless in assisting with my broken toe.
Bike
  • 49m 8s
  • 16 miles
  • 19.27 mile/hr
Comments:

40/247 OA and 11/24 AG

This leg went fairly well, not as good as I had hoped but not too bad either. My legs felt a bit "heavy" and I'm not sure why, especially since I did next to nothing all week due to my toe (maybe thats why?). Also, since I didn't have any fluid on the bike that may have been a minor contributor but since it was such a short race I don't really know how much that affected me.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, I rode as hard as I think I could/should without sacrificing my run. I would have preferred to not forget my water bottle, but thems the breaks!
Transition 2
  • 00m 45s
Comments:

23/247 OA and 2/24 AG

T2 went very well, I got out of my shoes without issue and executed a decent flying dismount. Racking the bike was simple as there was no one else on my rack so I didn't have to worry about squeezing the bike in. Shoes went on first shot, grabbed my bib belt, and I was out the door.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really this went pretty well.
Run
  • 21m 27s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

14/247 OA and 3/24 AG

I had a pretty decent run all things considered. I figured this would be where the toe would give me the biggest issue (other than the transitions where I'd be unshod). Coming out of transition I just tried to settle into a decent pace which was a bit difficult since at about the 1/3 mile mark the course had a pretty nasty hill, my HR never had a chance to settle in... I passed a few folks walking this hill but I just went as hard as I could without killing myself.

The rest of the run was pretty decent, the terrain was mostly rolling so all the inclines were rewarded with a decline... made keeping a steady pace difficult but I've run enough to know how to balance the load. Each mile got faster so I think that I raced it pretty well.

Mile 1: 7:40 (that hill was nasty!)
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3.1: 6:50
What would you do differently?:

I think that I could've gone a bit harder in the second mile. I didn't realize that the second loop omitted the gnarly hill so after I hit that on the first loop I was kinda saving some go-juice for the second coming, but it didn't. On the flip side once I realized that there was no second go up the hill I was able to put the hammer down for the last 1.1 miles.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a bit, stretched and had some chow.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think that I lost about 2-3 minutes total due to my toe... between the gingerly movement in transitions, the dumb decision to put on socks, and my general fear of pushing just that tick too much I think I could've saved at least 2 minutes.

Event comments:

Overall a great race experience and I'm happy with the results. It wasn't my best performance but I didn't even think I'd be able to race just a few days before, so top 30 OA and top 30% AG isn't too bad.




Last updated: 2013-01-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:16:40 | 750 meters | 02m 13s / 100meters
Age Group: 10/24
Overall: 71/247
Performance: Average
Suit: None
Course: Counter clockwise triangular course
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 82F / 28C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:01
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:49:08 | 16 miles | 19.27 mile/hr
Age Group: 11/24
Overall: 40/247
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Single loop course though mostly rolling countryside. No major hills but an overall rolling course.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 92
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:45
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:27 | 03.11 miles | 06m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/24
Overall: 14/247
Performance: Good
Course: Two loops though the park, mostly rolling terrain with a nasty hill on the first loop (2nd loop cut this part out).
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4