Shipbuilder's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Bath, Maine
United States
82F / 28C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 46m 21s
Overall Rank = 139/205
Age Group = 30-39m
Age Group Rank = 33/45
Pre-race routine:

Packed up my gear and picked up my race packet the night before the race. Went to bed around 10pm and slept well. Woke up at 5:45am. Had a cup of coffee, 2 toast with peanut butter, and a gatorade on the car ride there.

About 10 minutes into the drive I realized I forgot my helmet which forshadowed future events, pulled a u-e on the highway to go back and pick it up. Arrived at the transition site at 8am. Since this was my first race I had really no clue how to set up or what to do so I just copied people around me. A few people recognized from the tri shops so I chatted for a little bit. One guy who came up to me was a customer in the tri-shop while I was buying my bike and convinced my to do this race as my first. I wasn't sure if I wanted to thank him or strangle him. But everyone was really friendly and it eased my nerves a lot.

The swim start was a mile up the river so I gathered my wetsuit, goggles and cap and took the shuttle. The shuttle dropped us off at the boat launch which was next to the sewage treatment plant. I have a really weak stomach especially in the morning so I had a anxious moments trying to keep my cookies down.
Event warmup:

Ran a couple of hundred yards to the bathroom and swam about a hundred yards. Downed one gel and 3 Ecaps.
Swim
  • 22m 15s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 22s / 100 yards
Comments:

Some of you may see the 1:30 splits and think I was Mark Spitz. But the swim was so bad it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Up to this point I had a total of 400 yards of OWS. I am still very new to swimming as I've never had a lesson and as recent as April I could swim across a pool without stopping.

I went into the race not respecting the power of the river and how actually difficult OWS are. At about 500m I noticed that I had veered a little to far from the shore and was well behind anyone in my wave. I also noticed I picked up my very own cheering section who was in a yellow kayak.

At that point I questioned what the hell I was doing out here and completely lost any swimming form. My goggles were freaking me out a little so I took them off and decided to swim without them. I them proceeded to rotate from swimming on my back to swimming on my front keeping my head above water and focusing on the orange bouys at the end.

About half way through the other waves started catching me and I just watched and admired their strokes as they blew by.

I never really noticed the current until the end. I mistakenly aimed for dead center of the exit ladders. I should have aimed for 75 feet to the right. About 25 meters from the end I realized the the current which was faster than the fastest I can swim was going to pull me too far down. I had to turn up river and swim as hard as I could to catch the last ladder. I was so relieve to grab that ladder but was so spent from that final push that I didn't have the energy to climb it. I rested for about 15 seconds holding the ladders before I made my way up.

When I got out of the water I was delerious and felt drunk. I couldn't find the strap to unzip my suit and had to ask a spectactor to unzip it for me (illegal...maybe but at that point I didn't care). I took my sweet time getting to my bike hoping to get my wits about me.

I exited the swim with the back of the second wave and the front of the third wave.
What would you do differently?:

take a lesson. train more for OWS. Respect the water. Do relays and get some other sucker to swim.
Transition 1
  • 04m
Comments:

The USAT should have video taped this and show it as what not to do in T1. What the heck was I thinking clipping my shoes to my pedals during the pre race setup?

I took 3 more Ecaps and lumbered out onto the bike course.
What would you do differently?:

Practice.
Bike
  • 1h 22m 13s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 18.14 mile/hr
Comments:

I've heard the joke a million time "There are two kinds of bikers, those who have crashed and those who will crash". Well I earned my battle scars today and entered the "those that have crashed" catagory.

It happend about 15 minutes in where I was flying down the first big decent. There was a cop at the bottom of the decent pointing right and yelling something like "slow down you dumb ass, sharp corner ahead." I hit my back brake and at that moment I kind of got that feeling that this wasn't going to turn out well. I started my turn and there was no frickin way I was going to keep me and my bike in an upright position on the road. So of course I did the smart thing and grabbed my rear brake a little hard. Well at that moment it felt like I was turning on ice and my back wheel let go.

The cop asked if I was ok. I stood up and notice a good amount of blood coming from my elbow and shin and the wind got knocked out of me a little. I waved off the cop and told him I think I'm ok as nothing felt broken other than my pride. I was more worried about my bike than myself anyway. I jumped back on and thankfully I didn't have to change a flat. Assessing the damage on the ensuring uphill. My steering was out of kilter, my rear derailer felt a little out of alignment, and my left areo bar was loose and my bike computer wasn't working. I straighten the steering at the top of the hill and continued onwards.

I took a look at elbow and it looked real ugly and missing a bunch of skin. I decided not to look at it again.

I tended to get passed on all the uphill and pass on the downhills. Overall, I passed much more than I go passed and excluding the crash I was happy with my bike.
What would you do differently?:

I don't think I drank enough so I need to get one of those water bottled that go inbetween my aero bars. Not crashing next time my help also. Also a little more hill work to keep pace in that area.
Transition 2
  • 02m
Comments:

I've never done it before so I did as well as I could. My kids and wife were just outside the transition area hoolding a sign that said "Go Daddy" so it gave me a bunch of renewed energy to see them. When I sat down to put on my shoes my abs and quads tighten up pretty bad as I think they were trying to tell me that they were not in the mood to run.

As I was leaving the transition area, I was asked for my number.....oh [email protected] forgot my number. I had to run back and get my number. A bunch of people followed me and hilarity ensured as voluteers were trying to get those people to run the right way.
What would you do differently?:

everything....
Run
  • 55m 54s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 09m  min/mile
Comments:

I've run one 10k about a year ago and I beat that time by almost a minute. So I guess it's a PR. My quads were always on the verge of locking up but I was able to keep them moveing forward. I pretty much passed as much as I got passed so I was fairly happy with the run overall. At about 2,5 miles the heat really started to get to me so I decided to walk the hills and walk through aid stations to get every drop of HEED and water in me.


What would you do differently?:

go faster. I think I had a little more left in me. Other than that I think it went well.
Post race
Warm down:

massage, gatorade, water and first aid station.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

fitness, training, the concept of swimming with escapes me at this moment

Event comments:

I met my goal of finishing in the top 75% of my AG!!!

Fast swim for most....

Hilly and fairly technical course so it was a good challenge. A great experience for my first Triathlon.




Last updated: 2006-06-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:22:15 | 1640 yards | 01m 22s / 100yards
Age Group: 45/45
Overall: 166/205
Performance: Bad
Suit: nineteen
Course: From the boat lauch swim perpendicular to miss pilons, rocks, getting sucked into sewage treatment plant, etc. Catch current and swim to dock ladders a mile down river. Current was very fast and if start tasting salt water you went to far.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: High
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 04:00
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
01:22:13 | 24.85 miles | 18.14 mile/hr
Age Group: 34/45
Overall: 122/205
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some
Course: Rolling countryside with some techinical turns. No flats to speak of, you were either going up hill or down.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Below average Cornering: Bad
Gear changes: Average Hills: Bad
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:00
Overall: Bad
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:55:54 | 06.21 miles | 09m  min/mile
Age Group: 30/45
Overall: 119/205
Performance: Average
Course: hilly and hot....all of a 10k
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5