Greenwood Triathlon - Triathlon


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Ninety Six, South Carolina
United States
Set Up Events
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 26m 24s
Overall Rank = 155/175
Age Group = 30-34f
Age Group Rank = 13/14
Event warmup:

Point-to-point event, set up T1 on Saturday afternoon, then T2 on Sunday morning. Took 20-min bus ride to T1/swim start. Put finishing touches on T1, went for a warmup swim, got ready to go!
Swim
  • 39m 19s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 37s / 100 meters
Comments:

Nice lake, perfect temp. The start into the sun was a bit difficult but not too bad. You can't see a thing in the water, but this is a smaller race with small wave starts so I didn't have many bumps or collisions with other swimmers.
Transition 1
  • 04m 6s
Comments:

I haven't invested in a tri suit yet, and was one of only 2 women who was wearing a swimsuit lol That really slowed me down, trying to pull on bike shorts and jersey over my wet bathing suit. But this was my first Olympic so I wasn't going for speed. I also have to spray on sunscreen or I will fry in the first 5 mins. of the bike and hate life for the next week. I pretty much camp out in transition; at some point I will fix that.
What would you do differently?:

Buy a tri suit.
Bike
  • 1h 37m 16s
  • 24 miles
  • 14.75 mile/hr
Comments:

I know I am slow, but I had the best bike! I was really happy here. My only challenge was water. I checked my bike in the day before since it was a point-to-point with two transition areas and my bottle of water was warm the next morning even though it had been frozen. There are no water bottle handoffs at this event. SetUp had water bottles at T1 but they were also warm, no ice. SC is very hot and the entire course is in the sun, and even after drinking a full bottle of water and bottle of gatorade on the bike I was still thirsty headed into T2, where SetUp had no water. Even if I had left water at T2 it would have been warm. So I spent a good bit of time at the first aid station on the run gulping cold water. Not a big thing and it didn't slow me down but some kind of cold water option would have been nice, either at T1 or at a handoff, especially since they really push you to set up T1 the day before and T1 is in the sun.
What would you do differently?:

I guess bring a cold bottle to T1 before the swim start and hope it stays cold. This was my best bike so far at a tri though so I was very happy.
Transition 2
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

I only camp out in T1; T2 was smooth and fast for me. I even had a chance to kiss my husband and son goodbye before I ran out.
What would you do differently?:

Get some of those fancy shoelaces you don't have to tie :-) That's the only thing that really slowed me down, sitting down to put on and tie my running shoes.
Run
  • 1h 04m 14s
  • 10 kms
  • 06m 25s  min/km
Comments:

My goal was one hour but it was so hot that I stopped for awhile at 5 of the 6 water stations to pour one cup over my head, one down my jersey and drink 1-2 cups. I felt pretty good for the run overall and would have hit my goal if not for the heat, but since this was my first Oly I wasn't too concerned with time as much as staying on pace, and I felt much better being cool. I had enough gas in the tank to pass several runners, including the only 3 in front of me the last mile.
What would you do differently?:

Next time I will try to get the best time possible and either carry my own water or not stop so often, or for so long!
Post race
Warm down:

My one complaint is that there was no water at the finish for us slow people. We may not be the best at triathlon, but we deserve water too, especially at 11 am on a sunny SC day. It's also dangerous not to have water at the finish IMHO. I went with the only option, a Coke, which I really didn't want. I drank my Coke, walked around and found my family, then sat down under a tree in the shade. It was so hot that no one really stuck around.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

For me, I performed great and was very happy. Lessons learned though - get a tri suit and speed up T1, cold water on the bike is really important, and don't rely on the aid stations for all of my water on the run.

Event comments:

Nice lake swim, fast and fairly flat bike, and flat, shaded paved trail to run on. I will do this race again. Only a few negatives, in addition to not providing the last 25 finishers with any water, which is really inexcusable. It's water, not wine. Another reason to keep training and get faster!

This year the race ended in Uptown Greenwood, which is a really pretty downtown area. But nothing is open on a Sunday in SC. My husband and son came to watch my first Oly since it was 2+ hours away and I was going to stay in a hotel. There was absolutely nothing for them to do while I raced except spend time at a little city park. Not a single coffee, donut or other food place was open on or around Main Street, mush less anything else, even by the time we left at noon. They were hot and bored but good sports about it.

I would have rather finished at the lake like originally advertised so I could jump in and cool off. When I registered the race was supposed to finish at the lake, which is why I chose it, so that my family could come and have something to do, like swim, fish, grill out, etc. Then they changed it to finishing in Greenwood, which is like a ghost town. I liked finishing on Main Street, but be warned and leave family members at home!






Last updated: 2013-06-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:19 | 1500 meters | 02m 37s / 100meters
Age Group: 10/14
Overall: 0/175
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: All left turns, first 250-300 yards is straight into the sun and hard to sight. Walk down concrete stairs for an in-water start, exit at the boat ramp. There's a kinda long run/walk up the drive to transition.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 81F / 27C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:06
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:37:16 | 24 miles | 14.75 mile/hr
Age Group: 14/14
Overall: 0/175
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Coming from the mountains, this was a fairly flat course. There were hills, but not any hard ones. I'm a beginner cyclist but I made good time for me and was surprised to see that I was below 15mph. Low traffic, well-marked turns and police at all intersections made for a fast and easy ride, even for me. Road conditions aren't very smooth for much of the route, but weren't completely awful either.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering:
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:30
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:04:14 | 10 kms | 06m 25s  min/km
Age Group: 12/14
Overall: 0/175
Performance: Average
Course: This is a good run course - flat, mostly shaded, an out-and-back so you get to see other runners and on a paved trail so there's no traffic. The aid stations had plenty of water, Heed and Hammer gel. Volunteers were great. One day when I am fast I will do this tri again - it's a good one for a PR.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 4