XanGo Echo Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Coalville, Utah
United States
Tri Utah
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 52m 41s
Overall Rank = 135/250
Age Group = 25-29 M
Age Group Rank = 17/24
Pre-race routine:

Parked at the school in Coalville and put together my race gear. Jammed everything I could fit into my backpack since we had to ride about a mile in on the bike. Got to the race start, and dropped off my stuff in the transition area. Went and got bodymarked- proudly sported the "O" on my left calve ;) Set up my transition area-coincidentally I was right next to Randy (he was 1433), so we BS'd for a bit before the race.
Event warmup:

Got suited up in my swimming gear, and realized that it wasn't going to be fun doing the run up to the transition area in barefeet. It was super-rocky and thorny and I would be hating life. I decided I'd bring my running shoes down to the beach (I accidentally left my crocs in the car :( ) and slip those on to run into transition.

We went down to the water and dipped our toes in. The race start creeped up faster than I thought and before I knew it we were started, so I didn't get much of a warmup.
Swim
  • 32m 9s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 57s / 100 yards
Comments:

I struggled to stay relaxed for the first little bit, and it seemed to be very crowded for the first 300-400 yards, so I wasn't finding my zone. I still really suck at sighting, so I kept bobbing my head up and stopping. On some stretches where I wasn't sighting at all, I zig-zagged a bit and had to get back on track. I only started to feel really comfortable about the last 500 yards. The swim definitely felt LONG... I think what made it seem long was the two laps. If it had been a long out and back or single loop for the Oly it would have seemed easier. It was almost right on target with my expected time, although I was hoping I could do it in 27-28 min. My main goal was to HAVE FUN and save some gas for the rest of the race, and I succeeded at that, so I don't feel bad.

I still had fun. There's something that just seems crazy fun about swimming out in the middle of a lake with a bunch of other nuts for nearly a mile.

What would you do differently?:

I need to figure out how to sight. It's killing any sense of rhythm (not to mention my swim time) when I bob my head up to make sure I'm on course.
Transition 1
  • 05m 6s
Comments:

Ok, so I guess I took Drew's advice way too literally. I practically took a nap during this transition. I thought, eh, I'll burn an extra minute or so and ended up burning more like 2-3 more. Whoops! I just didn't want to go out on the bike unprepared. Things that added to this transition time was getting off the wetsuit. Didn't happen as easily as I'd hoped. I also had to put on/take off shoes out of the water, and coming into transition, and that added some time (prob. a minute), and then my decision to wear my camelbak waterpack for the bike added more time than I thought. There were just way too many things to worry about.
What would you do differently?:

I'll lose the camelbak water pack, since I hardly used it- It's difficult to take sips off of the nozzle without choking on water since you have to bite the thing to get water out and it just keeps coming. I was breathing too hard to use it on the uphill too, so it was mostly just extra weight on the bike :( The gloves may have helped, but I think I would have been okay without them. And as far as transition shoes go, I will remember to bring my crocs to run in next time. All of those things should easily shave 3 min. off my time.
Bike
  • 1h 18m 3s
  • 25 miles
  • 19.22 mile/hr
Comments:

I hopped on the bike and thought I'd really hammer this ride out, but then I found myself questioning that thought as soon as I hit the first hill. I wasn't sure what to expect on the rest of the course, so I took it pretty easy. I was carrying unneccesary extra weight (the water pack) on my back, and was sucking diesel exhaust from the tail end of a train right next to the course. It wasn't pleasant. The ride down mostly made up in fun what the out took away- I hit some very good speeds coming down and passed a couple of very elite-looking dudes on fancy bikes racing the sprint. Maybe they didn't care, but I sure enjoyed it.
What would you do differently?:

Ditch the water pack (did I already mention that?) and push harder. I'd drive out the course if I could before hand so I knew what to expect. Had I known the course better I would have been more comfortable with pushing harder.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

They haven't finalized the T2 times... so not sure on the actual time. I'd guess I took about 2:30. This transition was better than the first. I didn't have nearly as many things to worry about, although I did mess around with some supplements and that took time. I had to rip open a pack of enduralytes (I meant to take them BEFORE the bike but forgot) and took some. Not sure if it really helped-- probably should have taken them earlier). Then I fought my running shoes a bit. There was sand/rocks in them and they were soaking wet since I used them for the T1 run from the swim. Not good.
What would you do differently?:

Not much... just all the things I've already mentioned that had the cascading effect on this transition.
Run
  • 57m 21s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 09m 15s  min/mile
Comments:

My run was somewhat uncomfortable because of my shoes- they were soaking wet and had rocks in them. I wouldn't say that they ruined my run or anything, but I was definitely thinking about each step. Despite that issue, the run felt pretty good for the first 3.5 miles or so. I was managing to hold roughly an 8:15-8:30 pace for the first section, and felt pretty good doing it. I saw Randy headed in at mile 5 (I was at mile 1), saw Drew at mile 4 (my mile 2) and eventually saw Dave right after the turnaround. I was excited to see I was slightly ahead of Dave (runningfoo), but I knew that lead would be gone within a minute or two, but it was reassuring to know that I wasn't murdering my race time. Everyone was doing equally as slow (we all underestimated our goal times). It was at mile 5 that I really started to have trouble. I got a side cramp and some cramping in my legs (quads) that made it hard to run. I stopped and walked for a bit and ran again. It didn't help that I could pretty much see the entire mile of trail I had to run at that point. It looked like forever. Somehow I mustered up the willpower to run in and sprinted the last tenth or more in passing three people. It hurt but felt good. Randy and Drew cheered me in.
What would you do differently?:

I'd make sure I could run in dry, rockless shoes. And take the enduralytes way before the run. Maybe take some goo or something too. I don't know. It's hard to say. Everytime I get to the run it's sooo brutal. Especially in the hot sun. Guess I just have to take what I'm given ;)
Post race
Warm down:

Did some light stretches and BS'd with the rest of the BT Utah crew. We were all whining about our times together, but also gloating about the fact we'd just completed an Oly... especially us first-timers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

All sorts of stuff. It was definitely a good learning experience. It was a good first experiment to see what might work in an Oly. But hey, it was my first. I really had no expectations, so I think I did just as I should have expected for my first.

Event comments:

A very fun course... but a very challenging one. The event was very well planned and organized, and everything worked fairly smoothly. Tons of volunteers, race officials, police to barricade and control traffic. Plenty of aid stations. I'll definitely consider doing this race again!!




Last updated: 2006-07-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:32:09 | 1640 yards | 01m 57s / 100yards
Age Group: 10/24
Overall: 95/250
Performance: Average
Suit: Orca Speedsuit
Course: Triangular course of buoys set up about 250m apart from each other, totaling 750m. Two laps for Oly distance, and then a short swim into shore on the last lap.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 71F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 05:06
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:18:03 | 25 miles | 19.22 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/24
Overall: 83/250
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Rolling hills with a net uphill for the entire way out. There were a couple of areas where you had to shift down to a pretty low gear and really crank. The turnaround was at ~12.5 mi and all the way back down the same path. A couple of the steepest hills were toward the very end of the course.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:57:21 | 06.2 miles | 09m 15s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/24
Overall: 133/250
Performance: Average
Course: Flat dirt trail (Park City Rail Trail) out 3.1 miles and back. A couple of very mild inclines in parts. Water stations every mile.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5