South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Greenwood, South Carolina
United States
set-up.inc
86F / 30C
Sunny
Total Time = 8h 22m 52s
Overall Rank = 262/273
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 10/12
Pre-race routine:

Went up to Greenwood State Park Sat. Decided to camp out for this event..yes with a tent and sleeping bag. Picked my packet up Sat evening and bought a new bike seat from Gotrisports while I was there. What's that they say about nothing new on race day. Well this would bite me on the butt...literally. Went back to camp and put the new seat on by lantern light. Was in the tent and asleep by 2130. Slept well.
Event warmup:

Got up at 0430. Made coffee. Toasted a bagel and had one half with pb and the other with jam. Transition was close by the campsite so I packed everything in the tri bag and walked the bike over in the dark. Got my timing chip, got body marked and headd over to the swim start. They didn't want anyone in the water so there was no warm up for the swim.Just put on my wet suit and stood by.
Swim
  • 1h 00m 29s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 52s / 100 yards
Comments:

My normal slow a$$ swim. But not bad considering I had no warmup. Kept my breathing under control. Counted strokes between sightings to occupy myself. Seen all the buoys and only made one navigation error when I mistook a yellow kayak for a turn buoy.
What would you do differently?:

Swim faster.
Transition 1
  • 03m 43s
Bike
  • 3h 31m 5s
  • 56 miles
  • 15.92 mile/hr
Comments:

Jumped on my bike and was impaled by the new seat. Gooch trauma due to extreme high nose angle on seat. Immediately dismounted. Got out the multi-tool and removed seat and began to adjust seat. Got the nose angle about right but the seat was too high and too far forward. Starting catching up to folks by mile 10. By mile 20 had passed a bunch and by mile 30 was looking good. At mile 40 the wheels came off...not the bike, but mine. Pushing too hard on the hills and not hydrating properly had taken a toll on me. I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to make another seat adjustment. When I got off the bike I couldn't believe how warm it had gotten. I was sweating profusely the whole time I was working on the bike. I made the fix at a water stop and drank a bottle of water while I was there. After I resumed my ride I could never regain the momentum. I lost a lot of ground those last 15 miles.
What would you do differently?:

Not be a dummy and have the bike right before race time.
Transition 2
  • 04m 41s
Comments:

Felt bad coming off the bike. Quads were killing me.
Run
  • 3h 42m 56s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 17m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Ran the first 3 1/2 miles before the cramps got bad. By mile 7 I was done. All this turkey needed was a fork and some cranberry sauce. Cramps got pretty bad and I was relegated to this sort of Frankenstein walk. Had to stop a lot and "unlock my legs. Drank a lot of water and took a lot of enduralytes but couldn't recover. Had to walk the remainder.
What would you do differently?:

Carefully hydrate while on the bike. Also was overdressed. Had an underarmor shirt on under my jersey. Ditched the underarmor at mile 7 along with extra gels, sweat towel, and spare dry socks. Inspiration made me finish. All the good juju from this site plus all the cheers from the atheletes who had finished and were leaving. It kept you going.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed finish line and was led into the med tent. 3 liters of IV fluids and a quart of gatorade and finally I had to pee. So I got my finish medal and a needle in each arm. Doc's and nurses were great. Walked back to transition. Got my gear and headed back to camp.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Dehydration.

Event comments:

Great race. My buddy crashed a mile into the bike portion and wound up in the hospital. A local lady won her age group. Two other friends had top 30 finishes.
Props to the old dude ranger who came by and checked on me that night after the race. He had seen me in the med tent and came to check to see if I was OK. He also came by this morning as I was striking camp to make sure I didn't croak during the night.
Thanks to all my peeps who sent the good juju that carried me to the finish. My time and lpacement sucked but the experience is priceless.




Last updated: 2006-07-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:00:29 | 2112 yards | 02m 52s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/12
Overall: 270/273
Performance: Average
Suit: sleeveless
Course: Triangular
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:43
Performance:
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
03:31:05 | 56 miles | 15.92 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/12
Overall: 249/273
Performance: Bad
Wind: Some
Course: Circuitous route through hilly countryside. Hardly any vehicle traffic.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 04:41
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
03:42:56 | 13.1 miles | 17m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/12
Overall: 258/273
Performance: Bad
Course: Two laps of an out and back course. Hilly run through the woods and countryside.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4