Whaling City Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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New Bedford, Massachusetts
United States
Sun Multisport Events
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 15m 35s
Overall Rank = 104/310
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 23/30
Event warmup:

I got in maybe 300-350 meters of swimming and did some stretching.
Swim
  • 08m 19s
  • 440 yards
  • 01m 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swim was pretty good overall. My time was the 2nd best I've ever done in a race at this distance. It would have been better if I had sighted better at the start of the race. But by about 100 meters I looked up and realized I was fairly far off course and had to correct to get back in line with the buoys. I find that I'm getting more comfortable about being around other swimmers in the open water. I was practically run over by a fast female swimmer and had a couple run-ins with guys in my swim wave. But I didn't panic or stress and handled it all pretty well. In fact, the last guy I was bumping into I decided to try to surge ahead and get in front of him to stay and I did just that!
What would you do differently?:

I should have sighted better early on. I was paying a little more attention to making sure that I didn't start out too fast and i started to veer off course. I was able to get back in line with the buoys and did much better after that. But I probably could have saved myself a little time with better sighting in the beginning.
Transition 1
  • 02m 50s
Comments:

T1 was OK. I wasn't racing into transition, but I was jogging at a decent pace. I started to put my bike gloves on, but after just a few seconds decided to ditch them. Everything else went fairly well without any real issues. The web site doesn't have rankings, but looking at the T1 times of the people around me my time looks maybe slightly slower than average.
What would you do differently?:

I should have made the decision to ride without gloves before the race, but that only cost me a few seconds. At most, I could have gained one position in the overall standings and no more. I was also a little nonchalant about T1 and I could have put a little more effort into trying to get out of T1 quicker.
Bike
  • 37m 52s
  • 12 miles
  • 19.01 mile/hr
Comments:

I was hoping for a serious increase in speed due to how flat the course was. But the cross-winds coming off the bay were tough. At times, I had to shift down a couple gears on a flat section because the wind was just killing me! I still had an excellent average pace and felt pretty good about my bike performance.
What would you do differently?:

There wasn't much to do differently. I might have been able to do better if I could have stayed in an aero position longer, but I don't ride a lot in aero during training so I can't do it in races. That would have helped some, but I don't think there was a ton to be gained.
Transition 2
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

Not much to say here. T2 was decent. I pulled off the flying dismount and cruised into the TA. Bike equipment off and run stuff on with no real issues. The only hiccup was that I put my race belt on backwards and had to switch it as I was running out of T2. Rather than waiting for my calves to cramp on the run, I decided to stretch in the TA. This made my T2 time look longer, but it also made my run time look great! I'll take that trade off any day!
What would you do differently?:

Other than trying to run a little faster through T2, nothing. Like I said, I'd rather stretch in T2 and have a better (and more accurate) run time. I hate having to stop mid-run to stretch, so I was OK with the trade off.
Run
  • 25m 8s
  • 5 kms
  • 05m 02s  min/km
Comments:

Well, it's hard to argue with a brand new PR on the triathlon run portion. In fact, my time was only 16 seconds off my 5K PR for even just a stand-alone 5K. I was thrilled with my run time. I was also extremely pleased to see that my fastest mile was the last one!
What would you do differently?:

I don't know how to improve upon that run. I pretty much came to a stop at each of the water stations. Once to drink a cup of Gatorade and once to dump a cup of water on my head to cool down a bit. I find it almost impossible to drink while running, so I have to stop to get the drink down. I don't think I could have skipped that first aid station, but I possibly could have skipped the second and shaved a few seconds. But overall I'm thrilled with that time!
Post race
Warm down:

No real warm-down. I grabbed my finisher medal and started looking for something to drink. I grabbed an OJ from one of the vendors there and headed for the team tent.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not much on my part. I had my 2nd fastest swim ever, my 1st or 2nd fastest bike pace, and set a new PR on the run. The only thing that was a problem on the day was my poor sighting to start the swim and the wind. To be honest, the wind was the biggest factor and I can't do anything about that.

Event comments:

The course was in a beautiful location and I have to admit to taking a little time during the race to check out the scenery. It was a great location for a race. The only negative thing I can say about the race was that the bike course got narrow on at least a couple corners. With over 300 competitors on a 6 mile course, which you have to traverse twice, it got crowded. Because of that, there were times were things got a little hairy on the corners when I came upon a slower rider. Whereas I wanted to carry about as much speed as I could into the corners, other more tentative riders would slow going into the corner which caused me to have to slow down to avoid an accident. It would have been nice if the corners were wider to allow enough room to safely get around slower riders. Otherwise, the race was awesome! It was well run with plenty of volunteers. The race had separate lanes marked off on the roads so you didn't have to share space with cars. Definitely a race I'll do again.




Last updated: 2016-07-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:19 | 440 yards | 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 20/30
Overall: 139/310
Performance: Good
Suit: None
Course: Swim out perpendicular to the shore, turn at the first buoy, short stretch parallel to shore, turn at the next buoy, and head back to shore.
Start type: Run Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 71F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:50
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:37:52 | 12 miles | 19.01 mile/hr
Age Group: 23/30
Overall: 118/310
Performance: Good
Wind: Cross-winds with gusts
Course: The bike course was 2 loops on a 6 mile course. A lot of the course followed the shore line. While it was beautiful scenery, the wind coming off the bay was pretty brutal. At times, it was really killing my speed. The course itself was very flat with only a few moderate hills.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:27
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:25:08 | 05 kms | 05m 02s  min/km
Age Group: 20/30
Overall: 95/310
Performance: Good
Course: Much of the run course was along the shore line on sidewalks. The sidewalks were paved (rather than concrete) and were in good shape. Maybe 4/10 of a mile before the finish, the course takes you out and back along a pier that goes out into the bay. It was a pretty neat little twist on the course.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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] 4