Shawnee Mission Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Shawnee, Kansas
United States
Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 58m 14s
Overall Rank = 3/172
Age Group = 35-39M
Age Group Rank = 1/12
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4:30. I started off with a liquid breakfast of Bolthouse smoothies, then drank coffee on the drive to the race site, which was followed up with the choking down of a Cliff Bar for some solid food in my stomach, and then finally a gel 20 minutes before the start.

I got the race site plenty early, enough time for three bathroom breaks and to take my sweet time setting up.
Event warmup:

Warm-up swim from the boat ramp over to the beach, I then chatted with Kevin and Pete before the short-course start.
Swim
  • 09m 2s
  • 650 yards
  • 01m 23s / 100 yards
Comments:

I thought I made a mistake seeding myself near the front on the swim because it seemed like I wasn't getting separation from anyone. On top of that I was swimming towards the wrong buoy. Even though the starter made us say, out loud, "buoys on the right" I started aiming for a buoy on the left - which is a normal fixture in the lake when races aren't happening. So while everyone else is swimming the direction they should be I'm shooting off from them at a 15 degree angle. Thankfully I realized the error of my ways and slowly merged back with the pack.

For whatever reason I just wasn't siting the buoys very easily. The sun wasn't an excuse yet since it was behind us. And so, right as I'm trying to find someone to guide me through the correct path my pal Pete shows up next to me in his bright neon yellow team banana hammocks jersey, He was going just ever so slightly faster than me so I slipped on behind him and had him guide me through the turn, the sun, and towards the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Pay attention to where I'm going.
Transition 1
  • 01m 23s
Comments:

I followed Pete up into T1 and was about as clean as efficient as you can get, until I got to the mount line and couldn't get my right foot to clip in on the first four attempts. Pete mocked me for this and then passed me on his way onto the bike course.

8/172
2/12
Bike
  • 25m
  • 8.86 miles
  • 21.26 mile/hr
Comments:

I'm usually am not a fan of this riding around this park, but today it wasn't so bad. The whole bike segment was over in such a short amount of time. The whole reason I did the short course was because I didn't think I was prepared enough for these hills, but maybe today I would have been alright. Anyway, I didn't get out of the saddle too much when tackling the hills for fear of killing my legs early, but I still held my own. I absolutely hammered the flat section on the first lap, mostly out of ego as some guy I passed, who was riding in the middle of the road, tried to come back up on me.

The second lap I was a smidge less aggressive, but I did hammer the down hills a little more confidently this time than on the first lap. As I approached T2 I about forgot to slip my feet out of my shoes, so I did that as quickly as a I could before I ran out of road.
Transition 2
  • 00m 36s
Comments:

I about lost it at the dismount line. Somehow part of my tri shorts, the tiny bit of extra material between my legs, got "hooked" underneath the nose of my bike seat when I stood up and began to swing right leg over my bike. It disrupted this whole fluid motion when I went to dismount. At the last second I came on unhinged and was ok, but I think to some watching it looked like a near catastrophe. No harm done and I was quick and fast after that.

3/172
1/12
Run
  • 21m 29s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 06m 56s  min/mile
Comments:

Mostly very pleased with this run. I was pleasantly shocked to see my first two mile splits were at 6:40 pace, especially since one of those contained the vertical climb of dam hill.

The first downer was the Enormous side cramp I got on my right side around the end of mile 2. I didn't drink much fluid on the bike, but whatever I did consume was not happy to be in my stomach. I was holding on to such a great 5k pace at that point but I was slowing down because of this thing. So disappointing. I kept thinking "are you supposed to breath in through mouth or your nose to get rid of cramp - or am I making that up? Maybe you're supposed breathe using your abdomen?" If anyone has any clue, please fill me in. I also tried massaging my side, but that didn't really do anything. After about four hours the cramp went away and I was able to finish the run hard (ok, it was four minutes).

About the time I was getting over my cramp, and as I was making my way towards the climb up the dam, and right around the time Josh Wolf was passing me on his long course run the soles of my feet revealed that I was developing large blisters. Sigh. I've been trying this thing lately where I don't wear socks for sprint triathlons in order to be quicker in T2, and up until now that has worked for me. But today, with these shoes, not so much. I didn't really slow down because of this but it was a nice additional add-on of pain to accompany the up hill sprint finish.
What would you do differently?:

Drink less on the run. . . I guess.
Post race
Warm down:

My wife and kids made it to the park to cheer me on, and so we wandered towards the lake so the kids could play, Then it was over to the finish line festival so they could make signs and so I could eat some pizza.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Inconsistent training pattern, but I was probably in decent shape for this sprint.

Event comments:

Well, organized, planned, and thought out. Plenty of communication before and during the race. A fun atmosphere before, during, and after the race. Plus it was for a good cause, the Open Options KC. Having the special needs individuals place medals on you at the finish was awesome.




Last updated: 2018-07-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:02 | 650 yards | 01m 23s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/12
Overall: 9/172
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: Straight out 400 yards, past the dock, then a button hook to the right to come back up towards the boat ramp.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:23
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:25:00 | 08.86 miles | 21.26 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/12
Overall: 5/172
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Two laps, counter-clockwise, around Shawnee Mission Lake
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 00:36
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:29 | 03.1 miles | 06m 56s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/12
Overall: 5/172
Performance: Good
Course: Across the dam, up the dam hill, down a hill, flat part, up the dam hill, up the hill to the finish
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5