The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Washington, Washington, D.C.
United States
TNT productions
68F / 20C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 03m 55s
Overall Rank = 102/272
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 12/48
Pre-race routine:

Ahh, my first race report. I woke up at 4:00, bowl of Cheerios, two pieces of wheat toast, cup of coffee, juice, bottle of water, left at 5:30 for 40 min ride downtown with my supportive pit crew. I felt amazingly calm.
Event warmup:

Introduced myself to Brandon (witteb) inside the T. Hard not to miss the BT jersey. Nice to meet you Brandon! See you again soon. Set up my T. I don't think I could have gotten a worse spot assigned to rack my bike. It was all the way down at the end of the row. So, I had to run down and back which cost me valuable time. Next I got body marked, then did the obligatory porta potty line wait. Actually I did this twice. The second time I only had about three minutes to spare before my wave went off. I did a little light jog to the start line for my warm up, some quick stretching, and wow, was it really almost time to go?
Swim
  • 13m 31s
  • 3000 meters
  • 27s / 100 meters
Comments:

I went out kinda easy (tried to anyway). I was concerned about having excess race adrenaline and going out too fast. I just really wasn't sure what to expect once I got on the bike. I did not want to over do it and then blow-up on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

maybe push just a little bit harder.
Transition 1
  • 02m 15s
Comments:

I was so excited to get on the bike, that I almost forgot to put on my bike shoes. Hey Newbie! Get with the program!! I just took way too long here (43/48). Also the longer run in and out didn't help. I racked my bike the day before and could have had my choice of spots, there were maybe 10 bikes before mine. But nothing I could do about it.
What would you do differently?:

I did practice this T a few times, but need to practice some more. Perhaps, a sticky note check off list so I remember my bike shoes?
Bike
  • 59m 2s
  • 32 kms
  • 32.52 km/hr
Comments:

I felt really good on the bike. My goal was to average 20mph. I had done some decent mileage in my four months of training, but would shortly discover that I did not do enough high intensity work. I was doing plenty of passion, making my way up through the field until the 18.5m mark. I suddenly had the worst cramp of my entire life. It felt like a bomb went off in my left calf. There was an indention in the middle of the muscle about the size of a quarter and a 1/4 inch deep. I could see it twitching violently at the bottom of the hole. I screamed in pain as I went up the lone climb on the course. I reduced my cadence, and tried to massage the cramp, keep pedaling, screaming all the while. Decsion time - do I pull over, stop, and try to stretch, or just keep going? Just then, I got passed by about 20 bikes, and that made me mad enough to forget about the pain, and get back on track. Yes, it hurt, but not as bad as the reality of losing all those spots in the race. I knew I had to get them back. Fortunately, I now had the downhill to recover on. Back on the big ring, I passed several bikes before the dismount. Unclipped, got off, and hobbled to my T.
What would you do differently?:

Hydrate better on the bike. I'm just not very good at this. I think I will get a aero bottle and holder. Higher intensity training would help
Transition 2
  • 01m 52s
Comments:

I was in a lot of pain from the cramp in my left calf. I tried stretching it out a bit. Still another slow transition. Crappy spot!
What would you do differently?:

More practice.
Run
  • 47m 18s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 37s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, the first half mile, or so, the pain in my leg was pretty severe. I finally got up to a half way decent pace about a mile in. I found a real nice guy,Mike,who was setting what looked to be a pace that, with all things considered, I could maintain. We ran together the rest of the race, keeping up a conversation. That right there told me I was not running hard enough. But I was afraid if I went much faster the excruciating cramp pain would return. Right now it was manageable and we were making decent progress. I didn't know exactly where the finish line was. I felt like I could make a good strong sprint and decided to go for it with about a 1/4 mile to go. I passed one more racer in AG, got my name called over the PA (which was cool), and ended up finishing right behind Adrian Fenty, who won the Democratic Mayoral Primary earlier in the week (so, basically he is the Mayor-Elect of DC). I spoke with him for a few minutes, thanked him for supporting the sport and the event, and asked him to help make this a world class event for a world class city!
What would you do differently?:

Just wish I hadn't gotten the cramp. It slowed me down on the bike and on the run. Overall, thought, I was still pleased with my time. Smallwood, here I come!
Post race
Warm down:

about four bottles of water, a banana, and a corn muffin.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The !@#$% cramp!! Drink more on the bike.

Event comments:

Considering the hoops the RD had to go through to pull this off, I think they did a great job. There were a couple of snags and a few things could have been better, but I enjoyed myself! Well, I guess that's it. Thank you to everyone at BT!!




Last updated: 2006-09-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:31 | 3000 meters | 27s / 100meters
Age Group: 11/48
Overall: 102/272
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: the swim was cancelled and replaced with a 3k run over a basically flat course. Just a little warm up for the 32k bike.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 02:15
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:59:02 | 32 kms | 32.52 km/hr
Age Group: 0/48
Overall: 0/272
Performance: Average
Wind: Strong
Course: Plenty of wind, always seemed to be fighting it. My cycle computer had the distance at 21.7m (of course it also said my maximum speed was 77.2mph, I think the Friday night rain might have gotten to it). Spectacular views of our nation's capital. This is exactly why I wanted this race!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:52
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:47:18 | 06.21 miles | 07m 37s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/48
Overall: 83/272
Performance: Below average
Course: Pretty flat course, a few little hills, but not much. I train on much bigger hills.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]