Silverlake Sprint Triathlon 2007 - Triathlon


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Houston, Texas
United States
Fitness Solutions
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 01m 41s
Overall Rank = 88/465
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 16/36
Pre-race routine:

i got up early today, like at 0400. after doing the last couple races with lots of time to spare i have decided that its better to have way too much time than to be cutting it close. made some cream of wheat which i got down pretty easily but i wasn't hungry for anything else. worried a little bit that my inability to eat was gonna affect me.
Event warmup:

after setting up transition i actually did a little running. i ate almost a full pack of those cliff bar shot bloks and that stopped me worrying about food. ran into one BT'er while i was in line to get my chip, it was bigjim. anyway he comes up and says/asks "tag"? and i'm just instantly all smiles cause thats probably the first time someone recognized me out of the blue off the internet. did some sprints and strides back and forth across the park. then i made my way down to the swim area.
Swim
  • 08m 32s
  • 437 yards
  • 01m 57s / 100 yards
Comments:

used a bit of a different strategy today. i had always started off to the back or side but then i always play catch up and go off course. today i was on the front line. guys were more talkative than usual so we tried to line up based on avg hundred time. it kindof worked out. there was some bumping and jostling but not like last year. i had watched a couple of the first waves and noticed that after the start, when things start opening up that there is a big amoeba-like pack of swimmers behind nicely spaced swimmers. that pack eventually opens up to but in the first 100 yards there is no way i want any of that. i was in that pack a little while the first go round and wanted no part of that so i got out in front of it. i started fairly fast and started getting tired but not exhausted and just tried to stay smooth. at about the half way point a guy came along side of me and WHACK, smashes me right in the mouth with his hand. i could taste the blood so i knew i was bleeding and i could feel a good sized slice with my tongue.

i took 6:13 off of last years swim.
What would you do differently?:

nothing. i just need to continue getting better in the swim.
Transition 1
  • 00m 49s
Comments:

as i headed into T1 all i could think about was how bad i felt last year and how much better i felt today. only 4 guys in my age group had faster T1's and they were 1st, 2nd, 10th and 17th in the AG.

beat last years time by 1:34.
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Bike
  • 26m 18s
  • 10 miles
  • 22.81 mile/hr
Comments:

i liked this bike course. i felt (maybe it should be hoped) like i was faster than the times showed but i guess the times don't lie. i made it through almost the entire bike leg being passed my only one person. at about mile two or three as i was picking off what seemed like all the guys from the earlier age groups a guy with a 46 on his leg comes blazing by. i thought about going with him and i did keep sight of him for a while but the course was so curvy that he got away. then with about a half mile to go a pack of 4 or 5 men catch me and they were almost all in my age group. i was trying to figure out where they came from, still am actually because just about everyone who beat me in the swim beat me overall too. maybe there were people who were passing me back up or maybe i got out of transition quicker.
What would you do differently?:

overall i am a little disappointed in my ride today. i was 5th out of 51 in galveston and all i could manage today was 14th? i probably could have gone harder. i knew i had to run and i remembered how i felt after the practice tri. i averaged a smidge over 23 that day and could not run for squat. i think i would have pushed a few more watts if i had known where i was gonna end up. also, considering how technical the course was i may have been faster on my roadie, its 5 pounds lighter and probably would have accelerated better than that disc wheeled aero barred tri-bike and been more nimble in all the curves. ok, enuf bitching, today is over, we'll try again next weekend.
Transition 2
  • 01m 36s
Comments:

30th out of 36, nuff said. 10 seconds slower than last year.
What would you do differently?:

get faster. maybe some yankz becasue i am wasting alot of time in T2 sitting down to put on my socks and shoes. i could hear coach yelling, "what are you doing sitting down"?
Run
  • 24m 27s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 07m 53s  min/mile
Comments:

man did this run start off bad. i didn't feel overly winded from the bike like i have before but i was having cramps bad. in the first half mile or so both my calves and both my groins were going crazy. never all together, it was like firecrackers going off when you light a string of them, the cramps were all over the place and irregularly timed. none of them ever developed into a full-on charlie horse, thank goodness, but it had me crippled for a short time. i was running and every step i was muttering a different curse word. i walked for like 6 steps and a dude i had just passed went back by. no way! i ran through the cramps, fortunately they stopped. a guy in my age group came by and was going too fast for me to go with him. that was inside the first mile. i could see him for several minutes (i sped up a little bit entertaining the thought to maybe get him) but i finally got too far behind. he beat me by 13 seconds. one other guy came by and i let him get about 15 yards out. then i just tried to hold on. i could also hear footsteps now and it was killing me not to look back but i know that would have switched on their killer instict to see me looking. it was killing me not to know if it was another guy in my age group or not and i was still thinking about all those guys that passed me at the end of the bike.

i ran behind this guy for a mile, never letting him get father than 20 yard or so. about 200 yards from the finish i closed the gap and then i pounced with about 60 yards to go. he looked back and saw me coming but didn't try anything, or so i thought. looking at the results i only beat him by one second so he must have tried to get his position back when he saw the age on my leg. i am sure i will see him again....the one who beat me too.

beat last years time by 3:42.
What would you do differently?:

i just need to run faster.
Post race
Warm down:

i was really happy as i crossed the finish line. even though i had been glancing at my watch and knew my time to see it on the big timer was pretty great. it was 1:13:something and it was reall easy to subtract the 12 mkinutes from my wave start time and know that i almost broke an hour.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

mental on the bike, although at the time i thought it was good enough. cramping on the run.......nutrition?

Event comments:

despite my small unhappiness that i didn't break the hour mark, i am absolutely stoked that i beat my goal. i had hoped to take 15 minutes off my last years time. i knew i would shave about 7 minutes in the swim but i was unsure where i would find that other 8 minutes. i found them in every part of the race.....except T2.

now to go to work for next year. i need to "find" nine more minutes from somewhere to try and win my agegroup. i need 2 more mph on the bike and 6:30 miles. yeah......

i took a grand total of 16:24 off last years race time!
swam my fastest ever open water swim average/100 yards!
ran my fastest ever 5K!

had a pretty good bike split despite placing so poorly, i think people are getting faster. my overall time last year would have gotten me 8th in my age group.




Last updated: 2007-01-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:32 | 437 yards | 01m 57s / 100yards
Age Group: 19/36
Overall: 0/465
Performance: Average
Suit: LG
Course: three sides of a square with the start and finish about 70 yards apart.
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 00:49
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:26:18 | 10 miles | 22.81 mile/hr
Age Group: 14/36
Overall: 0/465
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: winding course through the residential area of Silverlake in Pearland. some areas of the course opened up so some speed could be had but there was LOTS of turning. gave me a chance to practice high speed cornering in the aerobars. as technical as it was i liked it.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:36
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:24:27 | 03.1 miles | 07m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 19/36
Overall: 0/465
Performance: Good
Course: winding and through the residential areas of Silverlake. very nice. i'd like to live in there.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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