Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series - Race #2 - TriathlonSprint


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Charleston, South Carolina
United States
Charleston Triathlon Club
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 10m
Overall Rank = 82/318
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 10/10
Pre-race routine:

I was staying in Edisto Beach, SC which is about 1 hour from Charleston. So I gathered my stuff up the night before so i didnt have to worry about it in the morning. I ate my normal waffles for breakfast. We drove in and got our timing chips and set up transition. On a side note, I did this tri with my father in law. He is a fast old man (54). He beat me by 3.5 minutes!
Event warmup:

I jogged to the porto-potties (which were about 1/4 mile away) and waited in line, jogged back, and stretched. I few minutes before the start I hopped in the pond and tested out the water. Warm and stinky, fun!!!!
Swim
  • 11m 19s
  • 528 yards
  • 02m 08s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was my first tri with an open water swim, so i really didnt know what to expect. It was pretty rough for the first 200m or so. There was alot of beating and banging. I decided to lay back a bit so that I didnt get too worn out. After looking at my time and my placing, I wish i would have gone our harder. I thought I did a pretty good job sighting and rounding the bouys. I tucked in close to all of them and swam in mostly a straight line to them.
What would you do differently?:

Gone out faster. I can swim faster than 2:14/100yds. This was only my second tri. It will get better
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

I had some trouble clipping in once i got on my bike. I think that is has to do with my $16 nashbar road pedals. I have new pedals that I will be installing (speedplay zeros) but they hadnt arrived by the time i left for South Carolina. I did go without socks for the first time. I had socks there but decided that I didnt want to take the time to put them on.
What would you do differently?:

maybe learn mount bike with shoes attached to the pedal. It will come in time
Bike
  • 34m 42s
  • 12 miles
  • 20.75 mile/hr
Comments:

Here is the part of the race that made me a bit angry. In the rules sent out by the CSTS coordinators, it says specifically "Drafting on the Bike is cheating. Anyone considered to be drafting at anytime on the Bike Course will be DQ’d. No warning. No appeals" Hah!!!! If you were out on the bike course where I was, you would have thought this was the Tour de France. The one guy I beat out of the swim in my AG, drafted off of me for about 3 minutes the took off (he ended up beating me by 36 seconds). Oh and as he passed me he said "I am trying to stay legal, but its so hard" BullSh!t!!!!! Then I had managed to pass a bunch of people including a few in my AG. Then a line of about 5 people came flying by me. The left me in the dust. I got really mad and hammered for the rest of the bike. I was never able to catch back up to them which wasnt so bad until I saw how close I was to some of the others. If they would have not been cheating, I would have had a chance to beat some of the people in my AG. It is just frustrating
What would you do differently?:

I am seriously considering writing an email to the race director. It may sound whiney from someone who came in last place in their age group, but it was advertised as a non drafting race. And when you put such harsh words of warning in the rules, you should at least have some people out there to police it. My bike performance was excellent for me, so i am not complaining about that. I just wish i could do something about other people
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Time was in run I think. I goofed up and I misjudged how big the loop around the lake was and I got my feet out of my shoes way too early. So I had to mash down on the tops of my shoes for about a 1/4 mile or so.
What would you do differently?:

not do what I just explained.
Run
  • 24m
  • 3.11 miles
  • 07m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

I thought it went pretty well for me. I ran this 5k faster than any stand alone 5k that i have done so i was pretty happy. I could have ran the first mile faster but my legs werent right after hammering on the bike to try and catch the cheaters. It started raining a bit on the run and I had to take off my sunglasses because there were water spots all over them. There was no good place to put them, so I carried them. It wasnt bad, just annoying. overall i was pleased with my run. Its not fast by others standards, but for me right now it is ok.
What would you do differently?:

Not put my sunglasses on, it was overcast and i didnt need them and I debated about it at T2. I should have left them there.
Post race
Warm down:

Jogged around a bit played with my daughter

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Inexperience in OWS. It will get better over time. I just have to get out there and do it. I have decided, i need to be a more confident swimmer. I keep telling myself that I have only been swimming for a year and its ok to be slow. No more, I want to be fast, and i am going to work on being fast.

Event comments:

Overall i enjoyed the race, but I was very upset about the drafters. I pride myself on being able to run down alot of people on the bike, but that all gets negated when drafting is tolerated. I was disappointed that I was last in my age group, but I was happy with my bike and run performances. I also know that there were no slouches in my age group and if i can come in withing a few minutes of most of them, thats not to bad for me. I also know that this is my 2nd triathlon ever, so I have lots of room to improve.




Last updated: 2007-05-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:19 | 528 yards | 02m 08s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/10
Overall: 170/318
Performance: Bad
Suit: none
Course: It was located in a small "lake" in James Island Park. There were three bouys. and you ended where you started
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:34:42 | 12 miles | 20.75 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/10
Overall: 42/318
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: You road around the lake within the park then made your way out of the park onto city streets. Then at the end you did the loop again before entering transition.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:24:00 | 03.11 miles | 07m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/10
Overall: 107/318
Performance: Good
Course: 2 loops around the lake, the out to the entrance of the park and back to finish line near the lake
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 2