Long Branch Sprint Triathlon Series - Race #2 - TriathlonSprint


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Long Branch, New Jersey
United States
Sandy Hookers Triathlon Club
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 25m 50s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

woke up at 4:15, started gathering all our stuff together... which was ALOT because we were planning to stay on the beach after the race. i felt REALLY tired from working until 11 and i woke up hungry (which rarely happens) so i ate a bowl of shredded wheat w/honey. we left really late and i called carol to let her know we'd be getting there by the skin of our teeth.
the whole way there, i kept telling myself in my head, hey, i don't have to do the swim, just treat it like a workout and try to really hammer and push hard on the run, no biggie. and then right as we got off the parkway, as if he'd been hearing my whole self-diaglogue (which i never verbalized) jorge says - you know you're doing the swim, right? we didn't get up at 4AM for you to just do ride the bike and run. you already know how to do that. you need practice in open water - and that's why we're here. so don't even think about skipping the swim.
damn, i hate it when he's right. :)
Event warmup:

none, unless you count rushing around looking for a transition spot. a first timer in our row was super nice and actually got off the rack to make room for carol since she had a kickstand (?) on her bike and didn't need it. her husband was harassing her about it, but she was like - getting the bike off the rack is the least of my worries right now and shut him up. good for her!
considered taking a gel, but opted not to - my stomach was feeling floopy-ish. nerves about the ocean swim, i think
Swim
  • 09m 59s
  • 437 yards
  • 02m 17s / 100 yards
Comments:

i'm still not clear on how long this swim was. the long branch site says .5k but on the results page it says .4k, so who knows?
i ran into the water when they told our "wave" to start (its so relaxed - you kinda just go when you want to, but i did opt to go in a women only wave) the waves were minimal and the water was not terribly cold. i did freestyle stroke pretty much the whole way out, which was kind of rough. coming back i felt a little tired so i did a combo of sidestroke and breaststroke and then went back to freestyle. i stayed close to the bouys which helped navigation-wise, but it was crowded there. i never actually put my head in the water, though... too chicken, i guess
What would you do differently?:

put my head in, try to get into a rhythm, swim away from the buoys to avoid the congestion
overall, i'm happy with this, i learned alot and conquered an ocean swim, so points for that!
Transition 1
  • 04m 34s
Comments:

after that swim, i trudged up the beach and went to rinse off, then you had to go up a ramp and cross over the boardwalk to get to the transition area. i stopped to high five Jorge and kiss Brianna - i was happy i had finished the swim and felt like celebrating. Brianna complained i tasted like salt... guess i didn't rinse well enough
threw on my socks and bike shoes and helmet quickly (i love having a tri suit and not needing to change clothes, by the way)
the run out of transition seemed L-O-N-G - and once I got into the mount zone, some guy almost fell clipping in... very congested area there, but i had no problems getting in the pedals and getting up to speed.
What would you do differently?:

skip the rinse, totally not necessary and added extra time
the high five and the kiss did too, but that i would not change - they both got up at the crack of stupid to be there, gotta interact a little bit now don't i?
Bike
  • 34m 45s
  • 9.5 miles
  • 16.40 mile/hr
Comments:

i think Carol mentioned that people were really chatty during the bike course. i second that emotion. there were also an alarming number of ROAD HOGS among the cyclists that day. two people in particular who were riding side-by-side, with the one on the left hugging the yellow line and the one on the right close enough to her to make going between them really tight... um, yeah, they were annoying and every time i'd cross the yellow to pass, they'd catch up to me sidle in front and assume the position. GRRR! whutevah... i tried to ignore it. bike computer was again on the fritz/unreadable either way, i had no idea of my pace or anything, but i felt like i was pushing myself. the number of turns on the course made it challenging to keep up my speed. a chatty-cathy rider yelled out a car warning and i thanked her when she caught up to me. apparently this was an invitation for her to camp out next to me and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. she was so nice and everything, but it was kind of distracting. well, let's say i let it distract me - i take responsibility. i did not drink enough on this leg of the race. i also thought the course was 11 miles, not 9.5 and when she told me there were 2.5 more miles to go, i was like oh snap! gotta drink, and pounded some gatorade... this will be a factor on the run...
clipping out was a riot (to me) because i usually have trouble getting my left foot in. because i'm kinda spazzy on the dismount (we'll get to that) i usually unclip both feet. funny part is that every time i went to just pedal through to the dismount area, my left foot would effortlessly clip in - seriously i had to take it out three or four times! annoying and stupid and i know it takes practice to get more comfortable on the bike and stuff, yada, yada, yada...
Carol also criticizes her bike dismount in her RR, but if pictures are worth a thousand words - all those words about my dismount would have to paint THE most dorky dismount of the day... yo, compared to her, i look really uncoordinated, believe me! PM me your email if you want to see the pics, they're kind of/really funny!
What would you do differently?:

drink more, chat less, push harder

Transition 2
  • 01m 31s
Comments:

love the yankz! remembered to carry my hat and put it on as i ran, no race belt to fumble w/this time, so i was ready to run in :43, but had to get out of transition, which took the remaining time...
What would you do differently?:

prolly nothing
Run
  • 35m
  • 3 miles
  • 11m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

ok. i've already admitted that i made bad choices by not drinking on the bike. again, with the jelly legs... saw carol up ahead of me and wanted to catch her, but the stems weren't havin' it. "chatty-cathy" from the bike caught up to me and started her monologue up almost where we left off. she's like, hey you're fast in transition, i looked for you but you were gone. yeah, honey... apparently not fast enough.
dude. i don't want to be known as throw up girl, but again, i had to hurl after the first mile. i was as polite as i could have been about it, looked for a gutter to do it in (like some drunk or something) ugh! a cop nearby says to me, "i've been there - when i ran track" i'm like, yeah, thanks...but i'm glad i did it. i felt better and it got rid of "miss motormouth"
when i passed my "cheering section" Jorge says, Carol's 2 minutes ahead of you, go catch her! i'm like, uh, okay?
i caught sight of her, but i kept having to walk, my heart rate felt through the roof and the air felt very thick.
by the end of mile two, i felt much better and was able to pick it up a skoash and caught up to Carol and we ran in together... cool!

What would you do differently?:

um, let's see... not vomit?
Post race
Warm down:

none really...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

poor nutrition the night before, poor hydration on the bike... bleh.

Event comments:

these "practice" tris are a great way to get racing experience without the pressure. i agree that the DIY water stations are kinda, well, not so great... but for 20 bucks, its a super safe way to get in a great workout and for many to have a low-key first time experience.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-07-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:59 | 437 yards | 02m 17s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: out and back around a chain of buoys
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Below average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:34
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:34:45 | 9.5 miles | 16.40 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course:
Road: Rough  Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:31
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:35:00 | 03 miles | 11m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
didn't do mile splits...
Course: out and back and out and back again, boring course, smelled of dead fish at one point, but sunrise on the water was very pretty.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4