Wild Cat Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon


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Lowell, Massachusetts
United States
FIRM
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 13m 26s
Overall Rank = 192/264
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 15/20
Pre-race routine:

Clif bar and loads of water. However, I didn't get enough sleep since I was picking up my beau at the airport the night before. Oy! Luckily, this race is pretty close to home and started at 9am. Whew!
Swim
  • 10m 34s
  • 440 yards
  • 02m 24s / 100 yards
Comments:

This is a great swim course. The river has almost no current at this point and the bottom is all soft sand. I managed to stay in the pack (though near the back), so I didn't feel I was swum over too much. I also managed to get back into crawl after dropping into breaststroke, so I was able to catch up to a couple of people in places.
What would you do differently?:

I still need to work on the swim to be able to do the crawl all the way through, though I do note that I stay much more on target if I intersperse a little breaststroke in the turns.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

T1 is in biking segment
Bike
  • 42m 36s
  • 11 miles
  • 15.49 mile/hr
Comments:

This course is one of my absolute favorites. The first 5 mi is on flat road by the river. The next 5 is rolling hills, none of which are too steep, but they give you some good descents as well. I spent much of my time catching up to or being caught up by a 20-yr old who eventually pulled up ahead. She kept my pace going well!
What would you do differently?:

I'm still working on nutrition. This time I went back to Goo and water instead of Gatorade. We'll see what ends up working best.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

T2 is in the run segment. After the bike, I took the remains of my water bottle and poured it over my head to keep cool. A big plus to bringing water instead of Gatorade!
Run
  • 20m 15s
  • 2.5 miles
  • 08m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

I had been training myself to pick up the pace a little bit in the run, so I was excited to try it out in this race. Then, by the time I got to the run section I realized I'd spent much of my energy already on the bike and there was full sun on the run course (my bane!) I just pushed myself to keep running and felt happy with finishing when I did.

Looking back, I find to my utmost shock that I was doing 8 min miles!! I haven't done that since I was a teenager! (At least I haven't clocked myself as doing that. I never time my training runs.) Maybe this whole training faster thing actually works!
What would you do differently?:

I went far beyond my expectations already! I can't think of anything I'd do differently.
Post race
Warm down:

Did some stretching and went straight for the food. They also had a great live band, so I danced a song before finally resting some more.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat is always a problem and I can't see avoiding it in August. It wasn't particularly hot, but it was 75-80 and that's enough for me. Hours post-race I got hit with my heat exhaustion. It hadn't felt like I exerted myself that much, but when you can't eat to recover your calories and you're knocked out despite drinking loads of water, it's definitely a bad thing!

Event comments:

I love this race. It was especially fun because I did it last year and could directly compare my times. I dropped nearly 9 minutes and improved every single piece! What do I like about it? The swim is manageable and not too far from the transition area. The bike route could not be better -- rolling hills and only two turns in the entire course. The run is flat and along the river, plus it's there-and-back so you know just exactly how far you have left to run at the end of the race. This was a great way to start my birthday!

I'm definitely going to do this race again next year. It's just too lovely!




Last updated: 2007-08-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:10:34 | 440 yards | 02m 24s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/20
Overall: 175/264
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:42:36 | 11 miles | 15.49 mile/hr
Age Group: 16/20
Overall: 175/264
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:20:15 | 02.5 miles | 08m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 15/20
Overall: 223/264
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5