Buffalo Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint


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Buffalo, Minnesota
United States
Buffalo Triathlon
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 23m 14s
Overall Rank = 366/796
Age Group = F 30-39
Age Group Rank = 44/150
Pre-race routine:

We made the drive from Hastings to Buffalo (1:20 trip), leaving at about 5 am. I dozed a bit on the way but not much; wish I could have gotten a few more winks since I didn't go to bed until 11:30 the night before, but oh well. Anyway, got to site, bodymarked, set up transition, etc. and then just waited. We were there pretty early so I got a fairly good T spot, which was nice.

I looked around for fellow BT-ers, but with a crowd that size it was tough to find them. I did talk to Dave (B-One), Bryan (mndiver) and Kelly (lumpy), and Dan (AcesFull) a bit, but didn't see anyone else.
Event warmup:

After the pre-race meeting, I headed down to the water to acclimate. It was a "brisk" and "invigorating" (according to the race announcer) 66 degrees, so I wanted to be sure to get used to it before the race start. It really wasn't that bad, truth be told. I've definitely swam in colder. I got in and swam for about 5-10 minutes. It was kind of a drag being in wave 18, though, because after warming up, I had to get out and wait 35 minutes to start.
Swim
  • 06m 30s
  • 440 yards
  • 01m 29s / 100 yards
Comments:

Good solid swim. It's always so hard to get around people when there are soooo many people in the water and it's such a short course. Getting around the first two buoys was a nightmare because it was so crowded, but after that it was fine. Lucky for me the sun went behind a cloud for a little bit while I was swimming back in toward shore, so I could actually see where the finish was.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I'm happy with this swim. It was about 7 seconds faster than last year. Not much, but enough to get me under 1:30/100 average pace. :)
Transition 1
  • 02m 44s
Comments:

Decent T1. Nothing noteworthy other than that for once, I actually remembered to tuck my timing chip under my wetsuit so that it did not get stuck when I was trying to peel off the suit. Go me! After getting the suit off, I started to put one sock on and then quickly thought the better of it and decided to go without socks. Not worth the time to try to get them on wet feet for a sprint.
What would you do differently?:

Not bother with the socks at all. It only cost me a second or two though.
Bike
  • 43m 30s
  • 13 miles
  • 17.93 mile/hr
Comments:

Probably my best bike in a race so far. In the last four years of this course, this is the first time I've finished the bike in under 45 minutes, which was my goal. Yippee!

About ten minutes into the bike I had this realization that, "hey, I feel pretty good right now. I could have a good day if I keep it together." So I decided to just go hard and see how well I could do. I kept finding carrots on the course and passed all of them. I passed way, way more people than I usually do, but that might be more a function of the number of people in the race. It sure was a good mental boost though, so I'll take it. :)

This year I did much better at using the smaller chain ring on the hills. For whatever reason, I've always been hesitant to use it in the past, but today I used it a couple times and my legs thanked me for it.

The other thing I did better this year was not drinking too much on the bike. I tend to over hydrate during the bike and then end up with a sloshy stomach for the run. So after drinking as normal for the first half of the bike, I took only a few small sips during the second half.
What would you do differently?:

Not very much, really. I decdied to take a hammer gel from the aid station, which I probably should have skipped since it slowed me down a bit and I probably didn't really need it. Another issue was that I didn't shift back to the big ring soon enough after one of the longer hills (sort of forgot I was using the small ring I guess), but otherwise this was a very strong ride for me. I'm fairly certain this is my best average pace in a race but would have to double check to be sure.
Transition 2
  • 01m 47s
Comments:

I wish this would've been a bit faster, but since I was on the lower deck of the T area this year, I think that explains part of the 20 added seconds from last year. I took my time getting down that grassy hill rather than risking a wipe out. Also, I don't have speed laces in my new shoes yet, so that surely added a few ticks as well.
What would you do differently?:

Speed laces for sure.
Run
  • 28m 46s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

Good run. I did indeed string together three 9:35 miles (which I was wondering if I could do after running one mile at that pace on Saturday). As usual I got passed by a ton of women in my age group on the run, but I tried not to let it get me down. I picked one of them as my person to catch before the end of the race, and I did get her about a half mile from the finish, so I was glad about that. No IT band issues at all--hurrah!
What would you do differently?:

Push harder in the middle. I get all distracted watching the long course bikers coming in and my mind tends to wander a bit.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, drank two bottles of water, waited for my husband to finish (he started three waves after me). I actually stretched for once! A miracle!

We ate and waited for the awards to start. It was nice to sit and chat with Bryan and Kelly, and Bridget (freckleface) and Scott. And Bridget scored an award--nice!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

As always, my weight. What else is new?

Event comments:

This was a PR for me by exactly one minute. Leave it to me to be somewhat disappointed with a PR, though. (I'm such a dork.) I was all excited about my time until I got home and looked at my report from last year. I ran 9:12 miles last year, but 9:35s today. Rats. I still got the PR because my bike was faster, but I was bummed about the run pace. I said in my blog on Saturday that I thought my 9:35 mile might have been the fastest I had ever run a mile, but apparently I was totally forgetting about this race last year and the 9:12s. I'm still happy with the PR, of course, I just wish I could have repeated the faster run afte this year's faster bike. Oh well. Next year! :)

Other quick notes:

-The lady they introduced in the pre-race meeting that was hit by a car on her bike two weeks ago--She's also from Hastings and I swim with her all the time at the middle school. I had no idea she had been hit though! I went to talk with her a bit and luckily she's doing very well.

-I was running right alongside Curt Wood when he went down right before the finish. We were probably about 15 yards or so short of the finish when he did the whole bonked/dehydrated/complete-rubber-legs-a-la-Julie-Moss crumble. I wanted to help him up, but knew I couldn't without penalizing him, so I kept going. I felt bad though. And then I was right by the medical tent as they worked on him after the finish. His respiration rate was absolutely through the roof, and I'm sure his HR must have been too. His eyes keep rolling back in his head, and they were putting cold towels all over him while he lay on the ground. It was quite unsettling to watch. I was glad to see him sitting up and talking when they wheeled him out on the stretcher later.

-And finally, for the first time ever, I beat my husband in a race. By about 35 seconds. :) Not that I'm gloating or anything. :) The closest I had ever come before was in his very first race (on this course) back in 2005 when he beat me by 8 seconds. Since then his margin of victory has always been bigger until today. Granted, he hasn't trained much, but he never usually does, so that wasn't a big difference from previous years. He said the run felt much more painful than usual for him today, so I think that was where he lost some time.

Anyway, the folks in Buffalo put on another great event, as usual. This is such a well put together race--organized, lots of volunteers, great race shirt, plenty of port-a-johns, etc. Great way to start off the year!




Last updated: 2008-01-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:06:30 | 440 yards | 01m 29s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/150
Overall: 107/796
Performance: Good
Suit: ProMotion sleeveless
Course: Sort of a rectangle following the swan buoys. I must mention that because of the relatively cool spring we had, there were significantly fewer weeds this year!! Excellent!
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 66F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:44
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: Average
Biking
00:43:30 | 13 miles | 17.93 mile/hr
Age Group: 45/150
Overall: 378/796
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: 13 miles on the country roads in Buffalo. Three or four pretty decent hills, IMO, although Bridget calls them "rollers." :)
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:47
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:28:46 | 03 miles | 09m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 83/150
Overall: 553/796
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back along the lake. I have to say there is a short bit where the bike and run paths kind of merge and it gets a little hairy with so many people and not much room. I saw a couple of near collisions.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5