SOMA Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
Red Rock
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 414/807
Age Group = W18-24
Age Group Rank = 8/16
Pre-race routine:

Woke up early, ate, drank some coffee, got to transition with plenty of time to get body marked and set up transition.
Event warmup:

None.
Swim
  • 37m 53s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim out was horrible because I could not see anything. However, my pace was nice and steady. I guess I could have pushed it more, but since this was my 1st 1/2 IM, I wanted to come out of the swim nice and fresh. I felt 100% great after the swim, so I guess that mission was accomplished. The actual swimming was fine.
What would you do differently?:

Different goggles. Even though I had the non-fog drops, the drops dried out before I actually put the goggles on, so they ended up fogging big time. That added with the swim into the sunrise for the 1st half sucked. I stopped at least three times on the swim out and one time had to ask the kayak dude which bouy I had to go around, to which he responded "that one over there" which was way in back of me, so I had to swim way back around. Bleh
Transition 1
  • 03m 15s
Comments:

I just took my time on this. Now that I look back at other people's transition times, I realize I could have cut a few more minutes off my total race if I had been more "hardcore" about the transitions. But hey--it's the virgin experience and I wanted to take my time. Heh.
What would you do differently?:

Go faster. Maybe skip the wetsuit stripper, the guy I got was kind of clueless, I think I might have been just as fast doing it myself. But maybe not. I guess eventually when I get all serious, I could learn to get in my shoes on the bike, however, this course was not really great for that since there were metal construction plates on the ground you had to go over right away (which would be hard to do while strapping into shoes).
Bike
  • 2h 55m 46s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.12 mile/hr
Comments:

I really tried to focus on getting food and calories into the body during the bike so I wouldn't bonk on the run. Worked pretty good! I think I went the right speed/intensity/etc. I probably could have gone faster, but again, since it was the 1st 1/2 IM, I didn't want to regret hammering later on the run. My right aero support came loose on the second loop and was totally useless on the third. Sucked, but I managed.
What would you do differently?:

Get a new bike--the one I have is just barely hanging in there. Components are old and slowly falling apart. Aero bars are always annoying. Wheels are old.... just an old bike (I bought it very well used, though it is a great quality bike).
Transition 2
  • 03m 47s
Comments:

I took this slow again. Took some time to drink some eFuel, rinse myself with some fresh water, towel off, spray on sunscreen, adjust my shoes... just took my time.
What would you do differently?:

Uhhhh, take less time. I definitely could have done this transition much faster.
Run
  • 2h 14m 21s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

I cramped up bad on the second lap. I was averaging under 10 min/mile for the first lap, and just bit it big time for #2. I was getting on the verge of charlie horses in my groin (both sides) and the quads (right above the knee on the inside). The groin cramping was the worst--strange... don't know if it was from the biking or what. Then again, I never ran more than about 6 miles in training, so uh, yeah, maybe that's my problem! The second lap was so slow, it really brought my heart rate down.... while my muscles were "failing" my cardio vascular fitness was totally fine. When I crossed the finish, I wanted a few Advil, and the medic had to take my blood pressure in order to give me the medicine. My BP, RIGHT AFTER CROSSING THE FINISH, was below normal. I asked him, "is this normal?" and he said no. So I think that basically, from a cardio point of view, the last lap of the 1/2 mary was a warm down.
What would you do differently?:

Train a bit more seriously for the run. Also, get more salt into the body for the run. Also, get more liquid into the body. They didn't give out water bottles to drink from, just cups. I like being able to sip as I run... so next time if they aren't giving out bottles, then I'll need to bring a Fuel Belt.
Post race
Warm down:

Not much (I know, bad)... walked around waiting for friends to finish, took pictures, walked more.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience (i.e. maybe being too cautious, taking too much time in transition) and a crappy run due to cramping.

Event comments:

I really had a great time doing this race. There are definitely TONS of stuff for me to work on for the next race. However, I had fun, and the race itself wasn't too painful (the cramping was frustrating), and I'm stoked for the NEXT ONE! :)




Last updated: 2005-04-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:37:53 | 2112 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/16
Overall: 204/807
Performance: Average
Suit: Promotion Triathlon
Course: Big rectangle. Had to swim into sunrise on way out which totally screwed up my navigation. I cut to far into the center of the rectangle; therefore, when it came to going around the first corner, I had to swim way way way out to clear the first bouy--sucked... definitely lost a few minutes there.
Start type: Inside Pool Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 03:15
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
02:55:46 | 56 miles | 19.12 mile/hr
Age Group: 6/16
Overall: 439/807
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Three loop urban course with tons of hairpin turns which requried one to slow waaaay down and then restart.... but overall, mostly flat (a few hills). I didn't mind the loops as much as I thought I would (I thought it would be hell doing the same thing over and over), but I was glad there were only three--I don't know that I would have liked a fourth very much at all!!!!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:47
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
02:14:21 | 13.1 miles | 10m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/16
Overall: 463/807
Performance: Bad
Course: Two lap run. Few hill-ish sections, but mostly flat.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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