Stonebridge Ranch - TriathlonOlympic


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McKinney, Texas
United States
Playtri
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 23m 12s
Overall Rank = 19/169
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/22
Pre-race routine:

Up 3 hours before wave start for 2 waffles with Peanut Butter. Forgot the bananas at the store, so no hawkwiches for me. After that, a quick shower and hit the road.

Got to transition and got an almost sweet spot. 3rd bike on the rack. No biggie. Got the tunes going and got it all laid out. Then it was warmup time.
Event warmup:

Took about a 10 minute jog up the first half mile of the run course, then back down. Almost tripped and fell at one point. It was still dark and there is a manhole entrance on the path that is elevated about 2 inches. Lucky break for me.

After that I got my wetsuit Body Glided up and went for about a 10 minute warmup swim. Mostly I was just floating and getting used to the water.
Swim
  • 28m 46s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 55s / 100 meters
Comments:

Felt OK to start, then my left arm started to cramp up on me. I guess I overcompensated because I was going left the whole time. At one point I was easily 100m left of the buoy. At one point I looked up to sight and I was almost in the reeds. Guess that's why I never got to draft off of anybody the first loop.

Second loop was a little better. Kept a good rhythm and had better lines.
What would you do differently?:

Better sighting and drafting.

Not Rick Roll myself. I had "Never gonna give you up" stuck in my head the whole swim. Maybe that was my problem.
Transition 1
  • 03m 4s
Comments:

Stonebridge is not the place for a fast T1. You have to run up a hill, down the other side, and between the tennis courts to get there. Still, I did ok.

Dave gave me a good tip on getting out of my wetsuit solo. That helped a bunch. Joker came right off. Sweet.

Otherwise, a pretty standard transition for me.
What would you do differently?:

Take off wetsuit at the top of the hill and slide down Clark Griswald style. "Later dudes."
Bike
  • 1h 06m 47s
  • 24 miles
  • 21.56 mile/hr
Comments:

Felt decent from the start. Attacked the hill the 1st and 4th loop, spun the 2nd and 3rd. Not a lot of people to draft the first loop, but after the rest of the Oly waves and the Sprint folks got out there I was doing lots of legal drafting.

Looking at my average HR, I didn't hit this as hard as I should have (TWSS). I think I just hit the hills so hard I had to recover a lot. More importantly, I couldn't get a good tune in my head. There was nothing happening in my brain other than telling my legs to keep pedaling. How boring.
What would you do differently?:

Push harder, especially on the backside. Felt like I just had no more to give on the downhills. Probably could have gotten another .5 in there somewhere and been a minute faster.
Transition 2
  • 01m 17s
Comments:

Very smooth. No hiccups with socks or shoes. Almost like I had done this before.
What would you do differently?:

Same story, different race...the whole riding on top of shoes and jumping off thing. Something for next year...or next race.
Run
  • 43m 14s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 06m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

From experience I knew the first mile would hurt. Uphill pretty much the whole way, so I kept my steps short and fast. Passed 10 people the first mile. That hurt, but I knew if I was hurting, everyone else was as well. Kept my spirits up by having Shiny Happy People in my head. It worked wonders mentally. C'mon, tell me that song doesn't make you smile. I'm a psycho, I know. But it works.

The second mile I was able to relax and run fairly smoothly. No tunnels here, and fairly downhill. 6 more down.

Now I was just left with Oly runners, so less folks to catch. Less folks to catch, less motivation. Less motivation, less speed. Started feeling it at the turnaround. Saw Chris on his way back and had a nice "That's what she said" after passing him.

Ran the last 2 1/2 with another runner. We talked a bit here and there and used each other for motivation. That was good for me because I was wearing down. Passed 5 in mile 4.

Mile 5 was just the opposite of mile 2 - uphill. Pace slowed a bit more, but as we got to the sprint turnaround we sped up again. Lost count of people here, but it was a bunch. Saw Shannon about 30 seconds after we passed the turnaround. Looks like I was going to win the bet (finishing the Oly before she finished the Sprint). Ding. Woo.

OK, last mile. Let's go. More cowbell. We pushed it, and it hurt. Passed people like crazy. Felt bad for the folks who were just heading out. Saw Sean on his way to his first Oly finish and yelled something moderately inspirational. Couldn't tell you what it was. Something important I'm sure.

Kept cranking to the finish and heard somebody yelling at me. It was Brigid, who teaches our Core class on Wednesday. That made me feel famous as I crossed the line. Immediately felt my left calf seize up when I stopped. Ouch. But I was done. Boom. Where's my cheeseburger?
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I ran on the verge of throwing up the whole time but never lost it. I ran hard but didn't take it so seriously that it wasn't fun. Still talked, yelled, or waved to anybody I knew and even some I didn't.

Set a 10K PR by over 4 minutes. I crushed the course. Got home and saw 4th overall (not counting the Open Wave studs). Word.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretching and walking. 2 bottles of water. Flip flops and t-shirt. Pizza. More water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Sighting and drafting on swim. No complaints on run or bike.

Event comments:

Stonebridge is a great venue for a race. Good place to swim and a challenging bike and run course. And having the open wave is good when you are an age grouper like me. Good way to pick up cheap awards.




Last updated: 2008-07-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:46 | 1500 meters | 01m 55s / 100meters
Age Group: 4/22
Overall: 30/169
Performance: Below average
Suit: Orca Predator 2 Sleeveless
Course: 2 loops in man-made lake
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:04
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:06:47 | 24 miles | 21.56 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/22
Overall: 45/169
Performance: Good
Average HR: 160, Low: 152, High: 180
Wind: None
Course: 4 loops, only 1 hill that is right after a turn, so you lose all your momentum right before it. And you get to do it 4 times. Ding. Woo.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:17
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:43:14 | 06.21 miles | 06m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/22
Overall: 4/169
Performance: Good
Mile 1 - 6:55, 173 HR Mile 2 - 6:48, 172 HR Mile 3 - 7:09, 173 HR Mile 4 - 7:14, 175 HR Mile 5 - 7:16, 175 HR Mile 6 - 6:53, 176 HR
Course: Out and back over concrete jogging trail. Very hilly. Several tunnels to go through, which meant lots of downhills and steep uphills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5