The Wee Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Fort William, Scotland
United Kingdom
No Fuss Events
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 28m 51s
Overall Rank = 11/59
Age Group = senior male
Age Group Rank = 10/31
Pre-race routine:

ha ha ha!
Event warmup:

got out of bed
tried to reduce the adrenaline overload, ate breakfast and drove into town playing music far too load in the car!
Swim
  • 06m 1s
  • 400 meters
  • 01m 30s / 100 meters
Comments:

Took off well and was well ahead within first 100, then my goggles started to fill... Did ok even with goggles, but I started to get whacked with clapotis from the pool side and felt like I was drowning. Had to stop twice to sort goggles and ended up "cruising" behind the now leader - quite pissed off!
What would you do differently?:

tighten the goggles for race day - looking like a punched panda is better than being beaten!
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

T1 wasn't!
We were led out to the proper start following a van - I reckon there was about 30mins from finishing my swim to starting the bike! :)
Bike
  • 55m 32s
  • 11.2 miles
  • 12.10 mile/hr
Comments:

The HR monitor was a great motivator - and I stayed in zone 5 throughout the working sections (obvious dips on the technical downhill sections of the course where you HAVE to slow down (well I do anyway!) Ave 171 Max 182 - which is a new max - I found I could ignore my leg pain, because I knew my heart wasn't maxed out and force some more out of the legs (maybe ok for short course - I guess this might not work on longer courses!)
What would you do differently?:

I was trying a different drink from mormal - I'll go back to my normal, home-made stuff thanks! For Goodness Shakes are great after the event, but horribly gloopy and not wet enough(!) for during!

Also I knew that my drivetrain was F***ked before I started and although it was cleaner than when I bought the bike, it still got snarled up - not badly to stop me, but again, it's grief you don't need on race day!
Transition 2
  • 01m 12s
Comments:

Race organisers grabbed bikes off people which was fine, but I wasn't expecting it and it left me a little disorientated - had to go back and grab juice from bike!

Also I only took my helmet off because I was fed up with rainy specs and "found" my helmet when my hands grabbed my specs! (Muppet!)
What would you do differently?:

Be more assertive! Sort my bike myself and STRETCH the legs before I start the run! (time invested early would make for a faster run, I think - see below!)
Run
  • 28m 41s
  • 3 miles
  • 09m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

It was horrific for the first mile! My legs were mince after the bike ride, but I didn't want to "waste" time by stopping - eventually the penny dropped and my body slowed to a walk of its own accord - I took the hint and stretched the hamstrings before continuing - much better! My HR graph is mostly zone 2 and 3, because I couldn't get my legs to run it's noticibly better after my stretching stop - a steady zone 4!

A really satisfying moment in the last half mile was catching and passing a guy I'd clocked at T1 - a carbon cyclo-cross bike and thighs like Chris Hoy. As I passed him feeling really chuffed that I'd caught anyone on the run, he commented "I knew you'd get me on the run; I'm a cyclist!" (Arse!)
What would you do differently?:

STRETCH in T2. Then stretch some more! I could probably have knocked a minute off my time if I'd invested a minute's stretch before I ran!
Post race
Warm down:

erm - oops! did some legs stretching after then a lot once home - will do a lot more next time!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

inexperience!

Event comments:

Hard to rate this race as it was my first, so I've nothing to compare, but it was the usual No Fuss blend of good craic and good organisation. The drawbacks were all my own inexperience - planning to work on that now! :)




Last updated: 2008-12-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:06:01 | 400 meters | 01m 30s / 100meters
Age Group: 3/31
Overall: 3/59
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Inside Pool Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average 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
00:55:32 | 11.2 miles | 12.10 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/31
Overall: 14/59
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong
Course: course was changed because of forestry work, so we ended up on the much more taxing road (the trach maintains a fairly even gradient, the road goes in for nasty, energy sucking mini-hills!) I had at least pumped up the tires beyond max and fitted my mate's aerobars to the mountainbike, so the return trip with the wind behind had moments of 32+mph :)
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: ?
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:12
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:28:41 | 03 miles | 09m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 14/31
Overall: 20/59
Performance:
Ave 169, max 181.
Course: Back up the Glen - it's in my Routes as "The Wee Tri?" except we just came back on the road - no bog running :)
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]