White Lake Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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White Lake, North Carolina
United States
Set-up Inc.
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 19m 19s
Overall Rank = 54/324
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 12/58
Pre-race routine:

Woke at 3, couldn't sleep any more. Finished getting stuff ready, out the door at 4:05, over at Paul's by 4:10. His crew loaded in the car (his wife and 2 little girls), then off to meet Kevin to load him up too. So, three Team BNB members struck out towards White Lake at 04:30 this morning. We saw one other car with bikes on it all the way down. We were beginning to wonder if we had the right weekend...we were just about 10-15 minutes ahead of the rush. It was nice, but made for an early morning.
Event warmup:

Walked bike to transition, great rack (5 from bike exit), bib #134. Went to pick up race number, then chip, then bodymark. Set up transition, then Paul, Kevin and I went out for a 1.3 mile out, 1.3 mile back ride to check out gears and brakes. I worked in a few accelerations, to which Paul answered with his version that shows how much stronger he is on the bike! We got back, and I bricked out 1/4 mile, back 1/4 mile, with a simulated sprint finish. That turned out to be a good idea.
Swim
  • 17m 26s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 19s / 100 meters
Comments:

I caught someone from the first wave! Granted, it was at the steps to exit the water, but hey, that's a first! It was a black cap open masters female, I believe. We'll see in the results. I helped her unzip her wetsuit, hope that didn't get her in trouble...
I was all over the place. I could NOT hold a line. I remember seeing a few green caps come by me, but only after rounding the last turn. Usually they're catching me before the first buoy. I believe the next wave was 4 minutes behind, so that might explain that, instead of the normal 2 minutes or so. Man, does my swimming suffer. On the plus side, I felt pretty strong on the last 250. After rounding the buoy, my breathing settled down, my stroke count evened out, and I started gaining on some fellow yellow caps.
What would you do differently?:

Swim straight. Swim hard. Learn to swim. Not necessarily in that order.
Transition 1
  • 01m 51s
Comments:

I felt pretty good here. I wasn't as fast coming into transition as I wanted to be, but it seemed that everything was working pretty well. I did have trouble getting the feet out of the wetsuit (it was almost brand new, and tight in the ankles), but after working that out, got on with the show.
What would you do differently?:

More bodyglide on the ankles.
Bike
  • 37m 59s
  • 14.27 miles
  • 22.54 mile/hr
Comments:

Well, I just couldn't get comfy today. There was a tailwind down 53 out to 701, then a crosswind that played into a headwind when you turned back south/southwest towards TA. Nasty headwind on the little jog left before meeting back up with 53, then a nice push back to 701. Was able to hold 24-25 through there, and 25 again out on 701. Computer shows max of 26.9 out there somewhere...not sure where.

Was passed by one STRONG cyclist, but did a lot of passing myself. I LOVE going past the tricked out bikes :) Just a tick faster this year than in 2007, but not by much. Last time, I was on the Shimano wheelset with bladed spokes and Vittoria Rubinos. This time I ran the Easton Vista SLs with the Conti Force/Attack combo tireset. I think that's a slower set-might think about a tire swap in the near future...
What would you do differently?:

Not sure yet. New aerobar setup recently installed, and I'm still dialing in my position. I might need to actually break down and get a Mike Beaman fit.`
Transition 2
  • 01m 1s
Comments:

Spent too much time deciding if I should take my handheld water bottle. I should've stuck with the initial plan of YES. I ended up taking it, but wasted 5 seconds debating it. Dumb.
Felt pretty good getting out of T2. Just began wondering when I'd see Paul, Kevin, and Greg.
What would you do differently?:

Stick to the plan.
Run
  • 21m 2s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 46s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, I was last out of T2 of my Team BNB teammates. That's to be expected, as I am by far the slowest swimmer. But, I've been #2 on the depth chart on the bike. So, was just wondering who I'd see first. It ended up being Kevin, about 200m out of T2. I caught him, exchanged a "looking good", and motored on. I knew Greg and Paul were still ahead. Greg was first out the water in our AG (10-something). Paul was out of the water in 13 something, and had a killer bike. So, next up was Greg. I motored by him somewhere after the first mile, and maintained my margin. I then met Paul coming the other way-he was having a phenomenal run. When I saw him, I knew there was no catching him, so I turned on the cruise control and just maintained about a 7/10 pace. I had done what I set out to do, and was on pace to go under my 1:20 goal, and hit my 21 run.

So, being content to just run it in like it was, I held station. Then I heard footsteps. With about 0.5 mile to go, here came someone. Didn't matter who, I had not been passed yet on the run, and I did not want it to happen today. So, we make the turn back out onto 53, with about 3/8 mile left to go, and I hear his breathing picking up. I moved as far right as I could, and pointed him by if we was that serious about it. Finally, he comes past with about 1/4 mile to go. I picked up the pace just a tad, and maintained about 15 feet between us. His calf said 41. I don't care, he had just passed me, and that wasn't going to work. We closed in on the hard left across the footbridge, and I closed it to 10. We crossed the bridge, and closed in on the gnarled oak where you have to turn left, and I was 3 feet off his left shoulder. He heard me there, looked over his left shoulder, and I pulled the Richard Fay move that cost me 2nd place at the STMM 5k-went by on the right at a good clip and laid the hammer down, drag race down the chute. The crowd was roaring, and I loved it.

So it wasn't for AG, or even position, but dangit, I was not letting him by me!! Immediately after crossing the line, I went right back to him, congratulated him, and said thanks for the race-we both enjoyed that. I'm sure it pushed him that much more to finish strong-it did me!

What would you do differently?:

Well, I had a LOT more in me for this run, but, seeing that I wouldn't catch Paul, I just held station. I am going to work on my swim and bike pretty intensely over the next 2 months, in addition to more speedwork on the run, and hopefully be ready for more of a showdown at Triangle!
Post race
Warm down:

Not much of one. Didn't really feel like I went hard enough to merit one. That is a problem! :(

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Swim. Bike fitness. Desire to run harder than I did.

Event comments:

Love White Lake. It's where I soloed in 2005, then again in 2007. Great venue, beautiful site.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-01-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:17:26 | 750 meters | 02m 19s / 100meters
Age Group: 43/58
Overall: 192/324
Performance: Below average
16:44 out of the water, 39 seconds down the pier and across the mat
Suit: Blue Seventy Reaction john
Course: Triangular clockwise, equilateral. Intermediate buoys at 125m or so.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:51
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:37:59 | 14.27 miles | 22.54 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/58
Overall: 37/324
Performance: Average
I'm pretty sure my second lap was faster than my first, although I did not split them to tell. I just started to work better on lap 2, picking off more and more of my AG.
Wind: Some
Course: Rectangular around the lake, teeny tiny hill on 53, of no consequence. Rough road around the back side of the lake, have to be careful of some nasty chuckholes.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 95
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Below average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:01
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:02 | 03.11 miles | 06m 46s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/58
Overall: 22/324
Performance: Average
First mile was marked WAAAAYYYY short. It came up in 4:45, and I thought holy crud! But, alas, it was short. I negative split it from the turnaround, but I forget the splits. Something like 10:39, 10:21, or something like that.
Course: Out and back through residential neighborhood. Short section where you have to run through pretty deep sand, weird, but I'm used to it after all these years (my third WLS)
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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