Big Creek Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Polk City, Iowa
United States
Elita Events
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 22m 9s
Overall Rank = 89/420
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 18/46
Pre-race routine:

Well the days leading up to the race were anything but routine. I moved into a new apartment was privileged to fully experience the joys of moving. I spent hours hauling stuff on Thursday, Friday, and even a little on Saturday. Hello muscles I hardly ever use.

Did packet pickup the day before, which was a complete waste. 2 hours of driving to do something that took about 2 minutes. After that I had to put a new tire and tube on the rear race wheel, since I had punctured the previous one somehow. Took the bike out for a spin to make sure all was in order. Success!

Pre-race breakfast consisted of a typical pb and nanners on toast. Yum yum! Hit the road to big creek in the dark, still tired and blasting tunes. I rolled in about ten minutes after transition opened and I was unloading my gear I heard a fortuitous announcement come across the loud speaker: The water temperature this morning is 75 degrees. Woohoo! Wetsuit legal!

Meandered into transition and snagged a primo spot since this was another event where all transition spots are not created equal. Then not much to do but sit and chat and wait for them to herd us toward the beach.
Event warmup:

I popped in the water a little early to test it out. Aside from the visible little green flecks of algae it was marvelous. 75 degrees is a nice temp. I cranked out a few hundred yards, nothing too extreme. Okay, let's get this party started.
Swim
  • 28m 26s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

I'm not sure why I always like to start up near the front. Maybe I like the abuse of swimmers climbing over me. Maybe I like to see how long I can hang on the feet of the fish (believe me, it's not long). Or maybe I like to think that if I start at the front I can finish at the front (Ha!). Anywho, the start wasn't to rough. I got passed right out of the gate by a few people, but surprisingly nonviolently. Not too soon after the start I feel some water coming into the left eye of the goggles. what? These goggles never leak! Took a moment to adjust and was golden after that. Soon after I was settling into the groove, one arm ahead of the other.

I rounded the first buoy relatively flawlessly and started toward the next one. It was about this time that I remembered how badly I had to pee before the start. Do you know how hard it is to pee without stopping? I tried unsuccessfully a few times, before I resorted to dropping the pace a little to help, uh, get things started. After that I was able to get moving again, all the while thinking, wow, this is odd. I apologize for anyone who may have been drafting behind me.

I started passing a few caps from the wave ahead of me (teams) before the second turn, so that was good to see. Continued on smooth and controlled the rest of the way in, secretly yearning (ok, maybe not so secretly) to get on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Not have to pee. Other than that I felt good. I do need to make a conscious effort to swim harder. Most of the time I find myself settling into an easy pace. The only times I have ever pushed the pace have been sprint distance races. I wonder what it would be like to leave the water completely exhausted.
Transition 1
  • 01m 10s
Comments:

I couldn't just step out of the wetsuit. I had to bend down and physically remove it from both my ankles. Maybe I was out of practice. Other than that I felt speedy.
What would you do differently?:

Not fudge around with the wetsuit so much
Bike
  • 1h 08m 17s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 21.84 mile/hr
Comments:

Ba-dump! Ba-Dump! Ba-Dump! Feel that? Yup, that's the rough road trying to ram my saddle up my a$$. Fun stuff.

Other than that I'm pedaling along, cutting through the wind, and generally happy that I'm on the bike now. Within a short amount of time I'm starting to pass a few people. All is normal in the world. Then I bend down to take my first sip from the aero bottle and......ba-dump! Ouch!! Yup, straw through the lip and it's bleeding. Thanks Mr. bumpy road! That's what I needed to perk me up in the morning.

No worries though. I continue along, enjoying the morning, although I was feeling a little sluggish. I couldn't quite turn over the gear I wanted fast enough and I knew the split was going to be a little slow. It was too bad because it is a really flat course, designed for speed, which I just didn't have today. Oh well, it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Overall a pretty uneventful ride that was over quickly. Funny how you get so used to 3-4 hour rides, making 25 miles seem awfully short.
What would you do differently?:

Go faster. Duh.
Transition 2
  • 00m 46s
Comments:

My pet peeve is when people cannot rack their bike in the same spot they started in. I had one in my spot and had to rack mine basically on top of it to squeeze in. Then I had to reach around my wheel to grab my running stuff and throw it on the ground in front of my bike. Threw on the shoes, grabbed the rest and was off.
What would you do differently?:

Not double handle my stuff
Run
  • 43m 30s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m  min/mile
Comments:

I ran past my family just out of transition and gave them a wave as I went by. Legs were feeling pretty good at this point so I went out hard, hoping the lungs would keep up. For some reason the only times I ever get winded is running off the bike. Even stand alone 5ks where I'm really pushing the pace its not that bad.

The lungs indeed kept up and I started to run down a few people. I saw quite possibly the laziest volunteer on the course. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything they do and realize I wouldn't be racing if it were not for them, but this girl was sitting down in the middle of the pavement, pointing the direction of the turn with one arm and texting with the other. Really?

Soon enough the first loop came to a close. I saw the fam again and flashed what my sister described as a goofy grin and waved. I hit some uneven ground at about the same time and stumbled forward before catching myself. They laughed. That's me, smooth as sandpaper, baby.

The second loop was much more crowded than the first since many people from the waves behind me were now on the course. This made for a much more enjoyable second loop as there were many people to pass. I wasn't paying attention to my times, but I wouldn't be surprised if I negative split the run. The textateer was still sitting on the ground with her phone the second time around.

I pushed the last mile particularly hard, not wanting to leave too much in the tank. I was passed by someone in my age group not too far from the end. I tried to keep up/catch up but man, he was in a dead sprint too. I crossed the finish feeling thoroughly spent and pleasantly surprised at the time.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Good run. Actually a 10k PR. I really need to do a stand-alone sometime soon.
Post race
Warm down:

Typical warm-down. Walking, talking, and eating.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I hate trying to make excuses, especially when I PR. But I did have a heavy training week and then spent the last few days moving. That might have had something to do with it.

Event comments:

This is a good race and a good, fast course. Lots of speedys showed up today. I was really surprised to see where I finished overall and in my age group. Much lower than expected with the time I put up. Oh well, it was a 2 minute PR for me and that's all that really matters




Last updated: 2009-02-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:26 | 1640 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 18/46
Overall: 147/420
Performance: Average
Suit: QR Ultrfull
Course: Rectangularish, clockwise course
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:10
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:08:17 | 24.85 miles | 21.84 mile/hr
Age Group: 19/46
Overall: 107/420
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back over mostly craptastic roads.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:46
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:43:30 | 06.21 miles | 07m  min/mile
Age Group: 18/46
Overall: 79/420
Performance: Good
Course: Two 5k loops, pretty flat.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3