Finally getting some balance = finally getting an AG podium (Page 2)

Originally posted by 3mar
The sun glasses always slow me down, but taping them to the bike or helmet could be a big time saver. This time I held them in my teeth while I got on the bike but it really affected my breathing so I was quick to put them on, even before I was ready.

Originally posted by 3mar

Good stuff. I'll have to start practicing the no socks thing. I've wanted to try, but have been nervous I'd jack up my feet. But I suppose if I train more often without socks, I could build up the proper callouses.

I always have my shoes clipped in. For every training ride, I start off and finish by taking my shoes on and off while riding so it's second nature.

The sun glasses always slow me down, but taping them to the bike or helmet could be a big time saver. This time I held them in my teeth while I got on the bike but it really affected my breathing so I was quick to put them on, even before I was ready.

Originally posted by 3mar Stop the press.....I took a look back at those transition times for T1 because something didn't sit right with me. There was something screwy going on. NOT ONE of the top 10 finishers were in the top 30 T1 times. There were 5 people that finished T1 in under 1:30. T1 was a 0.35 run from the swim exit to the bike exit, much of which was on the beach. So lets run some numbers here. Assuming they can grab their bike and put on their helmet in 10 seconds that means they ran 0.35 miles ON THE BEACH in under 1:20. That is a 5:40 minute mile pace...much of which was on the beach in bare feet. So these folks must have absolutely killed the 5k right? Let's take a look. Of those 5 people, here were their 5K times: 32:39, 28:14, 30:00, 23:42 & 32:10. I'm thinking there was a screw up somewhere. Nobody running a 30 minute 5k is doing a 0.35 mile transition run at a 5:40 pace. Realistically, a decent runner (at a local level) like me who runs a 19:XX open 5k and did a 21:00 5k at the end of this sprint, can comfortably run in sand at, say 7:45 pace in this scenario, so that would put me in the transition area at 2:45. Add in 10 seconds for the bike and I should have been at sub 3:00. I was at 3:21 so I could have knocked 30 seconds off with a better run and more efficiency getting my stuff together. But I was certainly NOT 83rd at T1. First place did it in 2:21, I believe that. Anything under that is suspect to me. I'm sure someone will say: "those times are possible, look at race X" (paging LB), but these ARE NOT those people. Remember, this is not an elite race and ALL of the folks with sub-2:00 transition times were 8-10+ minute milers on the run. There WERE NOT running sub 6 pace out of the water on the beach. There was an error somewhere. Hooray!! I don't s*ck at transition times as much as I thought I did!! EDIT: I think I figured it out. All of the sub 2:20 T1 times were women. ALL of them. I think they didn't register the womens' chips on the mats leaving the water but instead got them going into the actual transition area with the bikes. That makes sense. That would also explain why everyone with a super fast T1 time had such a slow swim time; the run up the beach was counted as part of their swim.

Originally posted by Left Brain

That sounds right......your transitions still sucked. 

Originally posted by 3mar I said they didn't s*ck as much as I thought. I never said they didn't s*ck. There's a big difference.