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Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon - TriathlonMini Sprint


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Wrentham, Massachusetts
United States
North Attleboro YMCA
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 30m 19s
Overall Rank = 147/191
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 15/16
Pre-race routine:

Not much prerace. Shower, eat some oatmeal, hydrate, drive to the race. Unpack the bike and ride to the race site.
Event warmup:

None. Nervousness, mostly.
Swim
  • 14m 37s
  • 547 yards
  • 02m 40s / 100 yards
Comments:

Still, I was near dead last in the whole field in the swim, so I have plenty of room for improvement there. If I bring my swim down to the rough average, which is about 6:30 less than I got, that alone would get me 30 places in the standings. My strategy here, since I knew I was going to be slow anyway, was to expend as little energy as possible and make it up on the bike and run, which are longer anyway.
What would you do differently?:

Just need to get my freestyle down. I did this one at a medium backstroke... just flipping over freestyle will improve quite a bit. I have my TI books and DVD and plenty of time to work on it. At least I expended very little energy. Forgot my earplugs so I was a little disoriented coming out of the water and it affected T1.


Transition 1
  • 03m 12s
Comments:

Took a minute for the waterborne balance issue to correct itself. Could have been faster given that I didn't have a suit to change or wetsuit to remove. I blew 20 seconds giving the wife a kiss and the kids fives because they were standing right next to the timing mat. Time well spent IMO.
What would you do differently?:

Just be a bit quicker. Remembering my earplugs would probably cut down on the disorientation. Forgot to drink any liquids and paid for it a little bit on the bike. Not much, just discomfort, don't think it affected performance.
Bike
  • 52m 25s
  • 13 miles
  • 14.88 mile/hr
Comments:

At mile 2, just at the bottom of the biggest hill in the course, I try to make an aggressive shift so I can pass someone on the climb. I learned not to do that while shifting the big ring to the small - rather than shift I dropped my chain. I was able to get it back on quickly but I forgot to move the derailers down to the lowest gear, so when I put the chain back on, it was out of sync with the derailers a bit. I was afraid to go to the small ring after that so I spent the rest of the race on the big ring. Made the climbs harder but faster and I think my time benefitted from it in the end.

I passed a lot of people. I learned that a good way to pass a lot of people on the bike is to be last in the swim. :)
What would you do differently?:

Be a bit more careful on aggressive shifts while climbing. That probably only cost me 45 seconds but it made me have to shift differently the whole race.
Transition 2
  • 01m 8s
Comments:

Not a lot to do here - biked in my running shoes. The dismount was right at the bottom of a steep hilly curve with a big curb right before the mat. Badly placed, a couple people wiped out hard. All I had to do was drop the helmet, put on my Pawsox hat, drink, and go. Again burned about 20 seconds giving the wife a kiss and the kids fives because they were there at the mat again.
What would you do differently?:

Not a whole lot to do here, really, so not much to do differently.
Run
  • 18m 59s
  • 2 miles
  • 09m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

Decent - probably had a bit more but this is my first race. The last couple hundred is an uphill with a tight 180 into the chute... I sprinted from the bottom of the hill and hit the chute like a running back. Had to put a couple moves on to get through the chute. No one seemed too put off by it though a couple people did call it the football finish.
What would you do differently?:

Probably just empty the tank a little bit more. Other than that it was decent. Rank could have been better but that's basic cardio level more than anything else. I'll improve that.
Post race
Warm down:

Not a whole lot... try to hunt down something to drink and that's about it.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cardio and swim technique. Legs were strong through the whole race - the limiting factor on the bike and run was cardio. That's improving as I keep training.

Event comments:

I finished at about 90 minutes... there were 40-50 people more after me, in a field of 190, and they had completely run out of drinks at the finish line before I even got there. That's not cool. No drinks on the course, no drinks at the finish line, only goody in the packet was a t shirt... altered run route on race day that didn't match the map in the packet (that was handed out an hour before race time)... pretty much zero frills. I don't think water at the finish line is a lot to ask for. Started late, maybe 20 minutes, and the swim waves were way too big for the short course. The women especially had a lot of problems.




Last updated: 2008-07-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:37 | 547 yards | 02m 40s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 185/191
Performance: Bad
Suit: Regular suit.
Course: It looked WAY too short. Everyone was saying it didn't look anything like 550 yards. Either I way underestimated my training distances or that was more like 250 yards.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:12
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:52:25 | 13 miles | 14.88 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 110/191
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Listed as 12, it's actually 13 miles. Very hilly miles, don't think there is any actual flat part, not that lasts more than a couple hundred yards anyway.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:08
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:18:59 | 02 miles | 09m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 126/191
Performance: Good
Course: They changed the course on race day - they didn't change the course maps in the packets - so it was a bit confusing when a turn was eliminated halfway through.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2008-07-13 9:05 PM

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Subject: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon


2008-07-14 8:39 AM
in reply to: #1526484

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Davenport, IA
Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon
Congrats on the race.  Looks pretty good, first tri, right?  You finished and weren't DFL.  Working on the swim and switching to freestyle will definitely help you pick up a lot of time.  
2008-07-14 9:52 AM
in reply to: #1527197

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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon
Sprint_DA - 2008-07-14 9:39 AM

Congrats on the race. Looks pretty good, first tri, right? You finished and weren't DFL. Working on the swim and switching to freestyle will definitely help you pick up a lot of time.



DFL in AG (if you toss out the DNF guy)... but yeah, still a respectable time if you consider what my AG happens to be. Thanks for the congrats... now to decide on a next race.
2008-07-14 10:24 AM
in reply to: #1526484

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Expert
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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon

Oh god! I forgot to mention that my wife and kids made T shirts with my name and hand drawn artwork on them. Hand painted with craft paints, totally a surprise, it was awesome. That's why I took the transition time to go over and deliver fives. They deserved them.
2008-07-14 11:28 AM
in reply to: #1527626

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Slower Than You
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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon
Great first tri.

Awesome that the wife-n-kids had a nice surprise for you.

Did you catch the bug?
2008-07-14 11:45 AM
in reply to: #1526484

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Alpharetta, Georgia
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon
Hey triathlete! How does it feel??!
Sounds like you had a good time out there, good job!!!


2008-07-14 11:48 AM
in reply to: #1527626

Iron Donkey
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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon

chadtower - 2008-07-14 10:24 AM Oh god! I forgot to mention that my wife and kids made T shirts with my name and hand drawn artwork on them. Hand painted with craft paints, totally a surprise, it was awesome. That's why I took the transition time to go over and deliver fives. They deserved them.

That's a GREAT support team, dude!

Sometimes being last in the swim DOES have it's benefits and ego boosts!  I know, I'm like you in the swim.

Nice job!

2008-07-14 12:46 PM
in reply to: #1526484

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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon

Thanks, guys. I'm definitely going to stick with this sport a while. Can't say I see myself becoming hardcore or ever going IM but I could see maybe an Oly in the next couple of years. For now I want to stay in the sprints and work on getting my swim straight. As my base cardio increases the run and bike should improve on their own - the swim requires some remedial action on my part. I can do that.
2008-07-15 9:02 PM
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Champion
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New York, NY
Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon

awesome! you did it triathlete!

 

I had a tough time in my tri's swim this week - just time and more time.... 

2008-07-16 8:18 AM
in reply to: #1532363

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Subject: RE: Hockomock YMCA TRY-athalon
TriToy - 2008-07-15 10:02 PM

I had a tough time in my tri's swim this week - just time and more time....




You'll get it. I think swim technique is going to be my major focus for the rest of the summer. My biggest weakness by far.
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