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Tri for Real Olympic Distance #2
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Tri for Real Olympic Distance #2 - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: I haven't done a ton of swimming, as I've been trying to keep my a chronic shoulder injury at bay. I ramped up my swimming volume too fast several weeks ago, so the shoulder started hurting, and ever since then I've been trying to be careful about it. As a result, my swimming fitness isn't as good as it was this time last year, so I expected this to be a rather slow swim. This was also not my A race, more like a glorified training day, so I didn't want to push too hard and wind up with a sore shoulder for the next few weeks. I figured I'd start out at a comfortable pace, and maybe try out this drafting thing that people recommend. Soon after the start I found a pair of feet that were going about my pace, so I settled in behind them and kept my face in the bubbles. There were a few points at which the person went off course a bit, but whenever she was on course I stuck behind her. She was easy to spot because she had a tattoo on her right ankle. :) On the home stretch I decided to kick up the pace a bit, so after the second (last) turn I headed straight for the finish arch as she went off course again. My arms were getting a bit tired, but my breathing was good (mostly every 2, sometimes every 4) and my form was staying pretty solid. Given how little I've been swimming, I figured I'd finish in 33-35 minutes, so my time was a pleasant surprise. What would you do differently?: Swim more. It was an okay swim for my preparation level, but I know I'm capable of better training and faster swims.  Transition 1
Comments: Not a terribly fast transition, but easier than my last few, given that I didn't have to deal with a wetsuit. Took my cap and goggles off as soon as I stood up in the water, and I had decided to try the ride without bike gloves (I know, nothing new on race day, but again, this was a glorified training day), so that saved time. Rinsed off my feet, got my socks and shoes on, put on my helmet and sunglasses, and took off. Pretty easy. What would you do differently?: Not stand on my towel until after I've rinsed off my feet. :)  Bike
Comments: Oh boy, this was fun. Got on the bike and took off, and almost immediately noticed that my rear derailleur was acting up. When I had the derailleur in a certain position (i.e. when I tried to get into a certain gear) the chain would travel two or three gears up and down on the rear cogs... spontaneously... every second or two. I didn't know why, and I didn't know how to fix it, all I knew was that it wasn't doing that on Saturday, and I'm always pretty careful getting my bike in and out of the roof rack, so it must have been something that Steve did when he was messing with the rear wheel. Frak. So I basically tried to stay out of that gear. Which was difficult, as it seemed to be the gear that I wanted most often. So I had the choice of either bumping up into a harder gear and mashing a bit or dropping down into an easier gear, sacrificing speed either way. Things that did not help: for one thing, the road was rough. Very rough. Sort of like they paved it, then poured a bunch of gravel on it, and *then* rolled it "flat." Not enjoyable--my hands started to go numb from the vibration. Also not helpful was the fact (I realized this later) that my REAR BRAKE WAS RUBBING. Not a whole lot, just enough to make me wonder why I sucked so badly. As it turned out, my rear wheel wasn't sitting well on its bearings, so it was wobbling on the axle. I think that this is what was making the derailleur act up (why only in that gear, I'm not sure) and it's certainly why my brake was in constant contact with the wheel. Every now and then I would suddenly find that it was easier to pedal, even though nothing had changed: not the grade, not the gearing, not the road condition. I assume this is when my wheel wobbled back away from the brake. Sigh. Anyway, on I went, and eventually I got back to the transition area. On to the run! What would you do differently?: Not let Steve touch my bike on race day. ;) Transition 2
 Run
Comments: HOT!! Legs felt just fine coming out of T2, and I started off at a good pace. At every aid station I took both Gatorade and water. Most of the water went on my head and neck; I drank the Gatorade and the rest of the water. I was right at the limit of what my stomach could tolerate... any more liquid and there would have been sloshing, and possibly stitching as well. The biggest factor here was the heat. Pouring cool water on myself helped, but it was really hard to stay cool given that it was around 95F out there, and we were running out in the open (no shade). My legs felt okay pretty much the whole way, which is encouraging. They didn't feel leaden at any point, even though I was working harder on the bike than I needed to. The heat, though... the heat was definitely affecting me--which doesn't bode well for Cancun (since it will be just as hot, and humid to boot). I've been doing most of my runs in the hottest part of the day, and I had thought that it would help... but I guess it hasn't helped enough. Anyway, in the end I had plenty left in me to pick up the pace for the last half mile, and go hard for the final few hundred yards. I was hoping for a good finish picture, but apparently the photographer didn't stick around long enough to snap ones of those of us who finished after 3 hours. Bummer! What would you do differently?: Not sure... more heat training? Better hydration earlier on? Post race
Warm down: Walked around a bit, ate a bit of food, and drove home! What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat! Maybe lack of sleep and less-than-optimum hydration? Last updated: 2008-07-10 12:00 AM
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 2008-07-20 7:53 PM |
 Mountain View, CA |  Subject: Tri for Real Olympic Distance #2 |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Total Body Fitness
90F / 32C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 189/236
Age Group = F 25-29
Age Group Rank = 6/7
Woke up at 4am, ate breakfast (slowly...) and loaded the bikes onto the car. It took about two hours to drive to the race site, and I ate half of a Clif bar and sipped Nuun on the way there. The drive took longer than we expected (usually the Google Maps estimate is high, this time it was spot-on), so we were a bit rushed once we got there. Complicating things was the fact that we were doing on-site registration--easy, but it took 10-15 minutes.
And then it happened: my rear tube blew. Steve was pumping up our tires while I was busy with something else, and when he was removing the nozzle from my rear tire's valve, it exploded. Apparently the tube had deteriorated right around the valve, and when he tugged on the nozzle to remove it, the valve went with it. So off went my rear wheel, and out came the wrenches and spare tubes. Steve replaced the tube and got it all pumped up again, but had some trouble getting the wheel seated properly again. I was nervous about how rough he was being with it, trying to get it jammed in, but I didn't say anything.
Eventually he got the wheel back in, and I went for a 20 yard spin to make sure that I could ride it. At this point we didn't have more than 10-15 minutes before the race started, and I still hadn't set up my transition area, so I didn't take it for a long ride to go through the gears and make sure that everything was okay. In retrospect, I probably should have taken the time, but I was worried about missing my wave, and as it was, I only made it down to the water with a minute or two to spare.
Running from the beach back up to the TA to grab a small tag that people were supposed to pin to their wetsuit leash, so that it could be removed at the end of the swim. No chip timing at this race--I guess the tag was to make sure everyone got out of the water. I wasn't wearing my wetsuit, so I used my chip strap (which I'd brought anyway) to attach the tag to my ankle.