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Camp Pendleton International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Camp Pendleton, California
United States
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 52m 54s
Overall Rank = 414/666
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 13/32
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4am and got ready. Ended up late because I took the hubby for the first time and he is slow to get moving! Had 1/2 bagel with cream cheese and a bottle of Gatorade for breakfast. An hour before start time, I downed 3 Sportlegs to complete my great Sportleg experiment.

Was a little nauseous at this point, but I attributed it to my friend who was eating what seemed like a wrotten banana.

Event warmup:

Nothing.....I had no intention of getting in the water before I had to, and I was a little freaked out. This was Olympic #2 for me. Since #1 was so devastating (just emotionally-- it was a really hard course), I was petrified and questioning why I'd bothered signing up when the Sprint is clearly my distance.
Swim
  • 32m 17s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 58s / 100 yards
Comments:

I talked my girlfriends into starting in the front, towards the left because I felt like that was the "straight shot" to the first turn buoy. When the horn went off, it was all an-out dash to the front. Girls were NOT swimming straight, in fact, all of us on the left side ended up drifting even further left. At one point in time, I saw a girl, kicking up a storm, swim HORIZONTAL to me and the other swimmers. Where she was going is anybody's guess!

At any rate, my goal for this race was to draft off of someone similar in speed to me. Unfortunately, this group sighted so poorly that I quickly found myself abandoning this strategy and just going it alone. I think we were tightly bunched for almost a half a mile, and I remember thinking this was really different from my last Olympic race, where I was all alone.

About halfway through the swim, the exhaust from the jetskis became more apparent, and they were turning my stomach a little. Not anything major, but if you wanted me to eat after this swim, you had to be joking. I was so relieved when I heard the announcer's voice again. As I was rounding the last buoy, I heard him say, "and here's our first blue cap!" I was psyched. I was less than 5 minutes behind this girl, so for me, that was a good swim.

A lot of people were standing as soon as they could, but I just kept swimming past them until my hands touched sand. Up, and out. Looked at my watch, which read 28:16, and I yelled "Score!" Apparently it was pretty audible, as my husband says he was cracking up. He thought I came out of the water too quickly and would be exhausted, but I was feeling fantastic and I was psyched about my time. Honestly, I was pretty aerobic out there. Score! summed it up pretty well.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. I suppose I could have tried harder to draft, but I just felt more comfortable swimming on my own terms.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Splits are included in the swim and bike times.....from the beach to Transition is in the Swim, and the second half of T1 and all of T2 are in the bike split.

SO, T1 is an uphill run up the sand to the asphalt. I ran until I got to the steeper part of the hill, then decided to walk. Based on experience, I know that sprinting through T1 makes my bike miserable. I'd rather take the extra time here and recover....so I chatted with a few of the girls coming out of the water, and then took my wetsuit off when I hit the asphalt. Would rather have the wetsuit removal come off my swim time than my bike time!

I found my bike and noticed that most of the bikes were still on the rack, including my teammate, who is a faster swimmer. Score! Tried to put my socks on, but put a hole through the heel in one of my socks thanks to my wet feet and overzealous pull. Oops. I decided to just keep the sock on and forget about it. Grabbed my bike and off I went.
What would you do differently?:

Be more gentle with my socks.
Bike
  • 1h 21m 29s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 18.30 mile/hr
Comments:

Well, the bike is the reason I do triathlons. I love it! This course is familiar to me because I've often used it for practice, but lately I've been training Santiago to try to conquer my hill weakness. It seriously paid off on course this time around. I threw the bike into the big ring and just cranked it out....the big hill up Stuart Mesa really didn't seem that big on race day. In fact, for the first time in my life, I passed people going up the hill and I was never overtaken. (HUGE for me. Totally huge) I am a downhiller and a flat rider, but today, I ate those hills. Mmmmmm.....

I'm still excited, can you tell? It was just fantastic. I felt great the entire time, but I was craving water and couldn't get my nutrition down. I usually take a gel on the bike out of my GelBot, but I could only get a few sips down. I also didn't want to drink my electrolyte drink, either. I figured that I had at least 3 hours of glycogen stored up in my body from the day before, so it should last for this race....right?!

I came into transition never letting up on the bike. It was remarkable how much better I felt after this ride than I did with my race in April. Night and day. Final bike split was 1:18:18.

I suppose I should also mention that part of the reason I pushed myself so hard was because my coach was in back of me. She started in the last wave 5 minutes behind me, and I knew she was back there....stalking...waiting to make her move. I was determined to make her wait until the run. Having a stalker is the best way to race faster, I swear!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Textbook ride for me. I'm really proud of myself for working it out.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Over 3 minutes spent here.

I did too much thinking in T2. I'd left myself a virtual picnic of triathlon at my transition area. Gel in flask in case I needed it. Chapstick with SPF. Spray on sunscreen. Coolwings. I knew they were all options, not mandatory to take, so I think I spent far too much time debating with myself what I should bring or not. I opted to spray on the sunscreen, then left everything else because the sun wasn't out yet and somehow I felt I didn't need the wings. Or the gel.
What would you do differently?:

I need to have a plan before I arrive at transition, then execute it. No more million choices....just grab, grab, and go.
Run
  • 59m 8s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Did I already mention I hate to run? It's my Achilles heel, and has plagued me since I started racing last year. I literally hopped off the couch last summer and tried to become a runner, and it's really been a struggle to get my run to where I am happy. As of late, I've been so stressed by my impending move that I've taken to even hyperventilating on my run for some unknown reasons. So today, my goal was to enjoy myself. And in order to enjoy myself, I was going to have to slow down.

Out of transition, I felt fantastic. One of the girls in my age group took off past me and shouted, "great job!" She was very sweet....total hard body....probably knew that was the last she would see of me as she pulled away. I smiled, though. I'd come to this race to hammer the bike, and my job was done. Now all I had to do was hold on.

No dead legs for me, and for the first loop, I felt sensational. When I saw my husband at the turnaround, I yelled, "I so have this!"

I'd left my Garmin on my bike because it stresses me out too much these days, but I did sneak a peak at my watch after the turnaround and noticed that barring any incidents, a sub 3-hour finish was in my future. I was so stoked, you have no idea. But then, I started to crash. I became incredibly hot. My face burned. My stomach tightened and a wave of nausea started to hit me. I allowed myself walk breaks at the aid stations and walking up the big hill, figuring that I needed to keep myself cool in order to finish.

I suppose I should also mention this final 5K was my virtual 5K in memory of Christine Rusher, aka "Lucy." I had her name on my hands and every time I wanted to quit, I just looked down and realized that it was an honor for me to be racing out there and that this run was not about me.....how could I let her memory down by crashing in this run?

So I drenched myself in cold water at the aid station and decided to just keep moving forward. If I yack, I yack. Eventually, the finish line appeared and I managed to get across it before I tossed my cookies. Oh, the poor Marines. I apologized, but I suppose they'd seen it all before. Of couse, this time my friends' mom saw me do it....so now I'm really getting made fun of for my post-race throwing up. (3rd time now....seriously, it's getting old)

I'm not sure how I managed to come in under an hour, but I did. It was a miracle. Was it the Sportlegs? Was it Lucy? Was it my stalker coach who ended up overtaking me on Loop 1? Who knows. But I'm really proud of myself for this one, even though the time is unimpressive by most standards!
What would you do differently?:

Gee, I am not sure. I did the best that I could given how I was feeling. Perhaps if I had the cool wings, they would have kept my arms a little colder once I soaked them in water? I really got quite hot out there, even without the sun, and think that perhaps that contributed to my nausea. And I have to say, the nausea was easier to deal with than the terrible side cramps I would have gotten had I eaten my gels.....
Post race
Warm down:

Grabbed some water and orange slices, then stripped out of my sneakers and socks. That hole in the heel resulted in a horrible blister...I was desperate to get back in my flip flops! My muscles also felt horrible. Legs and lower back were so sore it was almost bordering on the verge of pain. Never felt like that before. Took 2 Motrin and was sprayed with Kool n' Fit, and then I started to feel better. I guess when you PR in all 3 sports in one day, you are bound to feel beaten up!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Well, I'm still a beginner. So, experience going this distance is a bit of a limiter. But I'm really happy with this race, so no regrets.

Event comments:

The Marines run a great race. My 2nd event at Camp Pendleton....first was the Mud Run, which I admit is tough to beat. The volunteers for the Mud Run are definitely more excited about it than the triathlon, but the boys on the bike on Stuart Mesa were a total hoot and I was so glad they were out there, sexist comments and all! I loved that it was so well organized, the music was good, and the venue was easy to get around. Even my Sherpa was able to maneuver around without getting lost or confused......it's hard for a newbie spectator sometimes.

The field was very competitive, but I think that is one of the lures of this race. It's not every day you get to race with such talented athletes. Gives you more motivation to keep training!




Last updated: 2008-06-19 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:32:17 | 1640 yards | 01m 58s / 100yards
Age Group: 14/32
Overall: 340/666
Performance: Good
Suit: Full wetsuit
Course: Somewhat rectangular course in Del Mar Harbor.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:21:29 | 24.85 miles | 18.30 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/32
Overall: 329/666
Performance: Good
My Garmin logged 25.11 miles, and I'm positive I turned it on and off at the mount/dismount line. I suppose that if I didn't take a straight line, I could have biked some extra distance...
Wind: Little
Course: Gorgeous ride down Vandergrift, up Stuart Mesa, and up Las Pulgas (I think) to the turnaround.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:59:08 | 06.21 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 21/32
Overall: 530/666
Performance: Good
Course: 2 laps of a T-shaped course by the harbor.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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] 5

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2008-07-21 12:12 AM

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Subject: Camp Pendleton International Triathlon


2008-07-21 2:06 AM
in reply to: #1544704

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Subject: RE: Camp Pendleton International Triathlon
Congrats on all the pr's in one day. You did well. Saw those jerseys out there and almost made a comment but didn't want to come off as sexist. lol.
2008-07-21 1:57 PM
in reply to: #1544704

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Subject: RE: Camp Pendleton International Triathlon

Great job out there!

I know what you talking about with that boat exhaust! That was kinda wrong. There was a porta potty at the end of that first double back turn in the run that had a similar effect going on.

I have no doubt you blew by me on the bike leg. Nice ride.

Cheers 

2008-07-21 5:33 PM
in reply to: #1546249

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Subject: RE: Camp Pendleton International Triathlon
griepsma - 2008-07-21 11:57 AM

Great job out there!

I know what you talking about with that boat exhaust! That was kinda wrong. There was a porta potty at the end of that first double back turn in the run that had a similar effect going on.

I have no doubt you blew by me on the bike leg. Nice ride.

Cheers

 

Oh god, I remember that port-a-potty smell, SO GROSS!!!  I almost yakked on lap 2 because of that.  Fortunately during the swim I was too busy getting lost to notice the boat exhaust.  I very well could have been that person swimming sideways.

Good job, nice PRs!!!!   

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