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The Day at the Beach Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Hermosa Beach, California
United States
63F / 17C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 47m 11s
Overall Rank = 677/
Age Group = 45 - 49
Age Group Rank = 19/
Pre-race routine:

Forgot some stuff at home and was with others so a little different then what I would normally do. Bagel w/cc and coffee. Forgot my CLIF bar for before swim. Didn't drink as much gatorade as I should have. Chatted with some Multisport Ministry guys and my pals. Missed the BT meeting at 5:30a at Starbucks :( was bummed about that but not everyone was ready so we didn't get there until around 5:45a.
Event warmup:

Nothing really - just got in the ocean and got my face wet. COLD!
Swim
  • 18m 31s
  • 440 yards
  • 04m 13s / 100 yards
Comments:

Our wave started an hour after race start. Sand was FREEZING walking to the start. I had to go to the bathroom and got a little cold waiting - and more nervous as some people were being brought out by the lifeguards (by their choice).
Haven't been in the ocean since late '03 when we left so cal. Wow - big swells. had to get through about 10 - 12 sets. felt sick so just kept flopping around - backstroke, sidestroke - humbling experience for a decent swimmer like me. Started at the back so I could be close to the lifeguards bringing up the rear. They were great, but I'm pretty sure a couple of them thought I wouldn't make it. I was determined not to stop even though I was pretty pathetic. Tried to swim free and dive through waves but got dizzy, so took the inefficient route of riding the top. Interestingly this felt better then going under. After first buoy and getting past the swells was able to swim free and breathe on left looking out toward horizon w/o feeling yucky. didn't swallow any salt water :) swam from about 1/2 past 1st buoy to second and put head down as much as possible going in. Was hoping for better body surfing in, but couldn't catch a wave - out of practice I guess. I think nerves and the cold water both factored in here with never feeling like I got going. Long distance from the water over the sand to transition - I walked, this was included in swim time.
What would you do differently?:

I'm excited to do this one next year. Will try to train in Lake Wa and some choppier/colder conditions prior to race so I can maybe be more ready.
Transition 1
  • 06m 44s
Comments:

I thought I took MUCH longer, like 10 min. They had the 40+ women toward the end by the bike exit - which was fine with me. Didn't have my handy stool with me to sit on. brought a bottle of water to rinse sand off feet - worked well. Going to find a slightly smaller bag to use for next year.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a bit harder. I really wasn't trying to break any records on this though and was chatting with one of my friends which was more fun then trying to cut off 1 - 2 mins on the transition :)
Bike
  • 40m 55s
  • 10 miles
  • 14.66 mile/hr
Comments:

I was riding my friends hybrid - it's a heavy bike compared to mine and just different. I had a chance to go on a 23 mi ride on sat with it, so that was good. Had a little trouble shifting but since there weren't hills to speak of it was no big. She doesn't have clipless so rode in my running shoes :)
Took it easy on the first loop and tried to push a little harder on the second and third.
What would you do differently?:

nothing really - maybe next year I'll try to push a pinch harder on this part
Transition 2
  • 03m 5s
Comments:

Well - this was kind of funny. It actually would have been ALOT shorter except I was waiting for my friend. I forgot she had told me she wasn't running and our other friend was already out on the course running for her! I think I stood there at least 1.5 minutes waiting/chatting because I already had my running shoes on and i just racked my bike and took off helmet gloves :) oh well...
What would you do differently?:

Do more Sudoku to exercise my brain so I have better memory? :)
Run
  • 37m 54s
  • 3 miles
  • 12m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

normal for me. I was shuffling along and got to the mile mark and thought "You've got to be kidding - this feels like it should be 2 miles" I felt like I'd been running for 20 minutes! :) In talking to one of my friends after she said she felt the same way - so we had a good laugh over our patheticness (is that a word) :) ... Since our wave was last I was already pretty much at the end so not too many passed me and I actually passed a couple of other shufflers. Stopped at the midway point to go to the bathroom. After the 1/2 point I tried to pick up the pace but felt my HR start to spike up. Ran with a lady doing her first tri with about a mile to go - that was fun. Chatted with others along the way and a couple of guys just out exercising kept passing me (cloning?) so we were joking around. :)
What would you do differently?:

keep running outside to build better speed/"endurance" (can I use that word on a 3 mi run?) :)
Post race
Warm down:

It was warm by the end of the run to me - grabbed an orange and some salty crackers - and water - YUM! A couple of my buds were there at the finish cheering me on - fun! chatted and watched the awards ceremony and waited for other buds to finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I guess I should pick a race or two next year to to push on. I'm thinking that will be Clear Lake and Maybe the Womens tri. This was more for fun so while it would've been nice to go faster and I probably could've shaved 2 - 5 min from the bike/transitions I'm not really that concerned about it. I'm hoping to be a faster shuffler and maybe even a runner next year, so maybe that will help.

Event comments:

I really enjoyed it. It was more about the social and getting through that ocean swim then racing per se. It's a fun casual race and marketed that way. A really nice event to end the season on and if at all possible I want to do this next year - will be pressuring a couple more friends to join us. There is also a longer race in Malibu in Sept I'm hoping to be the swim leg of a relay! Afterward we went for Mexican food YUM - so canceled out any caloric loss from the race.




Last updated: 2008-05-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:31 | 440 yards | 04m 13s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Suit: Xterra
Course: Out - right at buoy to second buoy - right and back to beach - well marked! Lots of lifeguards.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: High
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Below average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 06:44
Performance:
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:40:55 | 10 miles | 14.66 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: up hill to start - not bad - 3 loops flat
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 03:05
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:37:54 | 03 miles | 12m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course: Flat - out and back on the strand - cement but sandy in places
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
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] 4

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2008-10-14 1:56 PM

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Veteran
290
100100252525
Texas
Subject: The Day at the Beach Triathlon


2008-10-15 2:57 PM
in reply to: #1742000

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Member
99
252525
somewhere in the northwest
Subject: RE: The Day at the Beach Triathlon
great job on your race, way to stick with it in the water waves are my biggest fear and i have not swam in the ocean yet just little lake waves.
2008-10-15 9:08 PM
in reply to: #1742000

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Master
1588
1000500252525
San Francisco
Subject: RE: The Day at the Beach Triathlon
Swim sounded pretty rough.  sounds like you had a fun time at your race though, which is always a good lesson for all of us!
2008-10-16 11:09 PM
in reply to: #1742000

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Veteran
135
10025
Snohomish WA
Subject: RE: The Day at the Beach Triathlon
Great that you had a good time and got some good exercise. The ocean swim sounds really different from what we do around here. While it sounds harder it  also sounded like loads of fun. Oh, skip the potty stop before the swim and that wet suit will get cozy warm fast  (no kidding)  
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