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MAP Sprint Tri
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MAP Sprint Tri - TriathlonSprint
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 Swim
Comments: The pool at the Mecklenberg County Aquatic Center is fabulous! It's a 50 meter pool, and it's 25 yards across, so we swam laps across the pool and had room for 20 seperate, one direction lanes. I have never swam in better water! Someone said the temperature was 80, but I think it may have been just a bit cooler than that. It felt warm when I jumped in, but while swimming, it felt crisp, not too warm. It didn't smell like chlorine, it didn't taste like chlorine, and it was crystal clear. I could see forever with my prescription goggles. I started 10 seconds after a girl from James Madison University's tri team. I thought I was going to catch her pretty quickly, but when I caught up to the person in front of me, it wasn't her, it was someone starting in front of her. I passed that person and kept hunting my fish down. I passed 4 other people, none of them was my JMU fish. I finally started to catch up to her as we neared the swim finish, and we actually climbed out of the pool together. My breathing was second nature, bilateral all the way. My stroke was good, and I hit a great rhythm almost immediately. Honestly, I hardly thought about swimming the entire time. I was focused on passing people and chasing my fish. I WAS RACING! We had to duck under the ropes at every turn, and even this was on auto-pilot. I hit the lap counter on my watch right after I climbed out of the pool. 8:54! As we trotted the 25 yards to the exit door, I let out a huge whoop that echoed through the entire pool building. Everyone cheered really loud! I was having SO much fun! :-) Out the door and across the timing mat in 9:09. What would you do differently?: Flip turns would have helped me a bit on this, and any other pool swim. I only have one more pool swim tri this year, so I'm saving flip turns for next Fall's swimming.  Transition 1
Comments: I chatted and congratulated my JMU fish on her swim as we ran from the pool exit into T1. It was COLD as we came out the door from the pool! I think is was still only around 45 degrees. I had been debating whether to wear my sweatshirt for the bike ride or not. Got to my spot quickly, and dumped my prescription goggles which were fantastic to have, since I can at least see with them, if not perfectly. I toweled off my face, pulled on my wickaway teeshirt and decided to pass on the sweatshirt. Very good decision. I put on my glasses, sat down and quickly wiped off my feet. Socks and bike shoes went on easliy. I strapped on my helmet and grabbed my bike, wished everyone around me good luck, and ran for the transition bike exit and mounting line. I was able to run and jump onto my bike pretty well, got clipped in easily and took off with another big shout of joy which all the spectators cheered! :-) What would you do differently?: Not much I would do differently for T1. I'd like to get things a little faster. Wearing a racing singlet will save me a few seconds in the future, but having a dry shirt on was good with the chilly air.  Bike
Comments: I started off on the bike pretty well. I glanced at my HRM and noticed that it was too high, but I blew it off, since I was racing! The streets were in good shape, except for one, very small area. We raced past the tall buildings downtown, and out into some residential areas. The first 2 miles went very well. Then I started climbing the big hill before the turn around. It took more out of me than I expected. After the turn around, I went screaming back down the hill. I finished the rest of the first lap with little of note. The second lap was better for me, as my legs were feeling better, and I knew exactly what to expect on the hills. I down shifted sooner for the second climb of the big hill and did a better job getting up. The second descent was when I peaked at 35.8 MPH. I'll break 40 one day. LOL I didn't drink enough on the ride, and I could tell. I sipped from my bottle 3 times, but I haven't been riding outside enough to practice drinking, so I was a little on edge while doing it. After the race I got a good look at my bottle and only drank about 6 ounces of the 24 ounce bottle. Other than the drinking, my bike handling felt very good. I took some curves while screaming down the big hill very confidently. My shifting was good, and I managed to keep a pretty good, high cadence most of the time. Several times I caught myself pushing the pedals instead of spinning them. I would then concentrate on circles and feel the extra power and decreased effort. The only time I got out of the saddle was getting started after each of the U turn turn arounds. I even spend about 2 minutes in the aerobars on the second return leg, over a relatively flat section. I feel good in the aerobars, physically, but they are clip ons, so I have to move a hand to shift. I did shift up once while in them, and it went well. More time actually riding my bike and less time spinning the pedals on the trainer will improve this. Approaching the transition area and the dismount line, I unclipped one of my shoes. This worked pretty well for me. I'm not going to try taking my feet out of the shoes for a while. I jumped off at the dismount line and ran back to my rack spot with no problem. I had hoped for a little bit faster bike time, but I'm still happy with this effort. I was riding hard. What would you do differently?: Everything involving more time riding outside will need to be improved as the season goes on. The hills really hit me harder than I expected, because I've only been on the trainer. More practice in the aerobars with shifting, and more practice drinking while riding will help. Transition 2
Comments: T2 went pretty fast. Racked bike, dumped helmet, tied on runners, and grabbed race belt with my number. I put on the race belt while running out of the transition. What would you do differently?: I have wanted to get some type of elastic running shoe laces, but didn't get to pick them up until too soon before this race. I will have then in time to run with them and make any needed adjustments before my next race in April. This will save 20-30 seconds.  Run
Comments: I expected dead legs at the beginning of the run, but didn't factor in the chilly morning's effect. About 200-300 yards into the run, just as I started climbing the slight grade, both of my calves cramped up, hard. After 10 or 20 more steps, I had to stop and stretch them out against a tree. They were a little cold, I'm sure, even though I was warm, and really didn't want to shift from riding to running mode. This cost me about 30 seconds stopped while stretching. It then took until about 1/2 mile before they got loosened up. I still managed to keep up a pretty good pace. I had one sip of water at the run start, and another 1/2 cup at about the 2 mile mark. The run was pretty nice, once my legs got going. I picked it up with about 1/4 mile to go, and increased to an all out sprint as I closed in on the finish line. There were a bunch of people hanging around the finish area, and several cruising along the sidewalk of the run course. As I sprinted up to them, people started jumping out of the way and cheering for me. Jeff was there, just before the turn into the finish, cheering me on. There were lots of people shouting and cheering as I sprinted past several other runners and raced to the finish line. My second triathlon was in the books. :-) My goal for the run was 24 minutes. That is what I turned in when I ran a 5K last Fall, before I started my aerobic running training. If not for the cramps, I would have come in under the 24 minute mark, so I'm very pleased with this run. What would you do differently?: More bike/run brick training (ok, at least one brick) before my next race to get the legs ready faster. I think I could have pushed a little harder after my legs loosened up. Post race
Warm down: I should have stretched my legs after the race, but I was too pooped from sprinting to the finish line. There was a ton of different food available. I had a sandwich, fahita, banana, bagel, cytomax, Pepsi, and several small cups of trail mix. ;-) I got my money's worth of food. LOL We hung around the finish line, eating and talking about the race. It wasn't long before some preliminary race results were posted, and I saw my time of 1:13:22. I recovered very quickly, after around 20 minutes. Then, it was time to pack up my gear and walk back to the hotel for a shower and the drive home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Bike riding time outside will help with a bunch of things. I expect my bike pace to be better in 4 weeks, at the Riverwood Sprint. Race singlet and elastic running shoe laces will save some transition time. Bike/run bricks will help my legs with the shift and, hopefully, allow me to beat 24 minutes at Riverwood. I could have worked my training to try to peak for this race, but I knew going in that it would be for 3 things: FUN, practice, and a benchmark at race pace. Event comments: Overall, this was a fantastic race! I'm pleased with my performance, and got a good measure of where I am in my training. More bike time! ;-) I recovered after about 20 minutes and felt great. This tells me that I am ready for longer distances at close to this pace, and that I could have gone harder in this race. Riverwood Sprint is 4 weeks away. It's only 300 yards swimming, a 20K bike, and 5K run. I will push harder for all 3 legs, and the transitions. Big thanks to Jeff and John for lots of laughs, cheering, and making the entire event more fun! :-) I am so lucky to have discovered triathlons! :-) Last updated: 2004-11-30 12:00 AM
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 2005-03-21 1:14 PM |
Extreme Veteran  347   Chapel Hill, North Carolina |  Subject: MAP Sprint Tri |
| 2005-03-21 1:40 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Veteran 231 | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Awesome job Mike! I am so glad it went so well! You killed that swim--maybe I need lessons from you :-) |
| 2005-03-21 5:18 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Veteran 113 Greenville, SC | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Congrats on the race results....I LOVED that pool...made swimming in mine today depressing. Donna |
| 2005-03-21 6:43 PM in reply to: #132348 |
| Extreme Veteran 438 | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Great job! I actually recall you letting out your yell at the end of your swim, hehe. Excellent work in your second triathlon |
| 2005-03-21 6:53 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Master 1791  Raleigh, North Carolina | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Big thanks to you too! Your previous tri experience was extremely valuable! I had a blast down there with you. John got a very cool pic of you during the run when you launched your water up in the air. I was laughing uncontrollably when I was checking it out. Link to the originals are on my blog page, but I'll be sure to scale them down a bit and throw them in an album too. Let also tell you - your kick at the end looked great. You kicked fast enough that we could tell that you were giving everything you had. Congrats on another fine race. (after edit)....oh yeah...the yells were hilarious and very crowd pumping. LOL! Edited by jkbostic 2005-03-21 6:54 PM |
| 2005-03-21 7:22 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Extreme Veteran 386 Fort Worth, TX | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri GREAT Job HOTie!! What a wonderful way to kick off the season! Now get your butt out there and BIKE! You should get Sara out there biking with you too |
| 2005-03-22 10:11 AM in reply to: #132348 |
Extreme Veteran 427 Winston-Salem, NC | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Great race, Mike. I wish I could be as calm as you on race day!  Sounds like you had a great finish, also. Congrats on your second! |
| 2005-03-23 12:40 AM in reply to: #132348 |
| Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri |
| 2005-03-24 12:36 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Champion 11641 Fairport, NY | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri What a great race report! Any race that can be done with that amount of focus and pure joy is the definition of a successful race. You've sure set a great example for me to shoot for. |
| 2005-03-24 5:09 PM in reply to: #132348 |
Expert 1152 wrightsville beach, North Carolina | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Very nice race mike!! All the times are great. So happy you tagged the run times!! and...yes, so happy you found tri's ..me too!  Stiuck w/ it man, hope to see you again soon. |
| 2005-03-24 7:19 PM in reply to: #132348 |
molto veloce mama 9311 | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri great race! |
| 2005-03-25 9:33 AM in reply to: #132348 |
Master 2346 Dayton, Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: MAP Sprint Tri Great race! Congratulations! |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Set-Up, Inc.
45F / 7C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 184/274
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 31/43
Met Jeff Bostic and his friend, John, Friday afternoon. We picked up race packets, checked out the fantastic pool, listened to the pre-race meeting, and drove the bike course. Dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Outback Special, medium rare, with loaded baked potato and house salad. Tall, icy cold Foster's draft was required. LOL Back to the hotel, watched a little basketball, and packed up my bag for the race.
6AM race morning, we met in the elevator to hit breakfast. Our hotel didn't have any breakfast until 7, so we went to the hotel next door. They had a complimentary continental breakfast for guests only. We bartered some glowing comment cards in exchange for breakfast with the super desk clerk. :-) It was still over 2 hours until my scheduled swim start, so I had a bagel and cream cheese, blueberry muffin, fruit salad and OJ. I had two small (normal people size) cups of coffee in the hotel room. Headed out of the hotel for the 2 block walk to the transition area at 7:00.
Dumped gear at my transition spot and racked my bike. Picked up timing chips and headed inside to body marking. Waited for about 10 people in line to get marked by 4 beautiful women. They were enjoying all the men dropping their sweatpants for them to mark us up, and then asking our age. LOL We hit this just in time. After we finished, there were about 100 people in line! Went back and checked on my transition setup, but had to wait to finalize it until I took off my shoes and socks, and sweats. It was pretty chilly, so I kept them on until I had to dump them. I stood and looked around the transition area. There was an incredible amount of nervous energy flying around the entire area. I was so calm and confident that I just took in this energy and got pumped up. There was a huge smile on my face the whole time. What a fantastic experience this whole triathlon thing is for me! :-)
I had to pee about 3 times in the hour before the race. ;-)
First racer hit the pool just after 8:00, and a huge cheer went up! Jeff went off at about 8:26 and I was at 8:45, so I headed outside to the transition and dumped my sweats and shoes, and got everything ready for T1 and T2. I went back inside with my semi-perscription goggles allowing me to see, and cheered as Jeff started. I cheered as he finished his fantastic swim, then headed to the line for my start. We had about 2 minutes in the pool in 2 warmup lanes to get ready. I had decided to skip any earlier swim warmup since it would have been over an hour before my swim start, so I did a quick stretch and 50 yards to loosen up. I was ready to have some fun!!! Then it was my turn in the starting lane......