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Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint - TriathlonSprint


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Ogden, Iowa
United States
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 12m 34s
Overall Rank = 8/168
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 3/27
Pre-race routine:

Woke up, had my customary peanut butter and bananas on toast and then drove to the race site. I got there plenty early to get a good spot in transition and make sure I got warmed up.
Event warmup:

I rode the bike a little since I hadn't been on it in over a week. Everything seemed to be in good working order. Then I got shuttled over to the swim start (it was point to point) swam a few hundred yards in the brisk water.
Swim
  • 10m 35s
  • 547 yards
  • 01m 56s / 100 yards
Comments:

Ooh boy, here we go! The start was messy. 117 started in my wave. I always expect some level of contact, but in my opinion there were far too many people in the wave. Actually, the wave consisted of all the male sprinters. It was wall to wall and I could not get around anyone for the the first 400 yds. It was hey, I'm hitting your feet. I need to get past you but you have 2 people on either side of you. Okay, I'll just go over. Smack! I took a couple of shots to the the head and had to stop at one point adjust the goggles after they got kicked off. I never got into any rhythm. I'm actually looking forward to doing a longer race to get more of an indication as to where my swim is at right now. There was a super long run from the slippery boat ramp to transition, part of which I had to backtrack to pick up my goggles that had fallen out of my wetsuit arm. I guess that trick doesn't always work.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure, maybe get more aggressive swimming over people. I know there was a long run to transition and that time was reflected for the entire field, but ugh that was still slow
Transition 1
  • 01m 7s
Comments:

It seemed like it took forever to get the suit off the ankles. Other then that, good as gold
What would you do differently?:

Practice getting into shoes on bike until I can comfortably do it in a race.
Bike
  • 39m 22s
  • 15 miles
  • 22.86 mile/hr
Comments:

Okay, so I'm on my bike successfully, unlike the last race. Time to drop the hammer. I got passed coming out of the park. Hey you, yeah you in the blue shirt, you're my rabbit. He kept a good pace and I hammered after him, picking off bikers left and right. Well, just on the left I guess, but you get the point. One of these days my swimming is going to come around so I don't have to play this catch up game. I finally passed blue shirt about halfway to the turn.

The nice thing about an out and back course is you can count how many people are ahead of you. There were about a dozen or so that I counted. Blue shirt passed me again just before the turn and lost more ground with my less than graceful 180. Picked off a few more people on the way back, including a fellow AGer. Apparently that angered him because he repassed me heading into the park.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. That was a pretty good bike, in fact it is my fastest average to date. Oh, I did get a new aero bottle for shorter races and there are 2 options for straw holes. Of course I picked the wrong one so I had to lean way forward out of the saddle to get a drink. I'll need to make sure I get that right next weekend.
Transition 2
  • 00m 30s
Comments:

I got out of the shoes a little early but that's okay. Quick T2
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 21m
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 45s  min/mile
Comments:

I beat blue shirt out of T2 and just had to concentrate on catching AG-man. No biggie there. I blew by him just after getting out of the woods. Yeah, we ran on some curvy grass trails in a lightly wooded area. Kinda cool actually.

Not much going on in the way of traffic. I went down the big hill thinking, man, that's gonna be a beyotch to climb on the way back. I counted 6 or 7 people ahead of me before reaching the turn around. 6 or 7? Holy crap, that's it?

I started surveying my competition on the way back and recognized a guy in a black suit that podiums local races in my age group not too far behind. The bad news, he's faster. I hung with him for about 4 miles at the Drake half a month ago before he left me in the dust. Uh-oh, better get those wheels a moving.

I pushed the last half hard. Powered up the hill, feeling surprisingly good. Just before we hit the grass trails I get passed by guy who tells me not to worry, he's part of a relay. Thanks for the heads up dude, I was about to get pizzed. As we're twisting through the grass I can literally feel black suit getting closer. We hit the final dirt path and I can see the finish line through the trees around the corner.

I'm sprinting now. Wait, why is there a woman sitting in a chair in the middle of the road? Oh, we're turning sharply into the grass I see, just a little too late. I did my best Barry Sanders cut, which I assure you was done with much less finesse than he had, and sprinted in a couple of seconds ahead of black suit. Sweet!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. This run felt great.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking and chatting. Mom and dad made it for this one too, so that was nice.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Crowded swim? But that seems like a lame excuse. Maybe all of the German food and beer from last week? Either way, I gotta step it up next weekend

Event comments:

Great first year race. Thanks Alex and Steve!

This went much better for me than the last race. More hardware and I won a free entry into Hy-Vee during the post race raffle, so bonus!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-03-31 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:10:35 | 547 yards | 01m 56s / 100yards
Age Group: 15/27
Overall: 0/168
Performance: Below average
Suit: QR ultrafull
Course: Point to point, with one turn heading into the boat ramp
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:07
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:39:22 | 15 miles | 22.86 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/27
Overall: 0/168
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back, short and sweet
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:30
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:00 | 03.11 miles | 06m 45s  min/mile
Age Group: 5/27
Overall: 0/168
Performance: Good
Course: Grassy trail running through the trees which was really fun, followed by some park roads and then back.
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? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2009-06-01 7:23 PM

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Champion
10742
5000500050010010025
Ames, IA
Subject: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint


2009-06-02 6:38 AM
in reply to: #2187900

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Champion
14677
5000500020002000500100252525
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint
disturbed275 - 2009-06-01 8:23 PM


Great report. Love the duel with black suit!
2009-06-02 6:45 AM
in reply to: #2187900

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Elite
4372
200020001001001002525
Connecticut
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint
Congrats Neal!  Incredible that you spent the week in Germany and came home and totally rocked your race. 
2009-06-02 6:51 AM
in reply to: #2187900

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Member
357
1001001002525
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint
Great race
2009-06-02 8:24 AM
in reply to: #2187900

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Expert
919
500100100100100
Greenville, SC
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint
Great race! CONGRATS!
2009-06-02 11:23 AM
in reply to: #2187900

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Royal(PITA)
14270
50005000200020001001002525
West Chester, Ohio
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint

Terrific race!  Love the battle for position with the black suit guy and the Barry Sanders imitation



2009-06-02 6:48 PM
in reply to: #2189284

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Elite
3595
20001000500252525
Quebec, Canada
Subject: RE: Bluff Creek Triathlon - Sprint
Awesome race Neal and great race report  

Good job! 
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