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Valpo Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Valparaiso, Indiana
United States
Valpo Triathlon
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 76/500
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 10/47
Pre-race routine:

I slept like garbage. In fact, I barely slept at all. I was a nervous wreck all night and could not get to sleep. Go figure. Oh well, I rested, anyway. I made myself stay in bed until 5:00 and then took a shower and started to eat. I consumed my usual - bagels with peanut butter, Ensure, a banana, water, and a little coffee. The weather had called for thunderstorms which held off all night. At 5:30, however, I heard the rumble of thunder and saw some flashes of lightning and thought, "oh crap". It rained only a little and at 6:30 was barely sprinkling. I had all my stuff packed and drove up to the park to start getting my transition set up. There were already quite a few racers there (most with sweet bikes, of course). I unloaded "old school" (I need a better name for her) and walked over to transition where I got body marked (#102). The transition racks were pretty crowded. My stuff was jammed in a small space, which really worked out just fine. I met some nice people with whom I chatted until we were called down to the beach for the pre-race announcements.
Swim
  • 09m 9s
  • 481 yards
  • 01m 52s / 100 yards
Comments:

The 500 racers gathered on the beach, sporting their various colored swim caps. I was in wave #2 so we had red caps. Soon it was time to start. The first wave gathered at the water's edge, the air horn sounded, and they were off. To be honest I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the first group. I was busy getting down to the water and establishing my "position" in the crowd. I decided to start at the front on the far left. I felt that it would yield the cleanest swim path, as the out and back swim was swum clockwise. Soon, the announcer was counting down the seconds to my wave, the air horn blasted, I started my watch timer, and dove in...
My first few pulls were fine. My first breath was fine. Then things got crazy. Within seconds the calm water turned into a "washing machine full of feet and elbows". I was kicked, elbowed, and swum over, and truthfully, there was a moment or two that I was scared. It was really hard to get a good breath - both because of the jostling and also probably nerves and adrenalin. The panic was short lived, and at one point I remember smiling under water and thinking, "well, everything I read about mass starts was right - this is nuts." After that I settled down and just tried to focus on swimming. Eventually things calmed down a bit as the swimmers got spaced out. The second half of the swim was pretty clean and I managed to get into a bit of a groove. Then, my hand was hitting bottom and I stood up and trudged out. Swim complete. My goal time for the swim was 8:00. My actual time was 9:09. I was 20th out of 47 in my age group. 30th out of 72 in my wave. Not good, but not tragic, either...

What would you do differently?:

swim faster:)
Transition 1
  • 01m 16s
Comments:

I ran up to the transition area and was pleased with how quickly my socks, shoes, helmet, and race belt when on. After last race, I decided not to wear a shirt and I think it was the right decision. My transition time was 1:16, 9th out of 47 in my age group...
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Bike
  • 37m 35s
  • 12.4 miles
  • 19.80 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike portion of the race was good for me. I made up some time here and am pleased with my time. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the course is quite hilly. Fortunately, I have biked it enough that I felt comfortable with it and tried to go hard. I passed lots of slower guys from the first wave and a number of the faster swimmers from my wave. I guess that's the beauty of being slower on the swim - you get to pass people on the bike. It is a mental boost, for sure. About 1/3 of the way through my ride, I saw the race leader biking toward me, having already looped back around. He was being led by a police car with sirens and lights - how cool is that. All of us were yelling encouragement to him as he passed - he was really flying. I ended the bike strong. The last couple of miles are mostly uphill with a short downhill which takes you into the park and then back uphill to the transition area. As I was about to enter the park, a guy who was watching from the side of the road looked right at me and pointed to the guy in front of me and yelled, "catch that guy!". I thought, "weird, but okay". I caught and passed him just as I passed my family in the park. Cool. My bike time was 37:35, 9th out of 47 in my age group (not quite the rank I thought, but I'll take it)...
What would you do differently?:

train more - my legs were pretty tired for the run
Transition 2
  • 01m 9s
Comments:

I jumped off my bike at the dismount line and started "running" it to my rack. Wow. My legs were shot. They felt like they had concrete blocks attached to them. Oh boy, here we go again. My transition time was 1:09, 4th in my age group...
Run
  • 24m 38s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 07m 57s  min/mile
Comments:

The run. The trudge then run as it were. As mentioned, my run began as a series of rapid baby steps. My legs just didn't quite want to take full strides. I passed my family and (hopefully) smiled at them and yelled something about lead and pain. I knew that things would improve - I just hoped it would happen soon because I was going slow! It took nearly a mile to feel normal. I looked at my watch at the first mile marker and was appalled to see a split of about 8:45. Yikes! That really sucks. Fortunately I was able to pick up my pace and ran 7:13's for the remaining 2.2 miles. The run was actually pretty enjoyable. It was an out and back course and it certainly felt good seeing those on their way out as I was on my way back. Only one guy in my age group passed me on the run. He did so with gusto and I didn't feel like there was any way I could chase him down so I let him go. Before I knew it I was heading over the bridge that leads into the park and I could hear the crowd of people gathered at the finish line. My family cheered me on as I ran up the chute and over the finish line. My run time was 24:38, 11th out of 47 in my age group. Due to my dismal first mile, my average splits (7:42's) were slower than my goal (7:30's) and therefore my run time was about 36 seconds slower than I would have liked...
What would you do differently?:

bike, bike, and bike some more
Post race
Warm down:

My overall time was 1:13:45, nearly four minutes faster than my goal time. Fast transitions and a good bike ride really helped me. My time was 76th overall, but more importantly, it was 10th out of 47 in may age group. I am good with this. The next place up was 30 seconds faster. The next place down was over a minute slower. All in all, I really am happy. While the first mile of the run was disappointing, I knew that the extra speed on the bike came with a price. I certainly made up the lost run time on the bike and the reality is, it's more fun to go hard. I was thrilled to beat some of the racers that I did, and humbled by the many who smoked me. What a great day...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This is my first season of tri's and has been an absolute blast. I hope to keep training and slowly whittle my times down.




Last updated: 2009-07-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:09 | 481 yards | 01m 52s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/47
Overall: 0/500
Performance:
Suit: tri shorts
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:16
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:37:35 | 12.4 miles | 19.80 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/47
Overall: 0/500
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:09
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:24:38 | 03.1 miles | 07m 57s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/47
Overall: 0/500
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2009-07-13 12:46 PM

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