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The Honey Stinger Gullane Beach Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Gullane, Scotland
United Kingdom
triathlonScotland
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 33m 7s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Senior
Age Group Rank = 39/82
Pre-race routine:

Up at the crack of stupidity, usual breakfast of muesli and water. Broke camp and headed round to venue.
Event warmup:

Walked about 4miles up and down to Transition and down to the beach for a look at the very lumpy sea... did a spot of gentle jogging on the beach (as much to stay warm in the wind as anything!), some swim stretches and maybe 100m swim in the surf!
Swim
  • 16m 29s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 12s / 100 meters
Comments:

! at one point I swam past a "safety kayak" who was swimming/being swept to shore with his boat (muppet!).

I planned well and was at the head of the queue into the water and then I fluffed it by going to the right hand end of line when the first turn was left! My 1st 30m was also botched by being gubbed in the surf - I'd say by the 1st turn I was 2-3rd from last! (and raging at myself AGAIN!)

I made up some ground, (I was catching people even when I was doing breast-stroke!) but with leaky goggles (again - I must have an odd shaped face!) and I was struggling to get my breathing right, it was not a good result!
What would you do differently?:

I'm going to learn to swim in real life - being fast in the pool is fuck all use when you're racing in a washing machine!
Transition 1
  • 01m 54s
Comments:

1:04 faster than last month - although I chickened out of having shoes on the bike already (the toes in the spokes incident was just a little sore - not needed on race day!!)
What would you do differently?:

Practice transition over winter and learn to keep the toes out of the spokes so I can go fast!!
Bike
  • 1h 23m 7s
  • 26.49 miles
  • 19.12 mile/hr
Comments:

A seriously hilly route, but lovely!
The wind was a nightmare tho - a steady blast with gusty top ups - heading east was a joy - regulary saw 30+mph on the flat. Turn in any other direction and you were either blown all over the road or ground to a halt if into the wind! (One guy passed me with the full disc back wheel - I honestly don't know how he stayed on the road!)

I was caught by 2 senior ladies and was able to stay in touch with the 2nd. (turns out they're the Scottish champ and runner-up this year! Pretty chuffed really!)
What would you do differently?:

All drink related: confession time -
1. I made my "isotonic" too strong and it was actually dehydrating me when combined with the gels. The gels and drink consumption was good - it just turned out to be the wrong stuff!! (Doh!)

2. I fumbled and dropped a bottle at one point and was dumb enough to go back for the bloody thing - probably lost 30secs - and I need everyone of them!!
Transition 2
  • 01m 28s
Comments:

Still slow compared to everyone else - was 55th overall, so maybe not too bad, but...
What would you do differently?:

I must get elastic laces! Fumbling about fastening them is just a faff - although I tend to use it to stretch my hamstrings...
I also paused to grab the juice off my bike and throw it back down - should have just carried it!
Run
  • 50m 7s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

The hill straight out of T wasn't as bad as I expected, but I was way dry and crampy - couldn't get moving at all. My plan was to be Z4 on the first lap, then really crank it out on the second, but I was 3/4 finished the second lap before I was able to reliably go for it, without dropping dead before the line!
I had to walk thru the drink stations at T so that I could get some water in me.

It was too hilly for another 42min 10k, but 50mins was dissapointing!
Overall it was a good run, but only considering I started by knobbling myself with nutrition!
What would you do differently?:

Take a bottle of just water on the bike AND invest in a running bottle - which will only have water in it!
Post race
Warm down:

I drank lots and did some stretching. About 3-4 hrs later did a hilly half hor bike run to shift some burny lactic.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Stupid nutrition!

Event comments:

A fantastic race - knobled by the wind!




Last updated: 2009-05-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:16:29 | 750 meters | 02m 12s / 100meters
Age Group: 46/82
Overall: 64/
Performance: Bad
Suit: hell yes!
Course: Swim was halved to 750m for safety - straight offshore for 25-30m then sharp left along to a bouy, 180 turn surf downwind, another 180 turn - back into the wind back to the start turn, then left, back in thru the surf... interesting! ALSO - from the water to T1 there is a long steep climb up the tarmac beach path - really rough on the toes! and hard going on wobbly legs!
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 14C / 57F Current: High
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:54
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:23:07 | 26.49 miles | 19.12 mile/hr
Age Group: 37/82
Overall: 63/
Performance: Good
Ave 166 Max 187
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: A fabulous area with lots of amazingly good quality (some short stretches were not so good quality - enough to shake up the carbon boys!!), low traffic roads! Beautiful scenery and hilly as hell - lovely!!! Went past Archie's pink castle off Balamory twice! :) (Kids appreciated the stories!) Some really tight 90' corners - one onto a main road - kinda scarey with race head on!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:28
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
00:50:07 | 06.21 miles | 08m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 44/82
Overall: 87/
Performance: Average
Ave:164 Max:185 The average was too low - I just couldn't get moving!
Course: Hill straight out of T, then down and up again thru the village back thru T for a long flat section, out and back to T - then repeat - so past T 3 times :)
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2009-08-30 4:05 PM

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Veteran
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Subject: The Honey Stinger Gullane Beach Triathlon


2009-08-30 8:10 PM
in reply to: #2379050

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Expert
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Kewaunee, WI
Subject: RE: The Honey Stinger Gullane Beach Triathlon
Nice job!!! Sounds like a very scary swim!!! Congrats my friend.
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