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Elephant Man Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Elephant Butte, New Mexico
United States
Mannon Motion, Ltd. Co.
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 40m 16s
Overall Rank = 153/183
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 15/18
Pre-race routine:

First swim wave went off at 8am. I got up at 5, ate some cereal, then loaded up my bag and walked my bike to the race site (about a one mile walk from the hotel). I was one of the first people there, so I got a choice spot on the racks. After that, just hung out waiting for the swim start.
Event warmup:

No swim warmup, since I was in the last wave. I didn't want to get all wet and then hang out on shore for 30 minutes (it was fairly chilly in the morning).
Swim
  • 52m
  • 1500 meters
  • 03m 28s / 100 meters
Comments:

Holy sh*t, that sucked! Never done OWS before, since I don't have anywhere to practice it. Started off OK, got about 200m in, then my goggles fogged up and I couldn't see anything. Managed to get that sorted out, but then I was pretty much alone in the water (way, way back of the pack). Every time I took 10 strokes, I'd look up to sight and find that I was at least 45 degrees off course, if not more. At this point, I was truly uncomfortable, and not having any fun. So, I pretty much did 30 strokes breast/10 strokes free for the whole rest of the race. I figured if I could just get out of the water, I'd be OK.
What would you do differently?:

OWS practice, but I don't know how.
Transition 1
  • 04m 2s
Comments:

Long transition area, since they started timing T1 as soon as you came out of the water, and it was about a 100m uphill run just to get into the actual transition area. There was only about 50m of pavement after the mount line before the course started up a big hill, so I elected to put my shoes on in T1 rather than leave them on the bike (there's no way I would have gotten both of my feet in and secure before starting up the hill). Unfortunately, when I went to mount the bike and clip in, I just could not get my right shoe to clip. It took me so long that I lost all of my forward momentum, and had to frantically unclip my left shoe to keep from falling down. Finally got going after way too long for something as simple as clipping in.
What would you do differently?:

Be fit enough that I could run 100m uphill at a good pace after finishing a 50 minute swim, and not forget how to ride a bike.
Bike
  • 1h 38m 7s
  • 26.5 miles
  • 16.21 mile/hr
Comments:

The course was mostly rollers for the first several miles. Right around mile 10, they had what was called "Crash Corner." It was sort of like the initial drop off of a roller coaster, followed immediately by a 90 degree turn to the right. There was one of those yellow signs that told cars to slow down to 30 or 35 to take the corner. I took it at 32. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, it was followed by 5 miles of pretty much non-stop climbing. Some lady was tacking back and forth across the lane on one of the hills, and almost took me out as I was passing. Then a guy flatted right in front of me. I stopped to see if he had all the kit he needed to change his tube, and he didn't have anything! And, unfortunately for him, he wasn't racing on 700C wheels, either, so I didn't have anything to give him. The last 10 miles of the course seemed to be the reward for putting up with the first 16. It was 95% flat or downhill, and I had a good time.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Just train some more so that I can be faster going uphill.
Transition 2
  • 01m 59s
Comments:

None really. I didn't wobble at all when I jumped off of the bike and started running. I didn't forget where my rack spot was, so I got there quickly and started changing.
What would you do differently?:

I put on compression socks in T2. That took a long time. I think for my next Oly or longer race, I'll just buy some compression calf sleeves and wear them the whole race. Would be a huge time saver.
Run
  • 1h 04m 8s
  • 6 miles
  • 10m 41s  min/mile
Comments:

I wanted to run faster, but I didn't want to hurt myself. I felt a tweak in my left hamstring on the bike, and it was still there on the run, so I took it easy on myself.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around the lake with my daughter, feeding fish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overall fitness (first race of this distance). For the swim, never comfortable enough to just swim. Not sure if that will ever get better, because it's not something I'll be able to train on.

Event comments:

My first Oly, but I thought this race was put together extremely well. Considering that Elephant Butte, NM, is in the middle of nowhere, the amount of volunteer support, food, drinks, etc. that the Race Director was able to provide was astounding.




Last updated: 2009-06-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:52:00 | 1500 meters | 03m 28s / 100meters
Age Group: 16/18
Overall: 0/183
Performance: Bad
Suit: Promotion Afterburner Full
Course: Triangular, counter-clockwise, 500m legs
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:02
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
01:38:07 | 26.5 miles | 16.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 14/18
Overall: 0/183
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Course was nice, traffic was minimal. The race staff did a fantastic job marking any significant obstacles/holes as well as the seams in all of the cattle guards. Volunteer/police support was outstanding. All I had to worry about was riding.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 79
Turns: Good Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:59
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
01:04:08 | 06 miles | 10m 41s  min/mile
Age Group: 14/18
Overall: 0/183
Performance: Below average
Course: 6 mile out and back. First mile is uphill on sand trail. Rest of course is rolling. Nice, nothing too heartwrenching.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2009-09-28 11:12 AM

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Expert
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North Cackalacky
Subject: Elephant Man Triathlon


2009-09-28 9:19 PM
in reply to: #2429712

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OKC
Subject: RE: Elephant Man Triathlon
Great job with your first Olympic!  Also nice to hear you stopped for a fellow racer.  How ridiculous was that one hill?  Comical.  The more OWS's you do, the better you'll get.
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