Beach Bum Triathlon
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Beach Bum Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint
View Member's Race Log
Swim
Comments: This time includes T1. All of these times are from my watch, official race results only include overall time, not splits. This was the longest 500m of my life. My mental game was disrupted early on trying to swim out to the first buoy. I don't know what happened...it was hard going (even though it wasn't hard during warmup), and I guess I lost focus. Also we were swimming with the buoys to the left and I breathe to the right, which makes for slightly freaky navigation. The ocean was as calm as can be, low and outgoing tide, almost no current at all, beautiful swim conditions. I can't quite put my finger on why this swim was so difficult. What would you do differently?: I need to learn bilateral breathing. Urgently. Not for waves, but simply for navigation. Transition 1
Bike
Comments: This time includes T2. My confidence came back a little during the bike leg. The way it was set up was 1.5mi from TA to a turnaround, then 3mi in the opposite direction to the next turnaround, then 1.5mi back to TA. There was almost no wind, which helped tremendously (beach wind can be a killer). I felt really good, although with the heat I wasn't quite willing to push any harder. The SandBeast did a great job, although when you're used to clipless pedals and are suddenly using running shoes, it's a bit of a shocker. :) What would you do differently?: Nothing, this leg was great considering the sand and an ancient rusty beach bike. Transition 2
Run
Comments: This is where it got hot, and where it got bad. Again over sand, hardpack. The lack of wind, lack of shade, 91 degree relative heat (81F with 100% humidity)....man. I've trained in these conditions for a few months and consider myself acclimated, but I never run with no shade, and I'd been out in the full sun since dawn. The first 1/2 went OK, I was keeping a 10:00 pace, but was dying for the only aid station which was at the turnaround. Had to stop and walk at the station, poured one cup on my head and did the pinch & sip routine with the other cup (yay for tri top back pockets, so no littering). I ran as much as I could but was just this side of heat exhaustion. My lungs were working great, my muscles were working ok (I thought), but when I asked my body to go faster, it refused. I got the cold chills and was actually dry sobbing "This never f--king ends, does it" (physical reaction to heat for me, the sobbing bit). Clearly, my mental game fell totally to pieces and it was way ugly. The wierd thing about running on a beach is that it's very flat and the visibility is awesome, so I could see the aid station and the TA a mile away...and they just never got any closer. I found that more psychologically damaging than anything the sun could dish out. Of course, if it had been cooler, I wouldn't have been so succeptible to negative thoughts. What would you do differently?: Carry my water with me. I had decided to do this and brought a water bottle with a hand-gripper, but off the bike I felt good and I've done 30 minute runs in the heat before without fluid, so thought it would be fine. Clearly, it was not fine. I could've finished easily 2 - 4 minutes faster if I had hydration with me. Post race
Warm down: Went back to the ocean and floated on my back with my eyes closed. It was one of the best feelings in the world. What limited your ability to perform faster: The heat and direct sun, no doubt. Being stupid about water (which is unusual for me). Giving in to negative thoughts and not staying positive and super focused. I also think I trained too hard the week of the race, and I should've kept everything easy. Event comments: This was a laid-back, very small race on the beach. It had an awesome fun vibe, the directors and volunteers made it a good time despite the heat. THANKS VOLUNTEERS!!! After my first tri in April, I walked away thinking "That wasn't so bad." After this race, I really felt like I had really Accomplished Something. The distances were short, but the sand magnifies the effort unbelievably, even hardpack sand. Add to that the blazing sun with no shade and you've got a hell of a thing. I feel like I learned more from this tri than I did from my first one. And for all my complaining, I will be there next June to do this thing again, because I know I can do it faster. I don't want to give the impression that I didn't have fun, or that it was all grim. There were moments of sheer joy in this race, no doubt, and HHI is one of the most beautiful places I can think of for a morning on the beach. My wonderful girlfriend braved heat exhaustion to take photos, a friend drove over an hour to see me finish, and all the volunteers stood out in the hot sun just so the athletes could have our race. I learned a tremendous amount, and I'll definitely be back -- I'm looking forward to it. Last updated: 2005-07-12 12:00 AM
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2005-07-31 4:32 PM |
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2005-07-31 4:40 PM in reply to: #212108 |
2005-07-31 4:44 PM in reply to: #212108 |
2005-07-31 4:55 PM in reply to: #212127 |
2005-07-31 5:28 PM in reply to: #212108 |
2005-08-01 5:58 AM in reply to: #212108 |
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2005-08-01 1:47 PM in reply to: #212108 |
2005-08-02 8:31 AM in reply to: #212108 |
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United States
GoTriSports
91F / 33C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 91/135
Age Group = 39 & Under
Age Group Rank = 20/33
Up at 4:45am, breakfast of oatmeal, 1pc bread with peanut butter. Hydration, hydration, hydration. Small amount of coffee, like I needed it. Got to the race about 6am, was one of the first there so had my choice in TA.
Bit of swimming, bit of light jogging.