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River Cities Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

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Shreveport, Louisiana
United States
Sportspectrum
72F / 22C
Overcast

Total Time = 1h 40m 28s
Overall Rank = 431/1161
Age Group = 44-49 M
Age Group Rank = 31/66

Pre-race routine:

Got to Shreveport at 11:15 Saturday, 45-minute line to pick up packet. Met waskelton (Will)and his wife, OldAg92 (Brandt) and his friend Chris, Michael Pate and lynda (Kathy) at packet pickup/lunch, then Will, Brandt and I rode to the race site to check out the course. Met later for dinner with mnewton (Michael) and his wife, Jessie and Christie (Kanoelani), along with Will and Brandt.

At the hotel, went through three air conditioners before we got one that worked halfway, managed to achieve lass-than-sauna conditions. Did get a good night's rest, in bed for 8:30, up at 4:15. Cliff bar when I woke up, two cups of coffee, then shower and gone. Munched on a bagel and sipped on a gatorade on way to race, in line for about fifteen minutes to get into the park. Had about a mile walk to transition after parking.

Event warmup:

After setting up transition, jogged back to the car to get another cliff bar. Walked around and talked to other BTers and hometown folks up there for the race. Got in the water as the first group started, stayed there twenty minutes until my wave went off, swimming a few strokes here and there.

Swim

20m 32s
880 yards
02m 20s / 100 yards

Comments:

Hung out in the back to start, had a hard time getting my rhythm early, took about 150 yards for it to thin out and for me to get comfortable. On the leg back in, I meandered off course a little, might have swam as much as fifty yards more than I needed to with my zig zag navigation. Still, I was shooting for a very conservative 20 minutes, didn't miss by much.

What would you do differently?:

Still working on improving the swim, really have lot of room to make improvements here. By far my weakest discipline.

Transition 1

02m 35s

Comments:

About a fifty-yard run from the water to the bike pit, through a pavilion. Stumbled badly coming out of the pavilion, nearly made a face plant but managed to stay upright with only my pride damaged.

Wiped feet with towel, seemed to get socks and shoes on without problem. My rack was nearly the furthest from the bike exit, so I had maybe another 30 yards to run in bike shoes. Bike mount area was small and congested, actually bumped (excuse me) a guy in front of me who was standing and trying to clip in. Get moving people! Clipped in easily and was off.

What would you do differently?:

Really need to practice my transitions. Expect triathlon cycling shoes to be in tomorrow, hope to practice and master the shoes-on-the-bike thing within the next two weeks.

Bike

49m 38s
18.2 miles
22.00 mile/hr

Comments:

Decent enough ride, kind of slow getting started and warmed up, but settled down after a mile or so in. Lots of drafting going on, at one point, a rider passed me and I backed off to get out of his draft zone only to find there were six of them riding in a pace line..

Helped to have driven the course on Saturday, knowing where the big hills were. The biggest climb was about one-third of the way in, after that you knew there was a mostly downhill segment. I was up around thirty for a couple miles there, taking the minor uphills in stride with little loss of momentum.

What would you do differently?:

Ride more hills! Overall ride was no worse than our typical routes in St. Francisville, if I do this race next year I'm going to try to ride SF several times in the months preceding.

Transition 2

01m 52s

Comments:

Again, small and crowded dismount area, rider down on the left made it even more challenging.

I'm blaming the long run with the bike on the time here. They closed off the direct route through the transition area so that you had to loop around the long way to get to your rack. Other than that, had no problem changing shoes and getting out of there.

What would you do differently?:

See T1: practice and switch to triathlon shoes

Run

25m 53s
3.11 miles
08m 19s min/mile

Comments:

Not bad at all, maybe could have pushed a little harder during Mile 3. The off-road segment slowed me down too much, was cautious of losing footing. LOTS of people walking, especially up the small hills.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing

Post race

Warm down:

Walked to find Angel, got a hamburger, then walked up the road to watch the other BTers finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Swim ability and not enough practice on transitions.

Event comments:

This was, to date, the biggest and the best triathlon I've done, 1,300 athletes, a logistical nightmare, yet nearly everything went like clockwork. Only major complaint I heard was the long lines in your car waiting to get in the park. That delay caused the race director to push back the start by about fifteen minutes.

Great organization, great swag, finisher's medal, good food. I'm already planning to do this one again next year!

Profile Album

Last updated: 2005-07-22 12:00 AM

Swimming
00:20:32 \| 880 yards \| 02m 20s / 100yards
Age Group:	47/66
Overall:	0/1161
Performance:	Average
Suit:
Course:	Triangular, about 300 out, 200 across the back, and another 300 to the finish.
Start type:	Wade	Plus:	Waves
Water temp:	0F / 0C	Current:	Low
200M Perf.	Below average	Remainder:	Average
Breathing:	Average	Drafting:	Below average
Waves:		Navigation:	Below average
Rounding:	Good

T1
Time:	02:35
Performance:	Average
Cap removal:	Good	Helmet on/ Suit off:	Yes
Wetsuit stuck?		Run with bike:	Yes
Jump on bike:	Yes
Getting up to speed:	Average

Biking
00:49:38 \| 18.2 miles \| 22.00 mile/hr
Age Group:	23/66
Overall:	0/1161
Performance:	Good
Wind:	None
Course:	Single loop around Cypress Lake, fair amount of hills for a swamp rat Cajun. Website listed this as 18.2 miles, though they announced during pre-race that it was 18.6 miles, and they used 18.6 miles in the official results. I'm sticking with 18.2 here.
Road:	Smooth Dry	Cadence:
Turns:	Good	Cornering:	Good
Gear changes:	Good	Hills:	Good
Race pace:	Hard	Drinks:	Just right

T2
Time:	01:52
Overall:	Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike		Good
Running with bike		Average
Racking bike		Good
Shoe and helmet removal		Good

Running
00:25:53 \| 03.11 miles \| 08m 19s min/mile
Age Group:	37/66
Overall:	0/1161
Performance:	Good
Course:	Squirrely out-and-back that featured several curly Qs and a half-mile or so off-road segment with treacherous roots and gullies.Plenty of small but bothersome hills throughout. Four or five water stations and two places to get cold, wet towels. Finish was also treacherous, as you ran the last 100 yards alternately through sand pits and harder grass surfaces.
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?
Post race activities:	Good
Race evaluation [1-5]	5

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the bear

2005-08-08 2:13 PM

Resident Curmudgeon

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The Road Back

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Subject: River Cities Triathlon

River Cities Triathlon

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