General Discussion Race Reports! » Tri For Fun #3 Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Tri For Fun #3 - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Sacramento, CA, California
United States
TBF Racing
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 366/404
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 4/6
Pre-race routine:

I stayed with family about an hour south of the race site. It had been over 100 degrees and so when the power went out for three hours in the middle of the night, I didn't sleep well and sweltered. I was tired. Hubby loaded the bikes and we were off to Rancho Seco. I have never done a triathlon in the shadow of two nuclear power plant cooling towers. The plant hasn't been operational for decades, but it was still in interesting sight. I had yogurt and hydrated with Coke (bad move). Rancho Seco Park is a wonderful venue. The lake is smallish and no gas powered motors are allowed.
Event warmup:

Unloaded the bikes, picked up my packet and set up my transition. We were running a little late so hubby and I put our bikes at the nearest point we could. It ended up right near the bike start, so that was good. I found my brother, who is the one who started me on all this tri stuff, and he was already set up somewhere else. No line at the bathroom and then I put my wetsuit on. My wave didn't start until 25 minutes after the first wave, so I had time to warm up a bit. For those who don't know, I had a really rough experience the first time I did a practice OWS in my wetsuit. I thought it was trying to kill me and I hyperventilated in the middle of the lake. I practiced two more times since then and hadn't had any trouble since. This race was going to be my first race OWS. I put my goofy swim cap on and put an extra pair of earplugs between my hair and the swim cap. I have to have earplugs or else all the water that I don't accidentally consume while swimming goes into the great void in my skull via my ears.
Swim
  • 23m 43s
  • 1094 yards
  • 02m 10s / 100 yards
Comments:

Beginning: wade start in water plants. The plants would hit me as I started out. Didn't bother me, though. Only got kicked once. I didn't rush and just putted along.

Navigation: stinky. I swam at least 100 yards more than I needed to. The real distance was about 1100 yards. I kept veering to the left-I must have been drawn to the two towers. I started to the left and the back and only got kicked once. I didn't draft because I was intentionally swimming by myself. I had done OK in navigation practice but I didn't do well today.

Breathing: No problem at all. Hooray! I bi-lateral breathe equally well. The sun was shining on my right, which was also the side I needed to see where the others were.

Bouy: I got clogged up at the turns.

Water temp: Perfect

Wetsuit issues: None. I now LOVE my wetsuit. It kept me bouyant and happy.

My swim lessons and good coaching paid off.
What would you do differently?:

Swim faster. I had been so nervous about the swim that I didn't set any type of speed goal. I was capable of swimming much faster, but since this was my first OWS, I was more concerned about surviving rather than speed.

Sight better. I could have cut off a great deal of distance from my swim.
Transition 1
  • 04m
Comments:

I walked the distance from the lake to the transition. I stopped and kissed the ground after getting out of the water. I was SO happy to have survived my first OWS.
What would you do differently?:

Put baby powder in my socks. Run to the transition. Faster with wetsuit removal.
Bike
  • 57m
  • 14.3 miles
  • 15.05 mile/hr
Comments:

The course had hills. Not big hills, but constant little ones. Steep enough to have to work a little, but not steep enough to get some good downhill speed one the way back into the park. I dropped my beloved water bottle so I stopped to pick it up. I noticed others didn't stop to pick up their bottles. I thought I went faster than I did because my speedometer said so. My heartrate was high, but my respiration was low. I think my heartrate was up because I drank a coke and I usually don't consume any caffeine.

I passed more people than passed me.

More roadkill than I would have liked to have seen.
What would you do differently?:

Pedal faster.
Better understand Fatty Lumpkin's gearing. I am still not getting the best I can out of it.
Transition 2
  • 02m
Comments:

Where did my legs go??? I think I left them on the bike. I was beginning to feel the heat. Transition was smooth.
Run
  • 00m
  • 5 kms
  •  min/km
Comments:

Oh my gosh, I can't describe how hot the run was. No shade, dirt and rock fire road. Hills. More dusty hills. People walking the course as far as I could see. Once I got my legs, I started running. I did end up walking on the course. It was so hot! I have never sweat so much in my life. Did I tell you it was hot? I got to see hubby on the way out on the out and back course (he was coming in). That was fun! Hot, but fun.
What would you do differently?:

Pray for cooler weather. Run more, but I just didn't have it in me with the heat. I bet it was near 100 out in the sun.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate pasta and drank LOTS

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat. My focus on endurance at this point in my tri life, rather than speed. My weight. I still have 30 lbs. to go.

Event comments:

I have now done three triathlons. I have been in "survive" mode, rather than "race" mode. I now know I can swim in open water, bike and run. I am a competitive person by nature but haven't felt so during tris yet. I would like to feel more competitive next year. The race was great, the heat wasn't. I wish there would be a different run course.

My mom, dad, kids, nieces/nephews, sis in law were all there cheering me, hubby and brother on. That was really fun.




Last updated: 2005-08-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:23:43 | 1094 yards | 02m 10s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/6
Overall: 0/404
Performance: Average
Suit: My whale wetsuit (Orca full)
Course: It was a basic square, but the first leg seemed longer than the other two.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 04:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:57:00 | 14.3 miles | 15.05 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/6
Overall: 0/404
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: Out and back along Highway 104 toward Jackson, CA. This is the beginning of the Sierra Foothills.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:00:00 | 05 kms |  min/km
Age Group: 0/6
Overall: 0/404
Performance:
Course: Hilly, dusty, rocky fire road around the lake. HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT shadeless land of despair.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

{postbutton}
2005-08-09 2:44 PM

User image

Expert
717
500100100
Utah
Subject: Tri For Fun #3
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Tri For Fun #3 Rss Feed