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Bike Factory Lanikai Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Kailua, Hawaii
United States
68F / 20C
Total Time = 1h 11m 42s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

The pre-race routine actually started summer 2003. After a trip to Mexico I looked at the pictures and felt sad. The last activity I did was a run (race) from Rotterdam to Paris in 2001. With a team of 8 you run a distance of over 500k. That is two marathons a person in two days! After the race I didn't do anything anymore but gaining weight. Top was in last summer: 215 pounds! I started jogging again and moved to Hawaii (work-related). Here I started to know some people who were into "tri's" and added swimming to my work-outs. In December 03 I bought a bike: a Felt F80 and worked on all three (see logs). I signed up for the Lanikai sprint tri and the Honolulu tri April 18. I love the training, joined a master swim class on monday, wednessday and fridays. Tried to train 6 days a week. I used the different programms from this site and was on the BT-site every day! My weight dropped from 215 to 186 from November 2003. And finally, this weekend was my first race!
I set the alarm at 03.45, but was allready awake. Left the house at 04.15 after some spagetti-breakfast and picked-up my friend Cliff. Cliff is a dentist and did his fourth tri. We drove to Kailua and arrived at 05.00. After a year of sun-shine in Hawaii, it rained cats and dogs. Terrible! The wind was blowing 30 miles an hour and for the first time since my stay here, I was so cold! Not the perfect circumstances for my first tri. We were early, briefing started at 06.00. So we had very, very good spots in the transition area. First bikes in the rack before the T1 exit. I ran a little to stay warm and set up my towel and shoes and gear as I had read on this site. The briefing started at 06.15 and was about the drafting rules: not allowed. The rain was still terrible.
Event warmup:

After the briefing I ran some more, got my swim cap and goggles and went for a short 3 minutes swim. Because it was so windy and cold the ocean felt great. Only the normal christal clear waters of Hawaii were now a dark black area of zero visibility. The speaker announced that everybody had to get out of the water. It was about showtime!
Swim
  • 09m 31s
  • 500 meters
  • 06s / 100 meters
Comments:

This was it! trained several months for this and I totally forgot the cold and windy weather. We had to go in to the water and swim to the starting line. I hold on to the buoy closest to the beach! I read about this trick in one of the race reports. Saved me lots of energy. We had to wait till everybody was behind the starting line and it took for ever. Finally the start was there. Because of my starting position I was closest to the beach and in front of the line. There was some struggling behind me and about three or four men passed me. Off course they touched me, but they didn't try to drown me or pull me back. A little fight for a good position, but I can handle that and did fight back. The waves pushed me a little towards the beach. A litlle to much! Suddenly I was in the breakpoint of 2-3 feet waves. I swam out till I reached the point behind the waves again. I found some toes and drafted the rest of the race. It was crowded around the big orange balloon, but was not afraid to kick a little back. I did not catch good waves to surf to the beach and tried to stand up to early. We had to run on the beach, towards T1. When I figured out that it is better to run on the dark, hard sand, than really on the beach I was already in T1. I was happy with my 9:31. One second more than I counted on.
What would you do differently?:

Run closer to the water, saves your quads!
Transition 1
  • 02m 9s
Comments:

Drank a little water, cleaned my feet, put my biking shoes on and had a very short run till I could mount my bike. I trained it several times and it worked out: 2:09.
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Bike
  • 35m 22s
  • 20 kms
  • 33.93 km/hr
Comments:

It was slippery! Wet road, one hill. On the down-hill I was afraid that there would be a turn. No chance at all. Luckily it was straight. After 10k I felt my quads and realized that this important part of a tri needs a lot of training. More than I did. The average speed was good, definitely concidering the circumstances.
What would you do differently?:

Train harder
Transition 2
  • 01m 7s
Comments:

I took my shoes of riding. Had to turn one more time and my shoe hit the ground. Scared me and I jumped off the bike to early.
Run
  • 23m 22s
  • 5 kms
  • 04m 40s  min/km
Comments:

Yes, the rubber legs were there. Also my breathing was too fast. The uphill climb did not improve it. After 1 mile in my race pace. Even faster than my normal pace. The most rewarding of my first tri: my wife and two daughters (3 and 5) at the finish line and Cliff's wife with their daughter cheering their lungs out. Flowers at the finish!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I had energy left for a good second half of the run.
Post race
Warm down:

Nothing; I finished my first tri ever. The rush of adrenaline and endorfines and my family made me warmer than ever. Waited for Cliff to finish. Yelling and screaming when he arrived.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The run on the beach towards T1.

Event comments:

Again, my first race. Ten minutes faster than I had hoped and aimed for. Maybe from the writing you can still tell I am exited. Did it and loved it.
First photo: summer 2003, 215 pounds. Third picture: finish of the race, happy and 186 pounds. Ron, and others, thank you so much for helping achieving my goal.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2004-03-30 9:43 AM
Swimming
00:09:31 | 500 meters | 06s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: no (it is still Hawaii)
Course: The course was a straight line close to the beach from start to a big orange buoy parallel to the beach. Than a left to the beach. Two waves; first male and then females. Only elite females were in our wave.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Bad Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 02:09
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:35:22 | 20 kms | 33.93 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong
Course: Flat, one hill. The winds came from east, the course was most south-north out and the other way around in.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 90
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:07
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:23:22 | 05 kms | 04m 40s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Started with a climb, than a flat loop, the end was down-hill.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
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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2004-03-30 9:43 AM

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Honolulu, Hawaii
Subject: Bike Factory Lanikai Triathlon
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