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St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

St. Petersburg, Florida
United States
84F / 29C
Sunny

Total Time = 2h 36m 54s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 126/356

Pre-race routine:

Despite the freakishly comfortable bed at the Vinoy hotel, I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm clock went off. I slept solidly through the night, but I was wide awake and ready to go.

Stopped off in the lobby for a bowl of raisen bran, a banana and a cup of yogurt + a cup of coffee. Made my way to the transition area at 5:45 to get body marked + lay out my gear.

Around 6:15 am, I walked over to Spa Beach with my ‘supersuit’, a can of Pam and a pink swim cap ... thinking to myself “Dude, it takes a strong man to drown in pink.”

The wind had then picked up and the swells were growing larger with white caps in the bay.

Picked up my timing chip, sprayed myself down with Pam, handed it off to a stranger and asked him to ‘pass it on’ in my last ditch attempt at garnering some good race karma before making my way down to the beach.

Event warmup:

The waterfront was crowded, so there was not a real opportunity to take a warm up swim - was too afraid that I would get in someone's way that had started the race.

Swim

29m 24s
1640 yards
01m 47s / 100 yards

Comments:

To state the obvious, the sea was angry that day, my friend. I immediately thought of a TNT teammate and was concerned that the chop would dissuade her from completing the swim (she had a rough practice swim the day before). I prayed for strength for her and, given the size of the swells near the first yellow buoy for strength for me as well!

While my mind was on that, I realized that I was actually doing what I was supposed to: staying tall in the water, extending my reach while twisting/rolling, grabbing, catching, slapping my thigh, bending my elbow on recovery, and then repeating it over again (and again).

Shoot, to the surprise of the people who saw me on the dance floor later than night, I actually found some rhythm in catching a swell, taking a breath + a peek while cresting and then swimming downhill to crest another.

Surprisingly, I was relaxed and actually enjoyed the swim. While thanking each volunteer along the way and checking on + talking to a few people who were having difficulties, I spent most of the time between the two yellow turn buoys thanking my awesome TNT swim coach for preparing me for a swim like this.

Next thing I knew, I was at the stairs where a volunteer grabbed me and pulled me in. While climbing the stairs, I looked back and saw that I had actually passed a good number of the people in my swim wave ... that was something completely new to me.

At the top of the stairs, I saw my best friend, Stephanie, anxiously waiting for me. Steph had been so supportive during all of the training, taking care of the kids on Saturday morning while we did our GTS’, cooking dinner early on Mondays so I could get to swim practice and listening to endless stories about training when she really wanted to talk about anything else. It was seeing her then that I knew I was going to have a good race.

What would you do differently?:

This was the best swim of life ... despite seeding myself to the back of the group and talking to folks along the way, I still swam a 1:48/100 yds - which is definitely a personal best (ever).

Transition 1

04m 30s

Comments:

I ended up taking my time in transition ... for no reason at all. My transition was laid out perfectly, had no problem removing the wetsuit, gear was on and good. Just did not seem to be in a hurry as I basked in the glow of finally slaying the swim demons that had haunted me for the last 5 months.

What would you do differently?:

Either pack a picnic or give myself a kick in the butt. This is a race! Move it!

Bike

1h 11m 44s
24.85 miles
20.79 mile/hr

Comments:

Despite the wicked headwind, the bike was a hammerfest for me - averaged 20.58 mph thanks to some advice I commonly hear here: “The best thing to make you faster on the bike is more time in the saddle.” I finished the bike in 1:11:44, even though I had to to turn around to reclaim an errant water bottle that flew out of it’s holder as the USAT motorcycle was puttering by me. (Doh!)

What would you do differently?:

Not sure that I would do much different. This was my first foray into the 20+ mph-land, so I am pretty happy with the results.

I probably could have stood to eat something solid other than the two Accel gels + 2 bottles of Accelerade.

Transition 2

02m 19s

Comments:

No reason for the slack time in T2 other than I need to move it!

What would you do differently?:

Move it, move it.

Run

48m 48s
6.21 miles
07m 52s min/mile

What would you do differently?:

Pick up the pace. I was talking and joking throughout the run while encouraging on my teammates and other TNT'ers.

That said, I did not have a lot in the tank when I sought to pick up the pace at mile 5. The more I edged my pace up, the more my HR data went through the roof!

Perhaps I need more interval training?

Post race

Warm down:

Grabbed my ice towel and checked into the TNT tent ... then went to the course to find my family so that we could cheer the rest of the team on.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Should have done more interval training in each discipline. It is still early yet in the season. This was a great way to begin the season.

Last updated: 2006-05-02 12:00 AM

Swimming
00:29:24 \| 1640 yards \| 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group:	179/356
Overall:	735/
Performance:	Good
Suit:	Orca sleeveless
Course:	Rectangular with the first leg following the pier on the right, and then counter-clockwise along the bay and an obtuse angle towards the seawall.
Start type:	Run	Plus:	Waves
Water temp:	74F / 23C	Current:	High
200M Perf.	Good	Remainder:	Good
Breathing:	Good	Drafting:	Below average
Waves:	Good	Navigation:	Good
Rounding:	Good

T1
Time:	04:30
Performance:	Below average
Cap removal:	Good	Helmet on/ Suit off:	No
Wetsuit stuck?	No	Run with bike:	No
Jump on bike:	No
Getting up to speed:	Average

Biking
01:11:44 \| 24.85 miles \| 20.79 mile/hr
Age Group:	123/356
Overall:	0/
Performance:
Wind:	Strong with gusts
Course:	Course kind of left much to be desired. Biking through the less desirable parts of town with umpteen million turns + turn-arounds over broken pavement and, my favorite, speed humps along a public golf course just doesn't seem like a great ride. I would not have chosen this route for a training ride much less alone a race. But everyone else had to deal with the same, so no biggie.
Road:	Rough Dry	Cadence:	90
Turns:	Below average	Cornering:	Below average
Gear changes:	Good	Hills:
Race pace:	Hard	Drinks:	Too much

T2
Time:	02:19
Overall:	Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike		Average
Racking bike		Good
Shoe and helmet removal		Good

Running
00:48:48 \| 06.21 miles \| 07m 52s min/mile
Age Group:	123/356
Overall:	0/
Performance:	Good
Course:	Out and back through the swank neighborhoods. If the bike ride was through the less fortunate areas, the run was all about where the beautiful people live.
Keeping cool	Average	Drinking	Just right

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Good
Mental exertion [1-5]	4
Physical exertion [1-5]	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:	Average
Race evaluation [1-5]	5

{postbutton}

brian

2006-05-02 11:28 PM

Pro

3705

Vestavia Hills

Subject: St. Anthony's Triathlon

I did this race with TNT - an absolutely awesome experience. Got to see Janelle (Runnergirl), Jim (Run4yrlf), Marti (Smarti), and Hollis (Possum) - who was just awesome (great sense of humor on race day morning at 4:45 am in the lobby!).

The February run challenge and March bike challenges also paid huge dividends for me in the race. BT is an awesome resource. I am just sorry that I did not get to meet more BT'ers down there ... but the race is just that big with that many people.

Looking forward to buying Karl (Motivated), the dean of the GA delegation, a beer and meeting some of our other Georgia peeps at one of the Tri-the-Parks races over the summer.

Edited by huengsolo 2006-05-02 11:36 PM

St. Anthony's Triathlon

St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

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