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HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic


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Marble Falls, Texas
United States
HITS Triathlon Series
75F / 24C
Overcast
Total Time = 3h 02m 49s
Overall Rank = 62/185
Age Group = F 30
Age Group Rank = 1/4
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:30, drank a cup of coffee and some Gatorade, ate a Luna bar. Suited up and walked the .2/mile down to transition around 6:15 (so glad we decided to stay at the hotel on the lake!). Got everything set up, hit the portapotty twice, ate a Honey Stinger waffle, watched the sprint race go off, and then it was time to get the wetsuit on and get ready for our race.
Event warmup:

None. Knew it was going to be warm, hilly, and windy, so I saved my energy for the race.
Swim
  • 31m 25s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

Water was so warm! Felt awesome. Almost too warm in a sleeveless wetsuit. All the olympic distance women went off at once. Positioned myself towards the front and got off to a strong start. Was able to settle into a more comfortable rhythm after the first turn buoy. Never did manage to find any feet worth drafting, so I just concentrated on swimming strong but controlled. Caught up with the slower men (who had started 3 minutes before us), which was rather annoying particularly at the turn buoys (bottlenecks). Nonetheless, the race was small enough that it didn't feel very crowded the whole time. Picked up the pace after I rounded the final turn on the second lap and cruised on into shore. Actually out of the water in 30:57.
What would you do differently?:

More swimming in training would probably have helped with speed, but this went very well for what little training I had put in.
Transition 1
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

Took a little extra time to wipe my feet off and then realized I hadn't reset my bike computer (duh). Wasted a few seconds doing that. Otherwise this went fairly well. Fastest T1 in my age group.
What would you do differently?:

Move a little faster and not bother resetting the bike computer (barely looked at it during the ride anyway haha).
Bike
  • 1h 32m 8s
  • 24.8 miles
  • 16.15 mile/hr
Comments:

Ah, the bike course. Pretty sure I used every single gear on the bike. I knew from looking at the course elevation profile that it would be hilly, but it exceeded expectations in that department. Going out felt more uphill than down, but there were some really awesome fast downhills. Stiff crosswinds threatened to blow me sideways a few times. Passed a number of people, and was passed by several (mostly men - only a few women passed me the whole ride). Then we turned around. Hello, wind! I had no idea I had as much tailwind going out as I did, but as soon as I turned around I realized the force of the headwind (18-20mph) that I would have the joy of riding into most of the way back. That and many climbs made the second half feel really slow at times. Unlike previous races, though, I made the decision to ride as hard as I could manage - not a maximal effort, but definitely more than my usual comfortable training pace. I knew I risked not having enough juice left in my legs for the run, but I wanted off the bike asap and was curious to see what would happen if I pushed myself harder than I thought I should. Ate half a pack of HoneyStinger chews at around 4 miles and the rest around mile 20. Drank water throughout when I felt thirsty (managed to nearly finish the whole 24 oz bottle by the end of the ride).
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Based on the hills and wind (and often rough road surface), this was as good as it was going to get for me today.
Transition 2
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

Quickly racked my bike, took my helmet off, swigged some water from the bottle I had stashed at my transition spot, switched shoes, then grabbed my visor, race number belt, and a Hammer gel and took off.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Fastest T2 in my age group.
Run
  • 55m 30s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 56s  min/mile
Comments:

Woo boy. Warm, hilly, and windy. Legs were rather dead for the first mile or so, predictably. Just kept pushing at a moderate pace to let them loosen up. Ate the Hammer gel just before the first water stop at mile 1.5. Drank water at each of the 4 water stops. Most of the run out was uphill, so I just tried to hang on and keep my heart rate relatively low until the turnaround. Saw a lot of people really suffering out there, but I felt relatively okay. After the turnaround I started to pick it up a little. At mile 4 I turned up the pace a little more, and kept it comfortably hard until mile 5, when I ramped it up some more. Looked at my watch for the first time all race (since getting out of the water) and realized sub 3:00 was probably just barely out of reach, but that was ok. Decided to run as strong as possible to try my best. Last mile was rough - had a few small uphills and the sun was out for most of it. Kept reminding myself it was almost over and pushed. Rounded the second to last corner and passed a lady, then passed another guy in the final chute.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Not that long ago, 55:30 would've been a good day for me in an open 10K on a flat course. To run that at the end of a hot and hilly oly tri is awesome.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, drank a bottle of water and a small cup of chocolate Recoverite (to try it), ate half a banana. Cheered on some of the remaining finishers, particularly my 2 classmates (one doing only her second tri ever, the other doing her first ever).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Hills, wind, warm temperatures, lack of structured bike and swim training.

Event comments:

Very good for a first-time event and new tri series. Beautiful, challenging course.




Last updated: 2012-04-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:25 | 1640 yards | 01m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/4
Overall: 62/185
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex3 sleeveless
Course: 2 laps around a triangle
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:18
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:32:08 | 24.8 miles | 16.15 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/4
Overall: 96/185
Performance: Average
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Out and back, mostly on a country road past lots of ranchland
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:27
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:55:30 | 06.21 miles | 08m 56s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/4
Overall: 50/185
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back on the same course as the bike
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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] 4

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2012-04-29 7:05 PM

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Extreme Veteran
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Columbia, South Carolina
Subject: HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course


2012-04-30 10:06 AM
in reply to: #4179871

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Veteran
291
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Chicago
Subject: RE: HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course
Congrats again lady! You killed your goal to beat the Boulder Peak time! Seems like you made great decisions during the entire race. Great job on the bike dealing with the hills and wind! I don't know if I'll ever do an oly, but a RR like that makes me want to give it a shot!
2012-04-30 10:31 AM
in reply to: #4179871

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Master
6595
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Rio Rancho, NM
Subject: RE: HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course

Thanks for the report and nice job on your race!

Looks like HITS is getting the bugs worked out of their events.

2012-04-30 10:36 AM
in reply to: #4179871

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Master
1883
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San Antone, Texas
Subject: RE: HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course
Congrats!  Good job on a challenging course and day!
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