General Discussion Race Reports! » Gary Kirby Triathlon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Gary Kirby Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Raleigh, North Carolina
United States
FS Series
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 19m 46s
Overall Rank = 83/154
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 10/13
Pre-race routine:

Ate a bagel with peanut butter at 6:15 and drank 20oz of water. Grabbed my gear and road to the start from my house.
Event warmup:

Simple 10 minute bike ride at a slow pace and a 50 meter swim to warm up is all I did.
Swim
  • 06m 30s
  • 300 meters
  • 02m 10s / 100 meters
Comments:

I was most nervous about my swimming skills. I had felt great up until I started swimming in the 25 meter length pool (as compared to the 25 yard pool I had been training in until 2 weeks ago). I reminded myself to just keep a nice steady pace, which I did well… until… OUCH! Yes… I am the one that gets injured during a swim event. During one of my strokes, my right hand struck the lane divider, which stubbed my fingers pretty hard. That moment changed my swim. I suddenly couldn’t breathe, I was all out of whack with my form, and I was a wreck of a swimmer who just wanted out of the water. I struggled through the last 100 meters and climbed out of the pool, exhausted.
What would you do differently?:

Don't hurt my hand! ugh.
Transition 1
  • 01m 37s
Comments:

My transition from swim to bike went okay. Not great, but okay. I was a bit wobbly running between the pool and the bikes, but I found my bike easily. I, as quickly as possible, through on some socks, slid on my cycling shoes, put on my glasses and helmet and then hustled to the ‘bike out’ end of the transition area. After mounting my bike at the correct spot, I took off. It was great to see my good friend and his two boys there at the transition area cheering for me. That was a nice surprise.
What would you do differently?:

Not be upset about my swim performance!
Bike
  • 38m 53s
  • 12 miles
  • 18.52 mile/hr
Comments:

I was most confident leading into the race with my bike. I felt that my training in this discipline has shown the greatest improvements and I find that I am enjoying my time in the saddle more than I expected. I had high hopes for my bike leg. I was hoping to be able to average above 17mph, closer to 18 throughout the full 12 miles. Just a couple of months ago, I was doing this same loop at only 14.5 miles per hour, and now I was hoping for something close to 17.5mph. With that 17.5mph goal in my head, I pushed it hard on the bike. I was having fun. I passed a few, was passed by a few, but I was having fun. My favorite part on the bike was when I passed a guy with the classic M-Dot Ironman tattoo on his calf… based on that tattoo I know he completed the full distance Ironman… and here I was passing him on an uphill section on a short sprint triathlon. I felt good about that. One of the great things on the bike was seeing my family cheering me on during each lap. They were great. They were out there taking pictures, shaking maracas and cheering loudly. I loved seeing them and it gave me that extra boost each time by. After doing my four laps on the bike, I made my way back to the transition area to get ready for the run. I did forget to drink some water during this last section on the bike, and I think that hurt me during the first part of the run.
What would you do differently?:

Drink some water during the last mile on the bike. Other than that, not really anything. I felt great.
Transition 2
  • 00m 58s
Comments:

I stumbled a bit getting off the bike, but I don’t think that slowed me down much. I quickly found my rack again and pulled off the cycling shoes, threw on my running shoes, removed the helmet and glasses, grabbed my cap and race belt and headed out for my 5k run.
What would you do differently?:

HTFU more
Run
  • 31m 50s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 10m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

I left the transition area like a bat out of hell. I have no idea what I was doing, but I was running at a pace 2 minutes per mile faster than I run… I quickly ran out of gas and saw my heartbeat hit the 164bpm range…. I quickly pulled my pace back down to the correct level and focused on breathing and getting my heartbeat under control. By the time I came to the end of the first road, I was feeling better – plus, it was there that I saw my family again. They were even louder than before… it was a great boost. After seeing the family, I knew I was in for about 25 more minutes of effort before I could call myself a triathlete. I settled in and plodded along at my 10:30min/mile pace. I experienced a side stich about 0.5 miles into the run, which concerned me, but I focused on deep diaphragm breathing for a short period and was able to keep it at bay. I was very thirsty by the time I reached the first aid station, so I drank two quick cups of water. They were very much needed. Making my way through mile two was uneventful – but after that mile 2 aid station, it was basically uphill all the way to the finish line. I kept repeating to myself, just 10 more minutes and I am done… push it. Making my way to the final stretch was great… I heard the music, the crowd cheering and the announcer – it gave me that little bit of a boost to push as hard as I could the remaining few feet.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. I think I did well for my first ever triathlon!
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, hugged the family, ate a banana and drank some water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Being a complete newbie. I first swam a lap in a pool only 3 months ago... I bought my bike at the same time. So, I am very pleased with my performance.

Event comments:

I was greeted at the finish line by my wonderful wife and my four kids. They were all very proud of what I had done. I was now a triathlete. I grabbed a bottle of water and a banana and soaked in the atmosphere. I was proud. I was tired.

I may have had a slower than anticipated swim due to hurting my hand, but both my bike and my run were better than I expected. My speed on my bike came in at 18.5mph! I couldn’t believe it! Then my run came in at a 10:15min/mile pace. I had set a personal goal of finishing in 1 hour 25 minutes – with anything below 1 hour 30 minutes being okay. Well… I crushed that goal. My official overall time was 1:19:46. That overall time put me pretty close to the middle of the pack. I finished in 83rd place out of 154 entrants.

I am very excited that I have completed this first step in my “I am no longer lazy” plan. I have my next triathlon on my calendar – and a lot of training miles to put in between now and then. I am going to adjust my training to be a bit more run focused, while still putting in the required time on the swim and bike. I think I have the greatest opportunity to improve my results by improving my speed on the run. I was very pleased with my 10:15 pace for this race… but if I could drop that to a 9:15 pace for the Olympic in the fall, it would save me more than 6 minutes right there. So, I have a new mini-goal.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-02-22 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:06:30 | 300 meters | 02m 10s / 100meters
Age Group: 6/13
Overall: 56/154
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: This was a pool swim - snake your way to a 300 meter swim.
Start type: Inside Pool Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:37
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:38:53 | 12 miles | 18.52 mile/hr
Age Group: 10/13
Overall: 44/154
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:58
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:31:50 | 03.1 miles | 10m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 0/154
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

{postbutton}
2012-06-04 2:49 PM

User image

Regular
98
252525
Raleigh, NC
Subject: Gary Kirby Triathlon
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Gary Kirby Triathlon Rss Feed