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Freedom Springs Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Marianna, Florida
United States
86F / 30C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 08m 44s
Overall Rank = 47/149
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 8/15
Pre-race routine:

Lousy sleep the night before due to a late meal @ 9pm - on the road. Upset stomach and pretty bad GI pain kept me up until midnight, then woke me up at 2:30 am. I only got a lousy 4 hours sleep, then woke up late. Had a protein shake and hit the road. Barely made it to the venue in time. Drank some Perpetuem before I went to set up in the transition area.
Event warmup:

No real time.
Swim
  • 08m 15s
  • 440 yards
  • 01m 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

I had no wetsuit. I took some good advice from BT'ers and got in about 10 min early to adjust. It's a good thing I did too, as the water temp literally took my breath away the first 4 times I tried to swim. I finally got fairly well adjusted in time for the start. I was more agressive this time and took a good line and just duked it out when necessary. Instead of falling back I swam into a good spot and held it. My breathing was way off at first again, breathing every stroke. It took a good while to get into my stroke, which is naturally fairly slow and long, but gives me good speed in the pool. My main goal for this race was to swim better than my first race, closer to my acutal training times, and I succeeded. Normal pool time is ~1:45/100, first race was ~2:15/100.

No chip system, so no idea of rankings per age group or segment.
What would you do differently?:

Just need more practice OW racing. Its the crowd, not the OW that throws me off. Also, despite the cold I would swim sans wetsuit again. The swim was short, and I think messing with the wetsuit would slow me down more than it would help. Don't know for sure, as I haven't swam in one yet.
Transition 1
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

Time is a guess, as I didn't hit my lap button until starting on bike. Went well, except for how far from the swim venue it was, and having to run barefoot across some gravel.
What would you do differently?:

Zip
Bike
  • 28m 47s
  • 10 miles
  • 20.85 mile/hr
Comments:

I didn't get into my shoes until the top of the first hill. I did pretty well on the bike, being passed by less than 10 people, but passed fewer than in my last race. I had trouble with one turn, didn't slow enough, but did better afterwards. I finished strong.

One cool thing is that I was less than 4 min behind the leaders at the turnaround. At least I didn't start the run as the winner was finishing.

Begin RANT. This was a non-drafting race, but two of the guys who passed me on my low end Trek obviously didn't care. About 2/3 from the end these two guys on nice, and I do mean nice, tri-bikes pulled around me, drafting each other the whole way. I mean, if you've got a nice bike, fine. If you're faster than me, fine. If you have to cheat to get ahead because you can't accept your own abilities and training - STAY HOME! End RANT.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe not push so hard on the bike, to save some for the run. It's hard though, because I love to ride fast, and I'm actually fairly competitive on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 01m
Comments:

Time is guesstimate. No official dismount line, and lousy running surface kept me in my shoes right until the transition area.
What would you do differently?:

Zip for this race and these conditions.
Run
  • 27m 46s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 08m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

Argghh! Hills. (Notice the recurrent theme - I live in flatland.) Used too much on the bike, then came out of transition and immediately started up a hill. By the time I got to the top I had passed 2 people. Of course my HR was at 163, and never went below 157. Still got passed by a fair number of folks, though not as many as at Mistletoe. My two favorites were the guy early on, who zipped by, looking fresh and smooth as silk (later found out he was part of a relay team), and a young lady/girl with pink hair (reminded me of a picture of my wife from her teen years.) I'm still pretty slow at the run, though training times have been better.
What would you do differently?:

Just need to keep on plugging away to build a big endurance base. Either that, or save some reserve on the bike --- Naah! Going fast on the bike is way too much fun to slow down.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a bit, drank some water. Hugged my wife and kids. Tried some watermelon, but it was too grainy to enjoy. Chatted with a couple of folks. Thought about staying around for the awards, but the kids were tired from getting up early, and hadn't brought swimsuits to stay and play in the park. So grabbed the kids, a PBJ, all organic and homemade, from my wife, and headed home. Forgot to stretch, and my legs protested the last half hour in the truck.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Still need to build my base. It's only in the last two weeks that I've gotten up to running 3 times a week. Other major problem was upset stomach and resultant lack of sleep the night before. I will be much more aware of pre-race nutrition from now on.

Event comments:

Overall a beautiful venue and a fun race. I will probably do this race again next year if I'm not on call. It's close and convienient. The downsides were the lack of timing chips and the rough roads for the bike segment. It wasn't quite as well organized as the Tri The Parks races, but sufficient for what it was.




Last updated: 2006-07-01 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:15 | 440 yards | 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/149
Performance: Good
Avg HR 142
Suit: Tri-shorts
Course: Out and back in a beautiful, crystal clear lake fed by springs. Unfortunately it was VERY cold.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 69F / 21C Current:
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:30
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:28:47 | 10 miles | 20.85 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/149
Performance: Good
Avg HR 161 - right at LT
Wind: None
Course: Out and back. Started out near the bottom of a dip, and right up a moderate hill. Flattened out from there. Roads were pretty rough, but course directors had highlighted the major potholes with paint. Still hit some bad spots, one so rough it knocked my bike computer out of functioning.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence: 95
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:27:46 | 03.1 miles | 08m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/149
Performance: Below average
Avg HR 163; Max HR 166
Course: Out and back first and last 1/4 mile on paved hill, the remainder on a dirt road with 2 slightly smaller, but longer hills.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized?
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2006-07-05 8:28 AM

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Veteran
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Dothan, Alabama
Subject: Freedom Springs Triathlon


2006-07-05 8:34 AM
in reply to: #473915

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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: RE: Freedom Springs Triathlon

Where you wearing your BT teeshirt prior to the race? We saw one in the crowd but never went over and said anything. :-( Maybe we will run into each other again down the road. Wife and I weren't racing but were there to support our oldest daughter in the kids race. Sounds like you had a good time!

Michael

2006-07-05 8:42 AM
in reply to: #473915

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Master
1845
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Athens, Ga.
Subject: RE: Freedom Springs Triathlon
Excellent job, Darrell! Smoking on the bike. Oh, and at your next tri (Cordele), the water's about bath temperature. Talk about extremes!
2006-07-06 2:37 PM
in reply to: #473915

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Regular
88
252525
Newton, MA
Subject: RE: Freedom Springs Triathlon
Way to go on the race!  Looks like you accomplished your swim goal (<2m/100) despite the water temp.  And you kicked some butt on the bike.  I agree with you, don't try to save up for the run.  My fav was the hill you described coming out of T2 - they must have designed it just for the flatlanders.    Thanks for the report.
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