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Playtri Festival - International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Irving, Texas
United States
Playtri
Sunny
Total Time = 7h 08m
Overall Rank = 223/276
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 30/30
Pre-race routine:

Wake up! Normal routine of Bathroom, then go get a bucket of ice. Drink as much ice water as I can, then fill the camel backs. Transition opened at 5am, so we walked the bikes down to get our spots on the rack and get body marked. I got spot 1 of my rack, and Leah got spot 3 or so on her rack. We headed back up to the room for to relax for a bit longer, grab out transition bags and to not have to use the porta potties. Its nice staying at the host hotel for these reasons. I showered, applied sunscreen, body glide, and DZ-Nuts (Amazing for longer rides.) Put on the trusty tyr tri-suit and headed down to transition again.

Once down there the racks had started to fill up and the sun was just starting to rise. I got inline to get my timing chip and had a kid no more than 15 behind me looking very nervous he was doing the my first tri distance and couldn't figure out how to put the chip on the strap, so I showed him and did my best to help calm him down. I ended up standing there for a few minutes showing people how to put the timing chip on the strap. Its amazing how many of the my first tri people I guess didn't look at the instructions in their packets (Oh right there were almost no instructions in this packet.)
Event warmup:

We put on our running shoes and got about a half a mile warm up run in, I was feeling good and loose, and slightly caffeinated, thankfully I had got my regular pre-race beverage of choice this time, and was able to eat my sun butter bar before leaving the room. After the run I took a quick stop at the porta potties since there wasn't much of a line, then we went down to where the ITU swim start had been the day before. Once there we were informed by the guy with the loud speaker that that wasn't the swim start for this race and we all had to crush back to the exit of transition to the steps. No biggie, I was in wave 2 of the day, so I got to hang back and watch the pros start before wading in. I gave Leah a hug and a kiss and wished her a speedy race then got in line with my wave.
Swim
  • 36m 46s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 14s / 100 yards
Comments:

At Rookie this year I decided to get in the thick of it for the swim, and I figured I would go for Middle of Back of Pack this time. So I inched up so there were about 10 or so guys behind me and about 70 or so ahead of me. As they started to count it down people in front started to back up, so I ended up way more Middle of Pack than I wanted to but that's OK. I am going to learn to love the washing machine / melee at some point. I think I started decently, I tried to not get run over and didn't give any extra arm room to people that were trying to claw at me, but I did find myself drifting to the "wall" on the left hand side. I ended up smacking my hand into the NO Diving and No Swimming sign that was coming up out of the water about 100m in, but thats nothing compared to the guy that hit is head on it that was a few second behind me, I felt bad for him.

Back to my swim, I was feeling decent rounding the first marker, my sighting has been a bit off this year, I really need to practice it, I had drifted out a bit then had to fight to get back to the group. Once there there was the normal melee of going around the marker, with some people punching and clawing, and others freaking out. I just took a wide round of it but I did hear one guy apologize to another guy for something. I thought that was nice of them.

Hit the second marker and it was a inside to the left so super easy, but at this point the wave of guys behind me had caught up, one of them grabbed onto my ankle the way you would expect the creature from the black lagoon to, and he pulled on me as hard as he could (at least if felt that way) to get ahead. It irritated me and it felt like he had cut my ankle somehow, but I tried to let the feeling pass and focus on long arms, early vertical form and kicking slowly. By the time I got myself back into my swim and out of wanting to check to see if my leg was bleeding, I had a kayak yelling at me to move over, I had drifted into the other swim lane. Ha, that's OK, I was maybe 200m out from the u-turn portion and I wasn't close to running into anyone, so thanks kayak guy, it would have been bad if anyone was around.

With the last long leg of the swim, I was starting to be passed by the women's and relay wave, I am not a fast swimmer and don't pretend to be. I came close to running into the wall at one point because I was zoning out and not paying much attention. But I felt like I was going fast so I guess it worked. Once I could easily see the stairs out I decided to pick it up, since there were a few people ahead but a bunch of people behind, and I didn't want to have to wait to get up the stairs by being in a line. So I tried to time it so I hit the stairs right as the person in front had hit the top of the stairs. Great execution on my part. A volunteer helped me up and guided me to the not quite as slippery spot, again thank you. Then into T1.
What would you do differently?:

I just needed some more OWS practice.
Transition 1
  • 02m 29s
Comments:

My bike was very near bike out and a little to the side, but I was a little bit disoriented coming out the the water and going up the hill. There were lots of volunteers shouting at me to watch out for slippery areas, so that was nice, but added to the distraction. Once I found my bike, I did what I practice, well sort of. I messed up setting up my transition, I had everything laid out exactly how I wanted it, but instead of putting the camel back off to the side of my helmet (Everything else is in my helmet) I put it on top. So when I picked up my camel back, my helmet tipped. My glasses, gloves and shades fell out all over my area. No biggie I start to recover, Sock, Shoe, Sock, Shoe, gloves, glasses, helmet, then I notice my Garmin isn't there. I spend a few seconds looking , then realize like a dummy I tossed it in my transition bag after the warm up run. Grabbed it, put it on, camel back on then out to the road I went.
What would you do differently?:

Not throw my garmin my my bag, and not put my camel-back on top of all my stuff.
Bike
  • 1h 12m 11s
  • 22 miles
  • 18.28 mile/hr
Comments:

What a great bike course this is! Not quite as flat as I thought it would be from the drive, the bridges did have a little uphill to them, then right about mile 3 there was a nice little grade of about 2%. It was a 3 loop course that was well laid out, and had lots of police and volunteers around. On lap 1, I took it as quick as I felt comfortable, since I knew I had 2 more laps, I wanted to get used to the course more than I wanted to pound out the first lap and mess up the rest. I finished loop 1 at right about 24 minutes. Oh, something new I had done earlier in the week was to set up an alarm on my garmin that went off every 10 minutes to remind me to eat. This worked GREAT! I don't often forget to hydrate, but on the bike I can forget about nutrition easily, so this helped out a lot.
Lap 2 was more of the same but I tried to pick it up a little bit, I did it in about 23 minutes, so edging a little time on. It was great that at each turn around I got to cheer on Leah. I was doing the best I could to try to make sure that she didn't catch up to me. By the last lap, the my first tri people started to pour onto the course, and it got crowded. Some of them were riding cruisers, and mountain bikes, and I have no problem with that, but some of them were riding together as a group, 4 across or more blocking most of the road. That part was annoying. At that little hill at mile 3 for the 3rd time I had a lady on a equivalent bike to mine catch up then ask if she could draft behind me for a few. I said sure, then put the gas on to leave her in the dust. Drafting is not allowed in this sport, people.

I rounded the last turn around and started to think about my dismount. I am OK at it but it was kinda crowded at the bike in, so I took it slow, probably slower than I needed to, but I survived and there were no injuries, so lets call it a perfect dismount.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a bit harder on the down hills, but I was really happy with this race on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 01m 37s
Comments:

Bike to rack, shoe off, shoe on, shoe off, shoe on, helmet off, camel back off, grab visor and race belt and grab my new addition to my t2, my hand held water bottle.
What would you do differently?:

I should practice this more, it wasn't my fastest t2, but I don't feel I did bad at all.
Run
  • 56m 40s
  • 5.5 miles
  • 10m 21s  min/mile
Comments:

This was going to be fun, the course was all on 1 street, a down, and up on one side then a down and up on the other side, then 1 more loop of the same. The first stretch was all down hill, the second all up, third down and fourth up. Repeat. The total elevation change was something silly like 7 feet. So as flat as you can expect in the DFW area. I think the best part of this run was being able to see Leah at almost every turn. I was about 6 minutes ahead of her on the run. But lets do the real run recap here.
Right as I get to the "start" of the run out of transition, I am fighting with my hand held. Somehow I loosened the strap on it, so it doesn't want to stay tight, but its not so loose that it will go flying. I am running at about 10:15s at this point, and while fiddling I slow to about 10:30s, that was my goal pace for the day BTW. Some lady behind me said "No, no, don't start walking, I need to pace you." I turned and replied that 10:30s was my goal pace and she swore then took off saying she would have to find someone else. Funny stuff I tell ya. It made me happy though, that my 10k fast 10:30's was someone else s walk pace :)

My pace stayed great, I was able to even though it was getting hot and sunny, keep up with my hydration and nutrition, 1 full bottle by mile 4 and 1 gel at mile 3. About mile 3.5 or so some older guy was pacing me on the side, he was in the 50's age bracket and I thanked him for not being in my age group. We talked for a while and it made the whole next mile fly by. Once we hit the next water stop though he said he would see me at the finish line and somehow put it into another gear, one that I did not have at that point.

I ran into the finish as strong as I could, trying to make sure I looked good for the camera. Nothing like a finish picture where you look dead, upset and or looking at your watch. I was also able to pass a few people from the shorter distances at that point on the way in.


What would you do differently?:

Not much. I think I did this exactly as planned. In a sprint I think a faster pace, but for my 10k pace I was right on it.
Post race
Warm down:

I got my medal, removed my timing chip, grabbed a water, then headed back out onto the course. I wanted to make sure Leah was doing well and run her in if she was having any issues. When I caught up to her she was looking good, and maybe a little bit tired. But I ran her in about a quarter mile then let her hit the finish on her own. We found each other then went to go pack up transition.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I performed at just the right level for my current training. I would just need a more intense and faster training to get faster here I think.

Event comments:

I am spoiled by the Jack and Adams and High Five events, but the playtri event did good. There were a few incidents, not that happened to me but that I saw happen or heard about afterwards that scares me. A few people cutting the bike short, 1 auto + bike accident, a few bike + bike issues and a wipe out. Then with the 2 loops of the run on the Olympic vs 1 on the sprint some of the people were confused, I saw at least 1 sprinter go for the second lap and no one stopped them and I heard of multiple Olympic distance people only did one lap.
Reports from people with 910xt's saying that the swim was 1375 not 1500 and the run was half a mile short. The distance issues could be due to a new course layout, but I would hope they will be fixed by next year.




Last updated: 2013-05-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:46 | 1640 yards | 02m 14s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/30
Overall: 229/276
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: It had an interesting straight to u-turn on the right, to turn on the left, to u-turn on the right to strait the left then right to the stairs.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:29
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:12:11 | 22 miles | 18.28 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/30
Overall: 205/276
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course:
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:37
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:56:40 | 05.5 miles | 10m 21s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/30
Overall: 225/276
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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