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Splash-Mash-Dash Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Highlands Ranch, Colorado
United States
Highlands Ranch Run Series
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 39m 35s
Overall Rank = 55/139
Age Group = 30-39
Age Group Rank = 29/63
Pre-race routine:

Woke up @ 6:15 am after a crap night of sleep (nerves, kids). Ate a bagel and yogurt. At the TA @ 7:30 am and set up, chatted with others, then went and got bodymarked. Since I didn't start until 9:48, I went home and just got more nervous. Ate a Clif Bar @ 8:15 am and back at the event @ 9:10 am. Decided to take a quick peek at my gear in the TA and found my helmet to be missing. Turns out the rack fell over and everyone's gear was a bit scattered.
Event warmup:

Ran for a few minutes and flailed my arms around a bit as I've seen swimmers do. Tried not to vomit. Especially in the pool.
Swim
  • 19m 58s
  • 800 yards
  • 02m 30s / 100 yards
Comments:

Mix up right before the start as there were already three people in my assigned lane so I had to jump in a different lane at the last second (which probably screwed up those two guys as I think they had worked out that they would swim sides rather than loops). Stayed right with the "fastest" swimmer in my heat. Managed to swallow not a lot of water.
What would you do differently?:

More swimming, technique, and get lessons. I swam about 6 times before the race and had got my longest swim up to 900 yards. Not good enough. I also completed these "long" swims with a stroke medley; why just swim freestyle when you can "mix it up" with eight different strokes. But today I swam about 95% of the distance freestyle and felt pretty good and relaxed. Must have been the adrenaline and race setting.
Transition 1
  • 03m 1s
Comments:

Not knowing what to expect but apparently this is not a good time. Didn't really feel like I was in there this long...
What would you do differently?:

Probably don't need to dry off as much as I did. Consider no socks.
Bike
  • 47m 19s
  • 13 miles
  • 16.48 mile/hr
Comments:

Felt pretty good on this. I passed a lot and was never passed. The wind started picking up as the morning progressed so the entire second half of the course was into a headwind. Think I took in too much hydration/nutrition though and was uncomfortable towards the end.
What would you do differently?:

More miles. Again, my lack of experience showed. I'd done about six rides total before the race and my longest ride was 12 miles. But I enjoy riding and don't think it will be hard for me to get into longer rides and more hill work. I'll get bike shoes and pedals soon, think about an aerobar, and hopefully these things will help me out as well.
Transition 2
  • 01m 4s
Comments:

Just had to drop my bike, helmet, and gloves and throw on a hat as I was already wearing my running shoes.
What would you do differently?:

Adding bike shoes will surely change this a bit so I'll have to work on this.
Run
  • 28m 16s
  • 3.54 miles
  • 07m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

Finally, something I know how to do. My legs actually felt fine coming off the bike though my stomach felt like it had a brick in it. I clipped along at 8 minute miles, picking off lots of other runners (and walkers). At about 2.5 miles though I got a killer side stitch and couldn't shake it. The hill at 3 miles was tough but I've run all of those trails a lot so I knew it was coming. I also do lots of hill work (can't really avoid it around here) and am confident in my running. The course was obviously long as it took me 12 minutes to run the last "1.1 miles" and I had picked up the pace at the end.
What would you do differently?:

Just more bricks. I have a lot more room for improvement in the swim and especially in the bike and T1.
Post race
Warm down:

Walk, stretch, lay flat on my back. This thing wiped me out but I LOVED it! I think I ended up racing with a fever as I felt hot and now my kids are sick...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience and training. I've always wanted to get into triathlons and as I'm getting older, the running is catching up with my knees, etc. Swimming and biking are low impact and feel great. For about 4 weeks of training, I'm pretty happy.

Event comments:

It's a first time event so all in all, it was well done. The distance errors affected everyone so that wasn't a big deal but it did screw up times (I also didn't need to go any farther that I needed to on my first triathlon). Post race nutrition/beverages were lacking. There was only water to drink and nachos and cheese from Qdoba. No gatorade, bananas, bagels, etc. Plus, I really like seeing a table full of beer at the finish (this is the best thing that has happened to running races).

Will definitely do it again next year and plan on doing at least three per summer. Now I just have to figure out this open water swim thing...




Last updated: 2006-08-14 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:58 | 800 yards | 02m 30s / 100yards
Age Group: 50/63
Overall: 109/139
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: 17 lengths indoors, then run 100 yards to the outdoor pool and complete the remaining 15 lengths.
Start type: Inside Pool Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:01
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:47:19 | 13 miles | 16.48 mile/hr
Age Group: 35/63
Overall: 81/139
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Late change to a 6 mile loop x2. Except the 6 miles was actually 6.5.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:04
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:28:16 | 03.54 miles | 07m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 14/63
Overall: 28/139
Performance: Good
Course: Combination of sidewalks and crushed gravel trails. Hilly and long. Mapmyrun.com shows this course to be 3.54 miles long.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2006-08-15 10:24 AM

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Subject: Splash-Mash-Dash Sprint Triathlon
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