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Naylor's Beach Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Tappahannock, Virginia
United States
Richmond Multisports
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 21m 47s
Overall Rank = 239/266
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 17/18
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 5:45 after a decent night's sleep in a hotel (surprise!). Took a shower, got into my trisuit, ate a Luna bar while packing up. Made it to the race site. Borrowed a tire pump (forgot again) from another racer. Set up my transition area. I was running back from body marking when I ran into Sue (PTinVA). Chatted a bit - we were both nervous before our first Oly.
Event warmup:

Got into the river and swam halfway to a buoy and back. The water temperature was nice. Chilly at first, but I warmed up pretty quickly. I also got a chance to find out how the current was. It wasn't too bad where I was swimming, but I think that's because I wasn't far enough out.
Swim
  • 55m 10s
  • 1500 meters
  • 03m 41s / 100 meters
Comments:

The was probably the most difficult swim I've done. It felt like it was going on forever. I started out okay as far as breathing and sighting. At that point I was still with the pack. I was having a little trouble with all of the waves. I caught several in the face and drank a ton of the river water. Yuck. When I finally got to the first turn, I got a bit caught on the buoy itself. Then, we turned into the waves and chop in the river. Technically, we were with the current, but I don't think that helped with all of the wind on the river. I kept swimming, but noticed that my chest was starting to hurt. I was concerned that I was starting to have an asthma attack, so I did breast stroke for awhile. I don't think I made any progress then (I might have actually gone backwards then), but I did get my breathing more under control. I wasn't really sure that I was going to be able to finish the whole triathlon. I decided then that if I didn't finish the tri, at least I was going to finish the swim. I put my head down more and went a lot harder, which finally helped me make progress. As I rounded the last turn buoy, I got caught again. There weren't many swimmers left around me. As I got closer to shore, I noticed that there was a man standing in the water not too far in front of me. So, I tried touching and realized that I could. I started walking and saw Sue next to me. We started talking and walking in back to shore. It was actually faster to walk than to swim. I tried swimming a little bit more, but realized that Sue was going faster than me, so I kept walking. Sue helped me keep going and I felt like I might actually be able to finish this. We finally made it to shore and I jogged slowly up the hill.
What would you do differently?:

I'm not really sure what I could have done better. The conditions just weren't very good for the swim. I should do more OWS practices, but I'm not sure how much that would have helped in this situation. I know that my asthma hasn't been really in control lately, so I probably should have taken my albuterol inhaler before the race.
Transition 1
  • 03m 17s
Comments:

I tried jogging a bit in T1 as it was a ways back to the transition area. They had a fire hose set up to run through, which felt really good. I got back to transition and I was feeling really disorganized like I didn't know where to start with everything. I finally settled on sitting on the ground to put my socks and shoes on (which didn't really go very well). Then, put on my watch (for the bike computer functions), gloves, and helmet and then finally headed out of transition. It felt like it took forever. Seeing my time makes me realize it did.
What would you do differently?:

I just don't think my head was in the right place. I don't usually have a problem with it, so I think it was due to the challenge in the swim. I was a little disoriented and dizzy from clogged ears due to a sinus infection.
Bike
  • 1h 53m 30s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 13.14 mile/hr
Comments:

As I was heading out of transition, I saw my husband in a volunteer shirt directing traffic. I was a bit confused because he wasn't planning on volunteering at first. I figured he got recruited sometime while I was swimming because they were a little short. I headed out on the bike course and realized how much I had been kicking during the swim to fight the current. I tried to keep my cadence up hoping that it would help my legs feel a little better. I had 4 or 5 Clif Shot Blocks spaced throughout the ride. I realized fairly early on that my bike computer wasn't getting a signal. That was frustrating because I was counting on that to tell me the distances. I guess that will teach me to depend on my gadgets. We'd been warned during the pre-race briefing that there were two tough hills in the first half of the course and to be in a low gear early because there had been many wipeouts in the previous year. I made it up the first hill in the lowest gear and my legs were so painful. I've never had them hurt that much and I was almost in tears. They seemed to recover a bit after that and I made it to the next hill. The next hill was a climb, a plateau, and then another climb. I made it up the first climb and saw Sue and another rider walking up the second one. I decided at that point, it was probably best to walk because I wasn't sure that I could ride up it. I finally made it up the hill and started riding again. Halfway through the course, they were handing out cold bottles of Gatorade Endurance. I was a little nervous because I've never done a hand-off while riding, but it went just fine. I kept riding and it honestly felt like it was going on forever. I was pretty tired and starting to doubt that I could make it through the run. I walked up the third tough hill, too, because I knew I couldn't do it. It was a tough course.
What would you do differently?:

Check out the course ahead of time. It would have helped to know where the hills were and what the course was like.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Don't know my T2 time (it's combined with the bike time) because the equipment at the race malfunctioned.

At this point, I realized I put my socks on upside down during T1, so I tried to fix that as much as I could.
Run
  • 1h 29m 51s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 14m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

After that swim and bike, I didn't have much hope for the run. I decided my plan was to run at least ten minutes and then walk two. I did that for the first two miles. Saw my husband at the second (and fourth) water stop. It was nice to see him. After the third mile, I walked for awhile. My achilles tendon was starting to hurt and there wasn't really a place to stop and stretch it in the way that I'm used to. I finally made it back to the water stop and had my husband throw water on me. It felt so good. I was starting to overheat and I was a bit worried about having heatstroke. I ran as much as I could, but I was walking quite a bit. I finally could hear the announcer for the end of the course, but there was about a mile turn-off loop that had to be done before I was finished. I kept going as much as I could. It was tough but all of the athletes and volunteers were encouraging. I finally made it near the finish line and ran as much as I could. The announcer actually said "She's coming in and she's actually smiling." I was trying. I was so happy to finish!!

What would you do differently?:

More bricks. Not overheat.
Post race
Warm down:

I saw Sue waiting for me at the finish line. It was nice to see someone there (I knew my husband would still be volunteering). I finally got to go to the bathroom. I had to go so bad while I was running. Talked to Sue and her husband while waiting for mine. When my husband got there, we ate lunch and then I changed and headed home. Stopped for ice cream on the way home and it was so good.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I'm not sure it was lack of training, although I slacked on that a bit in August. I just wasn't prepared for how challenging this course would be. It was a challenge and I wasn't really prepared mentally or physically for that. Hopefully it will be easier next year. :)

Event comments:

The volunteers for this were great. They were really encouraging and helpful. Race was organized well. Started a bit late, but that was because the buoys were drifitng from the wind. They did a good job of marking the bike and run courses as well as having volunteers and police officers at the intersections. There were several paramedics on the courses, too.




Last updated: 2006-02-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:55:10 | 1500 meters | 03m 41s / 100meters
Age Group: 18/18
Overall: 0/266
Performance: Below average
Suit: Javelin TriSuit (One-Piece)
Course: Trapezoid-shaped course (one side was the shore). Against the current until the first buoy, turn to be with the current and against the chop, then another turn into shore.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: High
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Below average Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:17
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:53:30 | 24.85 miles | 13.14 mile/hr
Age Group: 17/18
Overall: 0/266
Performance: Average
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Hilly course. Lots of rolling hills and three fairly challenging climbs. Pretty much all country roads, so they were narrow and not in the greatest of conditions. There wasn't much traffic though.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:29:51 | 06.21 miles | 14m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/18
Overall: 0/266
Performance: Average
Course: Fairly flat along the country roads, so that we were biking on.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2006-08-31 2:03 PM

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Science Nerd
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Redwood City, California
Subject: Naylor's Beach Triathlon


2006-08-31 7:09 PM
in reply to: #528027

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Master
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Virginia Beach, VA
Subject: RE: Naylor's Beach Triathlon
Great job Jen!!! We picked a great course for our first Oly. Next year it will be a piece of cake. Rock and Roll this weekend will be a blast!
2006-08-31 7:49 PM
in reply to: #528027

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Champion
19812
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MA
Subject: RE: Naylor's Beach Triathlon

Wow...great way to finish a difficult first Oly after having doubts about it on the swim. Wow tough swim...but you nailed it!

You kept going and were smart about pacing yourself.....you learned a lot and come on you did an Olympic distance triathlon...and a hard one at that.

Your first sounds much like mine...but I think I walked up 5 hills...and mostly walked the run...very little walking. Good news is that it gets better..you have the hard one behind you..plus I found it was quite motivating to keep training during the winter as I wanted to do better the next year and guess what I did! May it be a source of motivation for you...I felt redeemped when I did the next year improving by an hour.

Congrats!

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