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Lifetime Tri Tempe - Triathlon


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
Lifetime
98F / 37C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 01m 10s
Overall Rank = 327/372
Age Group = Recreational
Age Group Rank = 5/5
Pre-race routine:

Alarm set for 4:05 am; got up at 3:50 am after sleeping OK for 6 hours. Got into tri gear set out previous night including timing chip. Walked dogs for 20 minutes, made two pieces of toast and two eggs, but upset stomach didn't want all of that food so dogs got some egg and toast. Talked to Dean (who is away in Michigan) on phone and he reminded me to get the half frozen water bottles for the bike out of the freezer! Loaded bike, TYR bag, etc in car and left for Tempe Beach Park about 5:15 (meant to leave at 5 am); arrived about 5:35 and parked in ADP structure. One snag - didn't know that event now requires all items in the clear transition bag, so had to take most things out of TYR bag, then stuff TYR bag and items in clear bag, then go in. Ugh. Set up bike gear including water bottles and computer, run gear including visor, shoes, socks, and bib on race belt, and swim gear all on small towel next to bike. Pumped tires on bike, got body marked, exited transition. Ate banana and sipped water while waiting for prior waves. Use portajohns once before lining up. Had registered for recreational wave since I was coming off an injury and wouldn't be competitive anyway. Made friends with others in this small wave that also included first timers.
Event warmup:

No swim warmup allowed.
Swim
  • 49m 20s
  • 1500 meters
  • 03m 17s / 100 meters
Comments:

I was talking to an official at the swim entrance when they called our wave, but cut off the conversation right away. There were about a dozen people in my wave, and so we were all there and suddenly instead of four minutes between waves, they only gave us two. So I wasn't even at swim start (neither were a few others in the wave, when they blasted the start horn). Then my goggles were already fogging, so I went to the side and redid my goggles even though the horn had blown. Getting started, one of the first timer guys in my wave started panicking right away. The officials were there telling him to calm down, let heart rate come down, and I swam up to him and said, "hey, you're ok, you're going to be ok. Want to come swim with me? Remember me, I'm Kim, we were just talking up there before race start." It was actually awesome to see the panic leave his face, and he focused on me, and he said, "I'm going to be slow." I said, "That's OK, I'm usually the last one out of the water." He turned to the officials and said, "I'm going to swim with her." So I started swimming, looked back, and he had started swimming too. I kept swimming, and saw him once again, and then he must have passed me because the next time I saw him was at the Oly turn buoy. He did finish both the swim and the race, and he thanked me after the race. The whole thing probably only took a few minutes out of my race, and it felt good to make a difference to him. If he would have quit just a minute into the start of race, there's a chance he may not have ever raced again. Comment for me - this is the first OWS in quite a while that I didn't even have a smudge of panic myself, probably for three reasons: First, during the first few hundred meters, I was watching over the other swimmers in the group, especially the first timers. I talked to another first timer (Amanda) who was backstroking already in the first few hundred meters and cheered her on. Second, this race wasn't wetsuit legal, so I was just in my favorite sports bra and Orca tri shorts. I'm SOOOO much more comfortable, mentally, not in a wetsuit. Third, I have a new song to play in my head - Roger Miller's "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd." GREAT song for a triathlon!
What would you do differently?:

Because this race and most at Tempe Town Lake are deep water wave starts, I usually have time to get my goggles set. This time there wasn't and I had to take an extra minute to do that. But otherwise I wouldn't have done anything differently. Also, several other competitors confirmed that the course was long, including an LTF staffer. Estimates ranged from 300 to 600 meters long; Apple Watch said 1800 m and I don't go exactly along buoys, so I think it may have been only 100 meters off or so.
Transition 1
  • 05m 19s
Comments:

Okay, I'll admit that I'm not efficient during transition, and if I cared about my time more, I'd hurry and shave more off. However one thing I wouldn't change is that I doused myself again with sunscreen, and even though it was partly overcast on the bike, it was worth a couple seconds to not burn.
What would you do differently?:

No fiddling with Apple Watch (wear the Garmin 910), get a real tri suit again so I wouldn't put a shirt on (for sun blockage) over a wet body, not take a salt tablet in T1 (wait until on the bike).
Bike
  • 1h 26m 51s
  • 25.08 miles
  • 17.33 mile/hr
Comments:

I ROCKED it on the bike! Stayed in big chain ring most of the course except for Curry hill (both directions). Got in the aerobars (which I haven't even been doing in training) on smooth surfaces, in the drops during most rough patches. Kept power at 100W or above. Completed first 12.5 mile loop in 43 minutes and saw that I may be able to finish bike in under 90 minutes. Energized! Passed quite a few people, almost always gave some encouragement. During second loop, came up on a guy with a backpack on a mountain bike taking up the whole lane in the narrow part of Priest just before turning onto Rio Salado. As I was passing him in the turn, I started yelling, "Hey, dude...." and was going to tell him there was a race going on and to get off the course, and I realized the bike had a race number on it! It turned out to be Jeff from my wave! I asked how the swim went, and he said better than expected, but he hadn't seen Amanda yet. I said the last time I saw her she was backstroking. But I had to keep going to avoid any drafting penalties, so we didn't talk anymore. Saw him and Amanda afterwards in the beer tent. They both finished - on mountain bikes! Young 20-somethings doing their first tri and they jumped in to an Olympic with the gear they had. Awesome. Anyway, that second loop is fairly lonely, but I was still able to pass a few more people so at least I wasn't the last Oly off the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Okay, I may have gone a little too hard, and I knew it but I also knew the run was going to be miserable and I wanted a decent time overall. Maybe cooked the hamstring a bit on the bike and led to a more miserable run than it had to be. So I should have been a little more disciplined and spun in the small chain ring a bit more even though it would have slowed me down a bit.
Transition 2
  • 05m 7s
Comments:

Dismounting and trying to run with the bike was where I realized I had really cooked the left hammy. Had to walk it to the rack, which was fortunately closer to the bike in than the run out. More sunscreen, put on socks and run shoes (Hokas with stretch laces) and grabbed second bike bottle to run with. also put on race belt. Also talked a bit with other guys in my wave already there or coming in.
What would you do differently?:

Obviously need to practice speeding up this process if I start really caring about time. Five minutes is really long for T2. Part was the hammy hurting and not running with bike, and also not running fast out. Also had to futz with Apple Watch (stop bike and start run) and the Garmin tri watch would eliminate that.
Run
  • 1h 34m 35s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 15m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a toughie due to the hamstring and heat, but I actually ran more of it than I figured I would, just not fast. I had one inspiration -- another first timer (in Oly - did the Sprint last year) -- named Alex had a really good pace going, and I was able to keep up with him most of the time until we came to a hill and the hammy really hurt. So we kept leapfrogging each other for all 7 miles and that kept me going. My Apple Watch quit during the second loop, and I hadn't really paid attention to it, but I think I would have been able to cut off some time if I realized how long/slow I was going. The overcast we had for most of the bike did burn off and the run was the usual HOT. As usual, I wore more water than I drank to keep cool, and I put ice in my sports bra at the only two aid stations that had it (and they ran out during the second loop). I did start to really feel the heat and felt a little sick during the last 1.5 miles, but I kept singing Buffalo Herd in my head to keep going.
What would you do differently?:

Garmin instead of Apple Watch; not go so hard on bike, otherwise, not much else.
Post race
Warm down:

Popsicle at the finish line was AWESOME! Otherwise, not much of a warm down. Just hot, exhausted and hurting like everyone else. No massage area that I knew of. After popsicle, went to beer tent and hung out in shade for about 45 minutes talking to the few other racers who finished late and were hanging out.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Hamstring, training.

Event comments:

Overall a well-run event with a few hiccups including distances off and running out of ice on the run. This is always a hot race, and the addition of popsicles to the finish line was much appreciated!




Last updated: 2019-09-15 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:49:20 | 1500 meters | 03m 17s / 100meters
Age Group: 3/5
Overall: 352/372
Performance: Average
Suit: No wetsuit allowed
Course: Rectangular
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 84F / 29C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 05:19
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:26:51 | 25.08 miles | 17.33 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/5
Overall: 283/372
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: More compact and fewer turns than in past. Still over Curry hill and up College, but no Mill to SRP and no Scottsdale Road. And not up to Washington either, so I can't figure out how they made up the difference unless I'm mixing up the Oly and Half Iron courses in my memory. But my Garmin confirmed 25 miles, so the course was correct.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 05:07
Overall: Bad
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:34:35 | 06.2 miles | 15m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 5/5
Overall: 325/372
Performance: Below average
Course: LONG! LTF staff member estimated at least a mile long.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2019-09-15 8:53 PM

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