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Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park - TriathlonSprint


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Carrollton, Georgia
United States
Blue Sky Sports
Overcast
Total Time = 39m 38s
Overall Rank = 303/329
Age Group = M Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 15/17
Pre-race routine:

It may not have been necessry for a sprint distance but I took my nutrition pretty seriously the week before the race. I considered almost everything I ate as fuel and ate well. Thursday and Friday almost all of my calories came from either cereal, pasta or bananas with a few protein sources thrown in. I also took hydration seriously, drinking plenty of water and some watered down gatorade to make sure I maintained electrolyte balance.

The night before we stayed in a hotel near the race. Before going to bed at about 10pm I scheduled a wake up call, set the alarm on my watch, set the alarm on my phone, set the alarm on my wife's phone....I was pretty sure at this point I'd be up on time. Had a beer to relax and went to bed.

5:30am: wake up; small bowl of grapenuts; shower and dress
6:10am: Hotel lobby for coffee; talk to other newbie racers about the race
6:30am: start heading over to the race; eat a banana in the car
7:00am: put stuff at transition area; bathroom; get numbered and chip
7:30am: organize transition area; put on wetsuit
Event warmup:

Not really enough time, it's amazing how quickly time flies getting ready for the race. I did get into the water about 10 minutes before the race, did a bit of swimming and made sure I was acclimated to the water.
Swim
  • 13m 15s
  • 600 meters
  • 02m 13s / 100 meters
Comments:

Swimming was much different than I had thought. I was expecting all of the people and was mentally ready to swim in a crowd. What I had not expected was the way it prevented me from developing any sort of rhythm in my swim. It was an exercise in: slow down, speed up, change direction; slow down...ok, kinda stop b/c I'm surrounded by people stopping; speed up..etc.

oh yeah, let's talk about the jerks walking. so, I take a breath and I see a bunch of guys treading water. I take a breath again, there they are treading water. Either I'm swimming so slow that I'm not moving or they tread water very quickly. Hmmm, they look as though they are walking. Reach toe down, wow, water is only about 5' deep, comforting but back to swim...those (want to use colorful language) are walking. I'm working my butt off today and for the past 3 1/2 months to be a triathlete and these guys are going to walk through the swim??

almost done but the crowd seems to be getting thicker. Oh, that's a different colored swim cap, yup we're being passed by the wave that started after us. oh well.
What would you do differently?:

Swim to the outside. Part of me wanted to experience swimming in the crowd, now I've done that and I know I could do it again. Next time I'm going to swim to the outside and just do my best to find my swim rhythm.
Transition 1
  • 03m 28s
Comments:

This took longer than I thougt it would.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure yet, I think I just need practice.
Bike
  • 48m 14s
  • 11.2 miles
  • 13.93 mile/hr
Comments:

Except for how slow I was, this was a fun part of the race. Considering the number of people who passed me I almost considered it my very own personal bike show. I got a quick glimpse of lots of bicycles that I may want to buy next year.

Let me give you an example of how slow I was. Picture a dog on the side of the road, watching every biker go by. Each biker got one bark as the dog watched the biker pass. I'm getting closer, wow, that is a scrappy little dog, he's on 3 legs...good for you fido. Hmmm, he's chasing me...little bastard...everyone else just whizzes by you and me your gonna chase, that's right, I was chased by a 3 legged dog!...don't worry though, I pulled away pretty easily.

I did pass 4 people though. Three were bikers going up a hill. It felt good, I wasn't even trying to pass, just keeping my pace. At the bottom of the hill I just thought back to spinning class, knees in, dig with my heels, and pull through the whole rotation of the pedal...wasn't even all that used up at the top. As soon as the road leveled off they all passed me again. That 4th person I passed was some old lady out for her Saturday morning jog...it took me a while to catch up to her.
What would you do differently?:

Get a new bike...If I'm just going to do this for the one year then it doesn't matter but I gotta get off my mtn. bike if I'm going to keep doing this next year.
Transition 2
  • 02m 32s
Comments:

This went realtively smoothly. I would have gotten out a bit quicker but I changed my socks again. They were wet the entire bike ride b/c I put them on while my feet were still wet from the swim.
What would you do differently?:

Practice riding w/ no socks so I can do it during the next race.
Run
  • 32m 8s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 10m 22s  min/mile
Comments:

Record pace for me again. Previously, my best 5k was 33:01...beat that by by almost 53 seconds.

I didn't know this for the first mile. In fact, I thought I was going very slow. I just kept telling myself that it didn't matter how slow I went, just finish and try to do it w/o walking. I was using my watch to estimate how far I had gone and thought I was still another 3 minutes from the 1 mile mark when I passed the mile marker sign. The next mile was pretty much all up hill. Most of it was just a gradual grade trending up but there were a couple short segments that seemed steep, at least for me. I just kept telling myself that it would be all downhill once I got to the turnaround.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I'm sure additional training will increase my pace but for this race the run went perfectly well.
Post race
Warm down:

Lots of walking around, a bit of stretching, eating post race snacks and hydrating myself.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of experience. I could have pushed harder on the bike but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to run. Now that I've done this once I'll have a better idea of how hard I can push the bike next time.

Event comments:

Great race for a beginner. Everyone, volunteers and other racers were all very nice and supportive. I'd like to do this race again next year.




Last updated: 2007-04-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:15 | 600 meters | 02m 13s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/329
Performance: Average
Suit: 1/2 wetsuit
Course: Pretty simple loop.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:27.8
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:48:14 | 11.2 miles | 13.93 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/329
Performance: Below average
Wind: None
Course: Rolling hills, nothing terribly difficult
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:32.3
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:32:08.4 | 03.1 miles | 10m 22s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/329
Performance: Good
Course: Started flat then some pretty good hills toward the turn around.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-04-29 8:07 PM

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Expert
696
500100252525
Sugar Hill, GA
Subject: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park


2007-04-29 8:16 PM
in reply to: #780756

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Master
1432
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Woodstock
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park
Congrats on finishing your first race and to a new 5k pr! Now that you know you love it go get yourself a road bike and see how much faster you get! Good luck in your future races triathlete!
2007-04-29 8:51 PM
in reply to: #780756

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Master
2379
2000100100100252525
Alpharetta, GA
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park

Great race - sounds like you had a good one!!

Hope the rest of your season goes extremely well!!

2007-04-30 10:06 AM
in reply to: #780756

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Expert
683
500100252525
Fort Worth, Texas
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park

Nice work, Jay.  Sounds like you experienced "all that".  I've never encountered walking swimmers before, those guys are lame.  Did you have your tire pressure up around 90 psi? (yep, even on the mtb).  That really helps when riding the fat tires.  I've also experienced the "slow" run.  I think it's something about coming off the bike where you've been spinning your legs around quickly, it just naturally transfers to the run.  I've also been amazed at my first mile times. 

Great job, Mr. Triathlete.

2007-04-30 10:07 AM
in reply to: #780756

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Veteran
119
100
Pennsylvania
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park
Great race report, man. And congratulations on your times - those are really great times, the run - WOW. I'm really proud of you (is that weird to say?), I know you really worked hard. You are officially a triathlete! Looking at those times, I have my work cut out for me when we hit Trenton in a few months. Especially on the run. And the swim. And, well, the bike...

I would have probably done something to the walkers - I know that would fly in the spirit of tri'ing, but it would have totally ticked me off. It's like couch potatoes just rolling off the couch that morning and decided to do a triathlon! Meanwhile, you've been getting up at these obscene hours to train! ARGH!

GREAT JOB!
2007-04-30 10:48 AM
in reply to: #780756

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Veteran
183
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Crystal River, FL
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park

Way to go Jay!!!  Its so fun to read the reports of those doing their first triathlon.  It sure helps those who haven't done one yet to get their head prepared.  I can't believe people were walking!  Good for you to keep swimming.  You should really feel good about this....I hope you'll keep doing them as a way of life.  Great job! 

Tara



2007-04-30 2:00 PM
in reply to: #780756

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Expert
931
50010010010010025
Smyrna, GA
Subject: RE: Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park
Awesome job - and a new 5K PR!  That's really great.  Congrats!
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