Tri the Parks -- High Falls State Park
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Tri the Parks -- High Falls State Park - TriathlonSprint
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Swim
Comments: In comparison to my swim at Indian Springs, this one went much better. This time I positioned myself to the outside right and rear of the pack. My goal/focus was simply to "Just keep swimming." For the most part, I hit the mark. I didn't get beat up at the start and was able to establish a pretty good stroke/breathing rhythm early. Nearing the first turn, I was still in touch with the tail of my wave and this was encouraging. I didn't round the buoy as well as I'd have liked, but it wasn't too ugly. Once around, I set my sights on the next buoy and told myself "Just keep swimming." Unfortunately, about 100 meters further, I lost the mental focus and started to be distracted by swimmers in my wave as well as by the pink caps who were now in our midst. As a result, I lost what form I had and slowed down quite a bit. Still, I was very encouraged by the first half of the swim. What would you do differently?: Keep building on this one. This was only my second non-wetsuit OWS as part of a large group and I'm continuing to learn lots. Despite the still slow times, this one left me feeling optimistic about things. Transition 1
Comments: Hah...after the 30 second run from the lake to the T area, I managed to transition fairly smoothly until it came time to mount the bike. My goal for this one was 90 seconds and I came close to hitting it; after crossing the timing mat, it was a short jog to the "Mount" line. My plan was to cross the line at a slow jog and then mount the bike by placing my unclipped left foot on the pedal and then - with momentum carrying me forward - then swinging my right leg over the saddle and clipping in. Unfortunately, as I put my weight on the left foot/pedal to allow me to "swing," the left foot slipped off and with all of my weight now firmly committed to the left, me and the bike went down to the ground. "He's safe!!!" I skinned my left knee and elbow and "dinged" my left shin. The "dinged" shin bled a bit, but then stopped. Fortunately my tri shorts didn't rip. I quickly picked myself up and righted the bike, more worried about the precious liquid now spilling from my aero bottle than anything else, and got the hell out of dodge. Ranked 32/45 AG What would you do differently?: Uh...not fall on my a$$ for starters...get the left foot clipped in...and just work on shaving seconds via better technique in T... Bike
Comments: This was a tough ride for me. I rode a Century in very hot conditions ~2 weeks ago and my legs have felt heavy ever since. I thought teaching my weekly spin class and subbing a class the Thursday prior to this race would help "prime" them for the race, but it wasn't to be. My HR felt like it was pegged the entire ride and even though I settled into a decent pace during the second half of it, I never had any "giddyup" in the legs. Also, due to losing ~1/3 of my aero bottle contents at the mount line, I didn't drink nearly enough. What would you do differently?: I really need to factor "fun" rides into my planning schedule in a more deliberate fashion. This is the second race where a hard ride the week or two prior to the race might've had an impact on my performance. Need to get a handle on this and determine if accurate or just an excuse; if the latter, why the "heavy" legs? Transition 2
Comments: Out of fairness to T1, my goal here was also 90 seconds or better. If I'd been able to get my feet out of the bike shoes prior to dismount, I'd probably have beat this goal easily. As it stood, I had to take off the cycle shoes and after putting on the Glycerins, I took a few extra seconds to grab a drink and to squirt some water over my head. At least I stayed upright at the "Dismount" line...;) What would you do differently?: Get out of cycling shoes prior to dismount. Practice... Run
Comments: Like on the bike course, felt like my HR was pegged during the run. I kept a steady (but slow) pace to the turn-around, but the pegged HR coupled with the hills on the return portion were too much and I walked part of the bigger ones. It was humid as heck out there and I just had no "fight" in me. What would you do differently?: Need to do more hill work as it seems most of these Tri the Parks courses are hilly. I also need to do more hot weather work and get my body/mind more used to dealing with the heat/humidity. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed some water and an orange. Chatted with friends, walked around, watched and cheered other finishers. Drank more water and topped it with a chocolate milk. Hung out with ADollar and Marvarnett, watched and cheered the award winners and then a group of us headed to High Falls BBQ for some chow...mmmmm. Oh yeah, the day was not a total loss - I ended up winning the All3 Sports $50 gift cert. door prize...sweet. What limited your ability to perform faster: Numero uno - more consistent training. Unlike my first two tris, training for this one was hit or miss. My swim volume was WAY down; run volume was good for July, but it dropped off quite a bit during the past two weeks; bike volume was good, but primarily due to the Century ride I did two weeks prior to the race. I didn't follow a consistent plan leading up to this race and I didn't do any bricks (only a few t-runs after cycling/teaching spin class). You get out of it what you put in, right? Looking ahead, I'm going to see what the budget might allow as far as engaging the services of a coach - BT Gold Plan-based or other - as I definitely see the benefits that can be gained therein. Event comments: Looking forward to the 2008 season with this series. Last updated: 2007-07-04 12:00 AM
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2007-08-19 1:36 PM |
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2007-08-19 1:48 PM in reply to: #930935 |
2007-08-19 1:59 PM in reply to: #930935 |
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2007-08-20 9:30 AM in reply to: #930935 |
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2007-08-20 9:43 AM in reply to: #930935 |
2007-08-20 6:58 PM in reply to: #930935 |
2007-08-20 7:27 PM in reply to: #930935 |
2007-08-20 7:45 PM in reply to: #930935 |
2007-08-21 8:50 AM in reply to: #930935 |
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United States
tri blue sky
80'sF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 347/501
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 42/45
Woke up a bit after 4:00AM on my own (alarm set for 4:25), so took it as a sign and climbed out of bed. Everything was ready to go, so it was a simple matter to throw on clothes, load the car, and wait for Calvin to pull up so we could caravan down together. Nibbled on a Clif bar during the trip and drank an ice coffee and Vitaman Water during the hour+ drive.
Picked up chip, got marked, and then unloaded car and set up T-area. Chatted with friends for a bit, munched on a banana, took a quick dip in the lake, and then took a quick WU run to check out finish/end parts of the run course.