General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon
-
No new posts
General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Swim
Comments: There was no good entry point for the swim, so one wave at a time, we walked down the boat ramp, stepped onto a submerged picnic table, and then swam off to the start buoy. It was an in-water start, so we all had to hang out there treading water in thick “seaweed” for a few minutes prior to go-time. I floated on my belly in my wetsuit during this time because I was NOT putting my bare feet down in the unknown. When our wave finally got the “go,” I swam off, immediately in a good rhythm. This was the highlight of this race for me. I did not have the open-water mental hurdle to get over this time. I fell immediately into my groove. This was especially momentous because I did this despite the crazy seaweed tangling around my arms, legs, and swatting me in the face throughout the entire swim. Transition 1
Comments: OK, so the swim finish was across the park from the transition area, so a good couple minutes of transition was spent running barefoot through the park. The length of my farmer-john style wetsuit cuts off right at the calf, and I have found that this causes spasms. When I started jogging barefoot with the wetsuit on, blood rushed to my calves, causing the neoprene to tighten and nearly give me a cramp. I charley horsed in this same wetsuit in July, so now I know the cause. I will not use this wetsuit again. The rest of T1 was uneventful. Bike
Comments: Hillier than any of my training rides, plus I kept completely spacing out, forgetting that I was in race mode. I kept falling into “leisurely weekend ride” state of mind, reminded only when someone else would blow by me. These two factors slowed me down a little but I didn’t do miserably and I passed a bunch of people, so really I don’t care! Nutrition wise, I ate another gel and 3 endurolytes and nearly a bottle of water on the ride. Transition 2
Run
Comments: Almost immediately, we had a couple hills. Whoever labeled this run course as “Flat” was a LIAR. These were the same rolling hills for the first 1.5 miles as we had on the bike. Only the second 1.5 miles of the run could reasonably be called “flat.” I did it anyway! Just forced myself to take tiny jogging steps until the end. Just before the finish line was a short little uphill. At the bottom, a spectator said “c’mon, this is it, give it all you have left, EMPTY THAT CAN!!” And so I emptied the can. I felt AWESOME crossing the finish line! And then the announcer called out the wrong name. That concered me - thought maybe I got a mixed-up timing chip, but when I saw the results posted, I was where I thought I’d be on the list. Phew! Post race
Warm down: I didn’t really know anyone at the finish line, so I paced around, people-watching while I downed a gatorade and ate a slice of pizza and some pretzel rods. Grabbed a water for the road and cleared out of transition. I felt good after this race and I think it was because of the added gel and endurolytes on the bike as well as the immediate recovery gatorade and pizza. I am convinced that a good part of this sport is proper nutrition and replacement. Not that it’s *too* important for a sprint distance, but I am learning lessons that will help me go Olympic distance in 2008! Last updated: 2007-09-28 12:00 AM
|
|
{postbutton}
2007-09-28 12:33 PM |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
{postbutton}
United States
Endurance Works
Sunny
Overall Rank = 214/268
Age Group = Female 30-34
Age Group Rank = 10/15
Pre-pre-race: My last workout was Thursday morning swim practice and then I had no workouts planned for Friday or Saturday. I did stay active however, because this race fell smack-dab on the same weekend that I was moving most of the big stuff to my new condo! Lots of cleaning and packing kept me on my feet and moving.
Pre-race: Sunday morning, breakfast of sprouted grain toast with organic peanut butter, blueberry yogurt, one medium coffee and more water.
I had biked and run this race course earlier in the month, so knew how to get there and what to expect. I hit the road before 6am and got to the transition area just as they were opening. I was second in line for packet pickup and body marking… yay! I set up my transition area and recognized some faces from the pool and from the other gym. I stopped a woman with a familiar face and she invited me to train with her informal group of triathlon enthusiast friends. I have her card and plan to get in touch with her after Giant Acorn (coming up on 10/6 and my last tri of 2007).
I sucked on an Apple Pie Clif Shot and walked down to the water, as I had plenty of time before the race start. Oh My Gosh! Seaweed city! Actually it is not seaweed, but some sort of rampant underwater vegetation, but because I don’t know it’s real name, I will refer to it as seaweed. “How am I going to swim in this?” I wondered. But everyone else was kinda freaking out about it, too, and nobody else was letting it deter them, so I just tried to forget about it. Finally, with about 5 minutes to go before the pre-race meeting, I pulled on my wetsuit and headed off to the swim start.