General Discussion Race Reports! » General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Marbury, Maryland
United States
Endurance Works
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 04m 12s
Overall Rank = 214/268
Age Group = Female 30-34
Age Group Rank = 10/15
Pre-race routine:

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.
Swim
  • 17m 56s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m 23s / 100 meters
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
  • 05m 18s
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
  • 1h 05m 10s
  • 16.5 miles
  • 15.19 mile/hr
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
  • 02m 11s
Run
  • 33m 39s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 10m 49s  min/mile
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
Swimming
00:17:56 | 750 meters | 02m 23s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/268
Performance:
Suit: farner john wetsuit
Course: out and back around three buoys
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 05:18
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:05:10 | 16.5 miles | 15.19 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/268
Performance:
Wind:
Course: rolling hills
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:11
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:33:39 | 03.11 miles | 10m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/268
Performance:
Course: The course description said "flat" but I disagree. The first half of the run was rolling hills, and only the second half of the run could reasonably have been called "flat"
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

{postbutton}
2007-09-28 12:33 PM

New user
0

NoVA
Subject: General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon Rss Feed