Toyota US Open Triathlon
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Toyota US Open Triathlon - TriathlonSprint
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Swim
Comments: An absolute disaster. I just started swimming in July, but worked on it 2-3 times per week and had gotten to the point where I could swim 1500M continuously at about a 1:30/100M pace. So I thought I could handle 800M of the open water stuff. Big mistake. I planned on getting in some open-water swims, but the only opportunity I had was one that was the weekend before the race. I thought that might be a bigger handicap (mentally) if I went out there and struggled, so I passed. The start went smoothly given the time-trial format. I started in the third heat of four, and quickly shot up to the front of the pack where I was sighting off the lead kayak. And then everything went to hell in a handbasket. I couldn't breathe. It was like it was when I first started swimming...couldn't catch my breathe for the life of me. I was taking in a lot of water when I tried to breath because of the chop, and the sighting expended much more energy than I anticipated (even though I worked on sighting in the pool). There were times I thought I might have to throw in the towel because I couldn't catch my breathe, even when I was floating on my back. I kept telling myself, "It's only 800M" and struggled through it. I ended up doing about half the swim on my back. Very disappointing. What would you do differently?: Numerous open-water practice swims. Wear a wet suit. I should have been able to do the swim in at least 16-18 minutes. I was surprised that I wasn't the last out of the water in my age group, so some of my struggles can be attributed to what most people thought was a tough swim. Also, the race results state that the course was actually 850M, as opposed to the 800M on the race literature. Transition 1
Comments: Given the struggles in the water and the fact that I had just drank half of Joe Pool Lake, I walked up the ramp and all the way to my bike. Once I dried off and got my helmet and shoes on, I felt good enough to jog out of the transition with my bike. What would you do differently?: Run up the ramp and to bike. Practice transitioning with shoes clipped in to pedals. Bike
Comments: The wind and the climb at the outset complicated matters after my swimming struggles. I decided to take it easy for the first 5 or so miles, and just shook off all the people whizzing by me. It was my first tri, so it was all about finishing. The middle third of the course, I started to get in a groove, and then I hammered it pretty good the last 1/3. I figured I'd press as much as I could on the bike since I only had to run three miles. What would you do differently?: Get a better bike. I borrowed a decent road bike from a friend while I figure out if this is something I will do more of in the future. A better road bike and certainly a tri-bike would have helped matters. Transition 2
What would you do differently?: Practice this transition a little more. The no-ride line snuck up on me, so I had to brake pretty hard. Obviously wasn't out of my pedals or my shoes by then. After the dismount, I was a little disoriented, but quickly found the right route and everything went smoothly. Run
Comments: My legs were pretty shot. And I really felt bloated. Not sure if I was drinking too much water, but I didn't even finish my two water bottles on the 40K bike ride. It was probably from drinking too much of Joe Pool Lake. I was hoping for something closer to 8:00 miles, but just happy I didn't get too close to 10:00! What would you do differently?: My run training was sacrificed the last month for more bike and swim training. Wished I had worked more on running, but it's all tradeoffs, right? Post race
Warm down: Hung out at post-party with family and friends. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of swim training. Obviously impacted my swim time, but I think it also negatively affected the rest of my times, especially bike. Last updated: 2007-10-15 12:00 AM
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2007-10-15 2:26 PM |
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2007-10-15 2:33 PM in reply to: #1008927 |
2007-10-15 2:41 PM in reply to: #1008943 |
2007-10-15 5:05 PM in reply to: #1008927 |
2007-10-15 7:57 PM in reply to: #1008927 |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
72F / 22C
Overcast
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 20/30
First ever triathlon. Woke up at 4:15. Ate a bagel, and then a breakfast bar later. Headed down to T2, arrived at 5:30, set up my running gear, and then loaded the bus to T2. Set up bike transition, mingled with some friends, and then had to wait from 7:15 to 9:00 (time between shutting down T1 and the start of my wave). It was cool and windy, which didn't make the wait very enjoyable. But since it was first event, I just took in my surroundings and watched everything going on.
Went to the pool and swam 300M to get my blood flowing. Wasn't sure if/how they'd be letting people in the lake for warm-up, so just went for the pool warmup.