Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic


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Ventura, California
United States
Breath of Life Ventura
64F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 50m
Overall Rank = 321/422
Age Group = 20-24
Age Group Rank = 8/10
Pre-race routine:

Got up around 4, sunscreened, chammy buttered and body glided myself. Made some coffee and toast w/ peanut butter and drove down to Ventura from Santa Barbara. Ate the toast and drank about half the coffee.
Event warmup:

Had to register in the morning since I didn't the day before, paid the $8 for parking but got a sweet spot like 100 yards from transition. Got registered and went to go set up my spot, got everything laid out, went to go use the bathroom, came back, chatted with some tri clubbers. Spotted Dolores talked to her, ended up spending a lot of time staring at my transition area trying to focus on how I wanted to do my transitions. Walked over to the start with Dolores, Tcovert and his wife, Liz.

Didn't feel like warming up prior to the swim :).
Swim
  • 25m 49s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 34s / 100 yards
Comments:

Something must be crazy with this swim because this is waaaaaay too fast for me. Got out of the water and my watch said about 24 minutes though and that's with me going way too far outside the buoys on the way out and having to cut back in. First 200 was a little rough, it was cold and it took me a while to catch my breath but I just concentrated on form and it went a little better. Had some goggle problems in the beginning too.

The way in went better, I realized the current was pushing a little north so I tried to sight more often and stay in line with the buoy even though it felt like I wasn angling too far out. For the most part it worked and I think I had a really strong overall swim.
What would you do differently?:

I probably should have warmed up just to get a feel for the water temp first.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

They didn't break out the transition times (it's included in the bike split) which bummed me out because I was really trying to work on them this time. I tend to spend too much time staring at my stuff and trying to figure things out, so this time I planned it all out in my head beforehand. Wetsuit off, helmet stuff first (garmin, gloves, sunglasses, stuff snacks in trisuit pocket), then ground stuff (race belt, shoes, socks).
What would you do differently?:

Get one of those pansy looking mini water tubs to wash my feet in. I thought they were kind of lame but I ended up with 3 blisters after this race so shows what I know! :D
Bike
  • 1h 28m 14s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 16.90 mile/hr
Comments:

Overall time includes transitions, according to the Garmin my actual bike time was about 1:24. I forgot this was a regional qualifer until I got on the bike and got smoked by just about everyone :). This was never meant to be a big A race for me and I've been base training for so long now I don't remember how to go fast :p. From what I could tell my pace was usually around 17-19 most of the time which I'm happy with. Oxnard has a lovely constant headwind/tailwind thing I've encountered in my long rides a lot which is a pain but probably evens out by the end.

They made a big point of enforcing USAT rules so I was a little paranoid at first about accidentally drafting or blocking but I probably didn't need to be.
What would you do differently?:

Get stronger on the bike? Speed will be my focus a little later in my IMAZ training so we'll see how I do at SB. I'm thinking bike will be my focus next year since I don't plan to do another ironman in 2010 (I plan to focus on studying for the CPA exam instead).
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

I think I managed to speed up this transition a little too but again, I don't know for sure.
Run
  • 55m 56s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 09m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Haven't done a brick in a long while so the first mile or so felt weird. I should mention at this point that I seriously had to pee and honestly considered stopping during the run to go to the bathroom but I kept telling myself now, it's only an Olympic, deal with it. The first mile seemed to take forever, but by mile 4 or so I got in my groove, again I'm used to distance not speed so it takes me a while to warm up. I managed to average a pretty good pace considering what I have been doing in my training runs so I'm happy with that.

Only walked through every other aid station which was good, I think the more conservative running form my coach has me do helped me be able to keep up the pace and not walk so much as well. Saw lots of people out on the run which was fun too.
What would you do differently?:

Bricks probably.
Post race
Warm down:

Took my shoes off ASAP, blisters were killing me, then finally went to the bathroom :). Packed up my stuff and put it away, then got my free beer at the beer garden (and it wasn't Miller or Bud, yay!) and my free burger, chips and a banana at the BBQ. Hung around to see my results and some of the awards (the top two females overall were in my AG, I didn't stand a chance :), first race I haven't podiumed at in a while though, I know, boo hoo poor me).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Generally the fact that I've been training for distance, not speed lately, probably.

Event comments:

Overall a very good race. Although I just realized I think they said they'd have aid on the bike course but I don't think they did, probably should check the website to confirm though. It was organized and the volunteers were great, they had some adorable little girls at the finish offering water and to take off my chip. Like I said, not an A race for me, but just something to keep up the tri mindset and have fun, and it was a good location and course for that. It was nice to do a flat race for once.

Real goal was to beat myself and I bested my Carpinteria time by 12 minutes and finally got sub 3 which is awesome! Of course Carp was hillier but not the point. My swim improved by 6 minutes and my run by 2, so as long as I can keep improving I'm happy.




Last updated: 2009-04-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:25:49 | 1640 yards | 01m 34s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/10
Overall: 0/422
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex 3
Course: Rectangle: Out, south and back.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 64F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:28:14 | 24.85 miles | 16.90 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/10
Overall: 0/422
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back with a loop (repeated twice) in the middle.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:55:56 | 06.21 miles | 09m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/10
Overall: 0/422
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back twice
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5