Pensacola Beach Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Pensacola, Florida
United States
Pensacola Race Management
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 30m 32s
Overall Rank = 46/172
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 7/21
Pre-race routine:

Ate cold cereal w/cranberries I had brought from home to ensure no surprises on race day. Stayed at the Hilton just 1/2 block from race so easily walked bike & gear over to transition. Arrived just after 5:30 to ensure a good spot in transition. Was 2nd row from bike out since I was only the 3rd bike into transistion and it was first come first serve (no racks reserved). Body marking was very quick. Volunteers helpful.
Event warmup:

Ran 1/2 mile or so & stretched to warm up. Felt a bit of tightness in L calf that worried me (but it didn't show up later). Despite getting to transistion early, almost missed start of first wave due to distance to alternate swim (bay instead of ocean).
Swim
  • 25m 18s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 32s / 100 yards
Comments:

Horrible swim. I thought my time would be much worse. I caught a few bad waves early, swallowed some h20, then couldn't settle into rythm as the waves kept interrupting my breathing. I tried to go 3-4 strokes between breaths, but ended up every other stroke w/ch wasn't efficient. Because of the waves and being out of sorts, my line was horrible. Towards the last turn, I realized that I was on the outside of the outside buoys, so had swam farther than necessary. I didn't realize the yellow buoys were in the inside corners. Swam good from the last buoy home, but that was only a very short distance and too late to help my time.
What would you do differently?:

Need to practice open water, ocean swimming in different conditions. This was my 2nd ocean swim tri, but the previous one was flat calm.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Transistion seemed fast, but for some reason the time sheet didn't record my transition time. I had no issues. This was my first time going sockless w/ch made it easier. I didn't however practice leaving my bike shoes clipped in, so I put them on before grabbing the bike. Because of severe wind conditions, had helmet & sunglasses on ground rather than handlebars.
What would you do differently?:

Need to practice leaving shoes clipped into bike to save transistion time.
Bike
  • 1h 14m 8s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 20.11 mile/hr
Comments:

Averaged 17mph on the way out, 27.8 on way back, overall avg. 20.x mph. I felt like I had a great ride. Was passed by 3 rides, but soon passed two of them back and held them off. I passed lots of folks on the way out. On the way back, only a few. Sometimes hit 31-32mph on the way back.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe pushed a bit harder on the out leg, but I was fearful that I'd have a bad run if I had spent my legs on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 00m 46s
Comments:

Had a bit of a time getting my running shoes on, then dropped my Garmin and had to scramble to pick out from under a bike.
What would you do differently?:

Need to move to next phase - getting out of shoes on the bike before entering transition. This should shave a little time for me. I need to practice this before my next race. Otherwise, had a good transistion and felt good about it.
Run
  • 51m 7s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt good off the bike. In fact, was running a 7:15 pace so slowed to 8. I had a good pacer in front of me, but I realized too late that he slowed down to 9 min/mile, so passed him and tried to hold 8 min pace. I got a bit slower as the race wore on, but finished strong. No one challenged me at the line, but I still finished very fast.
What would you do differently?:

I didn't drink much as I tend to get choked drinking & running, but splashed water on my head to cool off. It was very warm. Need to possible carry some small flasks w/water to drink on the run. Need to practice a faster pace.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked & stretched.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Wind, waves, wind!

Event comments:

They had water at the turn on the bike. They had lots of water on the run course. Very good race. Didn't stay for awards as they were going to wait for all the runners to come in and I wanted a jump on my 6 hour drive home.




Last updated: 2009-04-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:25:18 | 1640 yards | 01m 32s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/21
Overall: 0/172
Performance: Bad
Suit: QRoo Superfull
Course: Rectangular.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: High
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:14:08 | 24.85 miles | 20.11 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/21
Overall: 18/172
Performance: Good
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Flat course, but adjacent to ocean w/little to no protection. Very strong winds made the out portion very difficult.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:46
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:51:07 | 06.21 miles | 08m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/21
Overall: 52/172
Performance: Good
Course: Flat w/wind at back on way out, but in face on way back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4