PrairieMan Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Grand Prairie, Texas
United States
Ironhead Race Productions
73F / 23C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 55m 17s
Overall Rank = 24/40
Age Group = F 30-34
Age Group Rank = 4/8
Pre-race routine:

Woke up really early - 3:15 am and started looking for local weather reports. TV at 3 am is not very good. Wanted to get a little more sleep but couldn't fall back asleep - weather was a concern. Ate my usual peanut butter sandwich and drank some gatorade. I was convinced that the race would be postponed due to the FLASH FLOOD WARNING we were under...and the 4 inches of rain we received on Saturday. This was not to be the case, so I joined the other couple hundred crazies at the park for the race. I did note several people heading back to their cars and was considering doing the same.
Event warmup:

My warmup involved standing around in a huddle, listening to the pre-race instructions while shivering. The involuntary muscle spasms created from all the shivering in the rain was sufficient.
Swim
  • 13m 52s
  • 547 yards
  • 02m 32s / 100 yards
Comments:

The water was great - much warmer than the air temp. We were told that we had a 30 min cut-off to complete the swim. Some of us considered staying in the water the full 30 minutes just to stay warm. A little confusion for the second wave of swimmers when the RD started yelling, "Get out of the water! Get out of the water, right now!" After his pre-race joke about getting all the alligators out the day before, kind of wondered if maybe they missed a couple ;) Turns out some of the long course participants were in the water when they were not supposed to be...confusion was cleared up and we were on our way. Besides the fact that I started in the back and did not start swimming until after everyone else had taken off (I am not a fan of the beating that comes from wave starts) I had a really great swim. This is relative...I am still a slow swimmer. I was pleased that I did not have any panic attacks in the water as I have had in the past.
What would you do differently?:

I still had quite a bit of swim energy left at the end...probably could have gone a little faster.
Transition 1
  • 04m 4s
Comments:

I don't use any of the fancy shoes or pedals, so T1 is always slow for me. I was trying to make sure my socks stayed dry...this seems rather silly in hindsight considering the weather conditions!
Bike
  • 1h 04m 20s
  • 16.78 miles
  • 15.65 mile/hr
Comments:

I had not done any riding in the rain during training. I typically stay indoors during flash floods, so I was a little concerned about the bike portion of the race. I rode very cautiously - my goals were as follows: don't crash and don't have a blow-out. So I will call this a succusseful event for me because I met both goals. My original goal was to have a pace somewhere between 18-20 mph - the RD advised us to throw our speed goals out the window considering the weather. Safety was goal #1. I enjoyed singing to myself all the hits from the past that included lyrics about rain...such as "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt. A little tip about riding in the rain - the faster you ride the more the rain hurts.
What would you do differently?:

Order up some sunshine :)
Transition 2
  • 01m 23s
Comments:

My legs were pretty jelly-like coming off the bike. I had not really done any brick work in the last two months - so running through T2 was a little rough.
Run
  • 31m 35s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 10m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

I felt pretty good, had lots of fun running through all the water and splashing. I made sure to drink a lot while on the bike so I would be hydrated for the run. It is easy to forget to drink enough when it is not hot out, but I did ok with this. I tend to get pretty bad side cramps if I drink while I run so I was happy to have avoided this during the event. It was kind of a bummer that the finish clock was not out, so I was not sure what my time was for a while - I suppose there were some electrocution concerns.
What would you do differently?:

More brick work-outs so that I can increase my run speed after biking.
Post race
Warm down:

Sloshed through the mud to the food tent. Ate some cold pizza and a yummy plum.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Rain

Event comments:

I like Ironhead races...more about the sport than all the fluff. The race was delayed a little because of the weather and trying to get everyone in and parked safely. I was really irked that the race was not going to be postponed...but then once the race got started I had the best time. I certainly didn't set any PR times but I had a lot of fun.




Last updated: 2009-09-16 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:52 | 547 yards | 02m 32s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/8
Overall: 0/40
Performance: Good
Suit: Tri-Suit
Course: The course was a triangular set-up. We swam out to the left, turned at the first buouy, continued in a strait line to the second turn buouy and headed back to shore.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:04
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:04:20 | 16.78 miles | 15.65 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/8
Overall: 0/40
Performance:
Wind: Headwind
Course: The course was out of the park, a loop that ran north/south/north and then returned to the park. Thankfully there was minimal turning involved. The road surface was not too bad - if you don't count the flooding. It was a very flat course. There was a strong headwind heading south on the bridge over the lake. The pelting rain was painful at times.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:23
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:31:35 | 03.11 miles | 10m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/8
Overall: 0/40
Performance:
Course: The course was fine, although the first mile and a half were run through puddles. Puddles might be too mild a description...more like temporary ponds that appeared in the roadway. I was grateful that the finish did not involve running back around the loop that is at the start of the run like in the Metroplex Sprint. It was kind of crowded on the road during the second half of the course. There were runners coming and going, Sprint racers finishing the bike course and Long Course racers going out all at the same time - and the occasional car or truck making its way through...not sure what that was about.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4