18th Annual Desert Grande Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Casa Grande, Arizona
United States
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 19m 38s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 4/7
Pre-race routine:

I woke up at 4:00 AM and left my house in Maricopa at about 4:45. I met up with several family members that had spent the night at the Best Western in Casa Grande. We made it to the race check in about 5:45 and got a pretty decent spot. The transition area was set up in the tennis court.
Event warmup:

The pool was open for warm up swimming until 7:00. I decided against swimming at all as it was a little chilly. The race started at 7:30 and I had to wait about 30 minutes as the races is a stagard start. I had a sweat shirt on and some flip flops until about two mintues prior to getting the watter. I am really glad I had the sweat shirt as it helped me keep warm.
Swim
  • 08m 30s
  • 400 meters
  • 02m 07s / 100 meters
Comments:

At the start I passed two swimmers in the first 50 meters. The stagard start is just everyone's best guess at to what their finish time will be. I was taking a breath every three strokes on the first 50. I passed the second swimmer at the end of the first lap right as we were touching the wall. I dove deep to go underneath the other swimmer as I didn't want to impede her progress. It took a lot out of me to pass like that and I had to start breathing every other stroke. On laps 3 - 8 I fell into a good groove and passed one more person. I was right on pace with where I thought I would be.
What would you do differently?:

I was very happy with my swim. The only thing I could have done better was to train better ahead of time. I was shooting for 8:00 - 8:30 and I hit that mark.
Transition 1
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

I thought I had laid my stuff out pretty well, but when I started to put my bike shoes on I realized I hadn't pre-opened them up. I had practices having the shoes already on the peddles and then trying to put my feet in as I peddled, but couldn't really get that down, so I decided to put the shoes on first. Once I passed the mounting line I couldn't get my shoes into the clips. It probably didn't help that I had just run through wet grass in the shoes.
What would you do differently?:

If I had practices the transitioning more I probably could have shaved 15 - 20 seconds off which would have pushed me up one more position in the fat boy category. I wasn't expecting to have that much difficulty getting my shoes into the peddles. I should have practices that more.
Bike
  • 36m 27s
  • 10.8 miles
  • 17.78 mile/hr
Comments:

I did the bike on a $75 mountain bike that I bought 5 years ago at Walmart. I did was buy some clipless peddles, put some road tires on it and added a $20 cyclometer. I am VERY glad I got the new tires. My bike is really a piece of junk. I won't be doing another triathlon with it.

There were section of the road that were very smooth and section that were very rough. In the smooth sections I was maintining about 19 mph, while on the rought sections I was lucky if could stay at 15 or 16 mph. I thought that with a full susspension mountain bike this wouldn't have been so bad.

I had a real tough time finding the right gear most of the time. Again I am going to blame this on the bike.

About 1/4 mile before the end of the bike I started to unstrap my shoes so I could be ready for T2. I hit the dismount line running into the transition area.

Overall I am OK with my bike performance. In training I had been able to average speeds a little higher than 18 MPH, so I think I could have done a little better, but overall it was OK.
What would you do differently?:

Well, while I have been complaining about I didn't really have the resources to get a new bike. I think I will try and get a used one of Craigslist or Ebay. Hoperfully that will help me knock a few more minutes off.
Transition 2
  • 00m 52s
Comments:

Getting my gloves off was a pain. I should have taken those off before I dismounted. I didn't account for the speedbumps in the parking lot though, so it would have been tough to take them off while riding.

I also broke my sunglasses as I took my helmet off. It's good they were a cheap pair.
What would you do differently?:

I think for this distance race I really didn't need the gloves. That would have saved me a few more seconds.
Run
  • 32m 4s
  • 3 miles
  • 10m 41s  min/mile
Comments:

The run is by far my weakest event. I was getting passed like crazy the hole time. That being said, I did two minutes better in the race then I had ever done during my brick workouts. All those people passing me really pushed me to run faster.
What would you do differently?:

I was very happy with my run time. If I can loose 30 pounds and keep training I should be able to shed six to eight minutes pretty easily.
Post race
Warm down:

I didn't do much for this. My wife and kids were right at the finish line cheering me on, so I gave and received quite a few hugs. After that I mostly just walked around and drank gatorade. I had quite a few family members that finished after me and I stayed at the finish line to cheer them on.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The fact that I have 30+ pounds of fat on my gut is the biggest limiting factor.

Event comments:

I am very excited to have completed my first triathlon!! I had a lot of fun and I am looking forward to continuing training and competing in sprint to Olympic distance triathlons.




Last updated: 2009-11-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:30 | 400 meters | 02m 07s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/7
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Suit: No
Course: We swam a serpentine pattern through eight laps in a 50 meter pool.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 81F / 27C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:45
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
00:36:27 | 10.8 miles | 17.78 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/7
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
According to the race website the bike is 10.3 miles, but my bike computer says 10.8. I am going with 10.8 as I have triple checked its calibration.
Wind: Little
Course: The bike is basically a big rectangle. You go about 2.5 miles East, slightly downhill. One mile South, mostly flat. Five miles West, mostly flat with a few small dips. Next you turn North for one mile. I think this was mostly flat. Then you turn East for 2.5 miles. This was uphill for the first half and down hill for the second half.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Bad Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:52
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:32:04 | 03 miles | 10m 41s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/7
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %1.33
Overall:
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4