Goleta Beach Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Goleta, California
United States
Goleta Beach Triathlon
62F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 49m 17s
Overall Rank = 132/205
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 3/7
Pre-race routine:

Spent the night at my parents house, got up about 5, got dressed, made myself a latte and some nutella toast (couldn't find the peanut butter, oh well :) ), loaded all my gear in to the car and head to the race site. Got a great parking spot right as it began to rain! Racked my bike and came back to the car to put my sunscreen on out of the rain, then we started getting thunder and lightning. Fortunately it stopped well before the race. After sunscreen I finished setting up transition, ate my nutella toast and finished my coffee, then just putzed around transition. The sprint started at 7 but the Olympic wasn't until 8 and I wasn't sure if they would let us in to transition in between (they did) so I had gotten there extra early. Talk to my friend, Monica, from LA tri a bit, debated on wearing a wetsuit, then put it on half way, went to the bathroom, finished putting it on and made my way to the start.
Event warmup:

I ate a Clif Mojo bar and got in the water, 64.8 my *ss! It was pretty damn cold, very glad I wore the wetsuit, my fingers were blue when I got out after my warm up.
Swim
  • 29m 40s
  • 1637 yards
  • 01m 49s / 100 yards
Comments:

The shape of the swim was very odd, it took some conferring before I figured out the actual course. Started out in the front of the pack and ended up somewhere in the middle. My wave was relatively small so not too much competition, me and another girl in my age group swam together most of the way. Took me about 15 minutes as usual before I remembered to focus on good form and I think I got a little fast after that point. Finished strong and ran all the way up the sand in to transition.
What would you do differently?:

Try and remember my form earlier, get better at drafting.
Transition 1
  • 02m 45s
Comments:

A little slow, but still faster than usual for me I think, not too bad considering I'm out of practice. Probably shouldn't have bothered with the gloves, but I'm glad I put on the socks. Had a little trouble getting the wetsuit off, also putting on the Garmin also probably slowed me down.
What would you do differently?:

Nixed the gloves, bike wasn't that long,
Bike
  • 1h 22m 46s
  • 24.9 miles
  • 18.05 mile/hr
Comments:

I was really familiar with this bike course as it's almost identical the route my Dad and I ride when I'm visiting my parents in Santa Barbara. Being familiar with the course just really helped give me a mental edge. I didn't plan out strategy or anything but it was nice knowing how long/steep hills were, where it sloped up and down, how the turns were and the quality of the pavement. I really tried to push myself the whole way and I think I did so, there was a little headwind coming back after the last turn around and I tried not to hammer too hard there, but after a mile or so it wasn't so bad and I was back up to a better pace. Managed to stay in aero for a lot of it too. Passing was a little hard since it was an open course and we were on the bike path a lot but the Olympic wasn't too crowded so it wasn't that bad. Probably my best Olympic distance bike ride ever.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Transition 2
  • 01m 46s
Comments:

Another good transition, I paused to drink some water before going out since I decided not to run with a water bottle. I racked my bike on the opposite side of my towel though so then I had to go around back to my stuff, not really sure why I did that.
What would you do differently?:

Rack my bike properly.
Run
  • 52m 23s
  • 5.7 miles
  • 09m 11s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a tough run, I didn't hammer it too hard on the bike, but my running shape isn't what it used to be. The course was about 1/2 a mile shorter than it should have been due to some high tide issues, but my goal was 10k in an hour or less and I think extrapolating my pace I would have done that, so I was happy. A lot of the course was on the beach on what was supposed to be hard pack sand, but most definitely wasn't it. It wasn't as bad as completely lose sand, but it wasn't hard packed either. That made the run fairly challenging, but I tried to make up for it by keeping up a good pace on the parts that were on asphalt and cutting myself some slack on the sand. Hit the point about a mile from the end where I wanted to give up, but pushed through.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, just work on my running in general.
Post race
Warm down:

After I finished I headed to the food, got a hamburger and an orange slice and bottle of water and wolfed that down. Then packed up my transition and came back in time for awards, good thing since I got 3rd place!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

General fitness really, the course was just great for me, good swim conditions, familiar bike course, challenging but doable run.

Event comments:

This was the first year they did this race, so it wasn't entirely smooth, expo was pretty small and probably not quite enough volunteers (but close!), but I think they put on a great race anyways. It wasn't too big, or too small, I really liked the course (besides the sand) and my race went very smoothly. Run course could have been better marked, I didn't have trouble with it but I saw a lot of others who did. All the courses were a little random, so it might help especially with the swim and run to make those a little less confusing. Overall very happy with my performance, I really wanted to go under 3 hours and even if the race had had a full 10k, I think I would have done that. Also I got 3rd place which was above my expectations, at first I thought I was 3 of 3, but it turned out to be 3 of 7, which was awesome. It's nice to feel like you really earned it. I was worried moving in to the next age group that it would be impossible, but I'm happy to be average. 1st place in my AG was the top overall female so obviously it's a competitive AG but I'm not as out of shape as I might be considering how long it's been since my last race.




Last updated: 2011-06-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:40 | 1637 yards | 01m 49s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/7
Overall: 100/205
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex
Course: triangular mushroom shaped
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 64F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:45
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:22:46 | 24.9 miles | 18.05 mile/hr
Age Group: 3/7
Overall: 122/205
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: a few out and backs through Goleta, one longer hill, not too steep
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:46
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:52:23 | 05.7 miles | 09m 11s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/7
Overall: 151/205
Performance: Good
Course: a few out and backs with at least 2 1/2 miles on sand
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4