Desert Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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La Quinta, California
United States
Klein | Clark Sports
64F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 14m 58s
Overall Rank = 107/550
Age Group = M50-54
Age Group Rank = 7/34
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4:30, cookies and mocha in the car, at transition when it opened at 5:30. My number was in the batch at the very first rack, so I had the very first spot in transition.

Event warmup:

I suited up in time to swim some 50's before the first wave and to look down the buoys to see which hill to sight on - which turned out to be irrelevant with the pack I was in.
Swim
  • 08m 36s
  • 547 yards
  • 01m 34s / 100 yards
Comments:

Kind of an odd swim, but fun anyway. My time was fine but the field seemed hyped-up, and there was more contact than average for the first half.

Watching earlier waves, I planned to run right, dive in, and swim wide out of the narrow chute, but it was obvious a bunch of guys had the same idea. I did run far enough right to dive in without running into someone, but there was a pack, and people were on my outside most of the way. I had people swimming on my legs quite a bit.

Because of the pack and frequent contact, I didn't have to sight every 10 or 20 stokes like normal, but stayed in the group. When I did sight, we were pointed well enough.

When we hooked back at the third buoy, a lot of people cut to shore and were piled up getting out, so I veered left and swam toward the balloons. As I'd breathe, I could see that staying in the water was at least as fast as what the other people were doing.

There was carpet on the path to transition this year. Nice!
Transition 1
  • 02m 22s
Comments:

9th in AG. The suit came off okay. I'd lubed up the ankles with Body Glide and Suit Juice.

As usual, I ran through the people mounting their bikes and did a flying mount. The immediate climb up the hill was fine, and I was ready to hammer out of the park.
Bike
  • 39m 26s
  • 14 miles
  • 21.30 mile/hr
Comments:

I pushed hard on the first half, and made sure to keep the speed up out of and back into the park.

I was a little slower than other years when I was cycling more than once a week, but felt like it was a good ride. I hammered to avoid the surges and packs of previous years, and only got passed by a couple of young guys. There was one crash just in front of me that people had just arrived at, so I passed the word to the next volunteers in case they could call or radio for help. The rider had probably tumbled over a cone, and had hit the pavement with his helmet. Since I have too much experience with this sort of thing, my fingers are crossed that he's okay.

Not a bad ride, but it was a perfect measure of training vs. speed.
What would you do differently?:

I'd clearly be faster if I were riding two or thee times a week.
Transition 2
  • 01m 38s
Comments:

10th in AG. No prob.
Run
  • 22m 56s
  • 3 miles
  • 07m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

I pushed hard, and am happy with my speed despite my minimal training.
Post race
Warm down:

Just a quick round of snacks, and bumped into my friend Gil, who took 2nd in the AG.

Event comments:

Always a fun race, and the weather was like from a travel ad.

Here are the AG results:
http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/index.cfm/20130302_Desert_Tria...

http://bit.ly/13whzeq




Last updated: 2012-06-16 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:36 | 547 yards | 01m 34s / 100yards
Age Group: 15/34
Overall: 254/550
Performance: Average
Suit: 19
Course: Out from the shore, left along three buoys, then a hook turn close to shore back to swim out.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 65F / 18C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:22
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:39:26 | 14 miles | 21.30 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/34
Overall: 92/550
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: Out to a rectangle and back.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:38
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:22:56 | 03 miles | 07m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/34
Overall: 146/550
Performance: Average
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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] 5