Lake Padden Triathlon - Competitive Course - Triathlon


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Bellingham, Washington
United States
City of Bellingham
59F / 15C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 13m 35s
Overall Rank = 92/221
Age Group = M3539
Age Group Rank = 11/25
Pre-race routine:

This was my one year triathlon anniversary and my A race. I had lot's of butterflies in my stomach at the beginning. This race wrecked me last year. My goal was to go sub 2:15 and I did it. Huge improvement over last year's 2:42. Drank 2 cups of coffee, at rice pilaf with an egg, ate a granola bar.
Event warmup:

Swam for 5 minutes. It was not enough.
Swim
  • 14m 50s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 41s / 100 yards
Comments:

I positioned myself in the middle front of the 3rd wave. I figured I start too fast anyway, so I might as well avoid running into people. I had a good swim, swam front crawl the whole way, and kept kicking to a minimum. I sighted a lot, every 2nd or 3rd breath, because I'm not very good at it and I'm not all that confident I can swim straight. I stayed mostly on course and finished eager to hit the bike. This was a large improvement over last year, when I swam the course in 19:59.
What would you do differently?:

Learn to swim straight and sight every 5th breath. Get my head lower in the water and my feet up.
Transition 1
  • 03m 14s
Comments:

Estimated T1 based on Garmin. This was a slow transition as usual. Ran up the hill to transition, slowly took off my wetsuit, grabbed my bike stuff and ran out and up the hill before clipping in. I felt good and was 2 minutes faster than last year. I had an awesome spot right by the bike exit/entrance, so minimal time spent running in my bike shoes.
What would you do differently?:

One day I will get out of my wetsuit quickly, but for now it is new and I'm not willing to abuse it :-)
Bike
  • 1h 10m 6s
  • 21 miles
  • 17.97 mile/hr
Comments:

I felt unprepared for this bike. I did not feel strong and took it easy up the hills. Roads were a little wet and I only tapped my brakes on a few blind corners. I stayed in aero using clip on bars for about 60% of the rid. 12 minutes and 2.5mph better than last year.
What would you do differently?:

Train much more. This is the low hanging fruit.
Transition 2
  • 01m 6s
Comments:

This was a great transition for me. I changed into my running shoes so fast I had to stop and think about what I forgot. Wasted 10 seconds pulling a snickers bar out of my saddle bag.
What would you do differently?:

Stage my area better, take off shoes on the bike.
Run
  • 44m 19s
  • 5.2 miles
  • 08m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

No calf cramps! I learned to push my heels down on the bike and as a result I did not cramp like every one of my previous 4 races. Woohoo. Took it easy at the beginning, ramped up too much and started getting cramps in both quads halfway through. Eased up again, then ramped up and finished strong. Splits were 9:06, 8:15, 8:34, 8:58, 8:03. This was 6.5 minutes faster than last year but still my worse (relative) event.
What would you do differently?:

I need to loose a few pounds and train a little more. My volume leading up to the race was around 12 miles per week. 15-20 would be better.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, ate a banana, hugged my son, kissed my wife, ran another 2.6 mile loop with my friend.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Body weight is too high (BMI of 26.4), bike endurance is poor.

Event comments:

The atmosphere was great and the course is awesome. Post race activities were OK. I liked the music but food was pretty limited compared to larger events.




Last updated: 2014-03-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:50 | 880 yards | 01m 41s / 100yards
Age Group: 6/25
Overall: 79/221
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vector Pro Full
Course: Out and back across Lake Padden
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:14
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:10:06 | 21 miles | 17.97 mile/hr
Age Group: 10/25
Overall: 89/221
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Loop on open roads with constant hills. Very few flat parts.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:06
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:44:19 | 05.2 miles | 08m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 12/25
Overall: 106/221
Performance: Average
Course: Two loops around Lake Padden on gravel trail with a few hills.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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] 5