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Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Lake San Antonio, California
United States
Tri-California
Total Time = 2h 48m 14s
Overall Rank = 381/2363
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 38/211
Pre-race routine:

I had a very short taper for this race (see HERE). Pre-race food was two rounds of BBQ chicken, ribs, and tri tip. Perhaps a bit heavy, but yummy.

In any case, night time comes around soon enough and I'm all too ready to sleep. I slept soundly and wake at first light. I make my trip to the bathrooms (first things first!) and return and lie down for awhile longer since it's still early and the race starts mercifully late at 9:00am and my wave isn't until 9:45 anyhoo.

My friend JD is up and since I forgot to bring a critical piece of our camp stove, I ahve to beg some water from her for coffee. She and her friend also toast some wheat english muffins on their camp stove to which I add some almond butter and some local honey from our farmers market.



The sun is warming things up nicely. JD and I get our respective gear together and head down to transition. It's a big scene here. I'm not sure if JD and I will see each other again until after the race.

I go set up most of my transition area and then head to the bathroom line which goes quickly. I wander around the transition area a bit and wish good luck to all of my fellow tri club members that I can find.

It's back to my transition area. I watch the collegiate waves start to come into transition and head out on the bike. Soon enough, it's time to suit up and head to the start.

Last year, I remember feeling so exhausted before starting this race, but my recovery seemed to be much better this year and I felt pretty good.

I see DW here with camera in hand at the swim start and she wishes me good luck again.




Soon, the wave before mine goes out and I head into the water to get wet.



We're asked to exit the water and get behind the line.


I place myself on the outside and about halfway back, just like yesterday.
Event warmup:

none. never do.
Swim
  • 30m 40s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 02s / 100 meters
Comments:

The horn goes off and it's a short trot to the water, a little of wading in the water and then I dive right in.



I feel okay and minimal incidental contact, but I'm way outside and need to cut inside to get to the first buoy.



Somewhere along the out segment, I had goggle problems. One of the straps slipped off my head so I have to stop to get this straightened out. This is my own fault since I didn't replace the straps at the start of the season and they had lost some of their elasticity.

The swim went uneventfully although I did zig zag a bit (although less than yesterday). Never found anyone off of whom I could draft though.



What would you do differently?:

I thought my swim went okay, but as it turns out, it was probably my worst swim in an Oly. Maybe my swim is just slow this year, probably because of the 7 months I took off from swimming...
Transition 1
  • 03m 50s
Comments:



it's up the boat ramp on rough concrete and all the way through almost all the way to the other end of transition.

My transition went fairly smoothly (suit still stuck on ankles) and maybe half the bikes in my immediate area in transition are still there, so I guess I'm doing okay.
Bike
  • 1h 21m 52s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 18.21 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike starts off with a climb up Lynch hill right out of transition. I'm taking a relaxed pace, not wanting to hammer the hills. My legs feel pretty good, esp. considering yesterday. I'm passing a few folks on the hill even some of my fellow GGTCers. At the top of the hill, there is a group from GGTC on the sidelines cheering me on. That's always a great feeling.

I'm on the stretch of road between here and Interlake Rd. It's somewhat crowded with other racers so I take my time to pass carefully. I get to pass some on the downhill and pass others on the uphill and a handfull who are passing me as well.

Onto interlake. This is one of just a couple stretches where I can stay in aero for a bit before hitting a hill. I'm passing a good number of folks. Climb on the uphills, out of aero when I'm moving too slowly for it to matter, then blasting on the downhills. I'm more aero than most on teh downhills, so I have to very carefully pass people. I love carrying my momentum from the downhill up the next hill which gives me a head start on the climb. It pretty much goes like this on the hills on the out section. I pass some of my fellow GGTCers and cheer them on.

There is a stretch towards the end of the out section where it's a false flat, but it's really downhill, but the headwind doesn't really allow any of us to take real advantage of it. The only upside to the headwind is that when we turnaround for the gentle climb back up on thie stretch, we get a tailwind.

After the turnaround, I'm jockeying back and forth with a guy on a road bike and we chat it up a little bit. I gain or pass him on the flat and downhills and he takes me on the uphills. I'm passing quite a few people and getting passed every so often too. Up and down, up and down. That's Wildflower. My legs are still feeling pretty decent, so I can't complain.

Soon enough, I get back to the flat stretch before where I turn off of interlake and back towards the park. Because I have this flat stretch followed by the downhill, I pull away from the road bike guy and stay ahead of him for awhile, but he inevitably catches up to me and pulls ahead. I just behind him.

We make the turn onto Lynch Hill. Here at the top the GGTC group is once again cheering, which puts a smile on my face. Down Lynch Hill, trying to be safe when I pass. I approach transition, come up to the dismount line and stop and dismount.
Transition 2
  • 01m 22s
Comments:

I'm racked close to the bike in again, which is great. Transition goes quickly and I can then run/trot the length of transition in running shoes (rather than in bike shoes if I had been racked further down).
Run
  • 50m 30s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 08s  min/mile
Comments:

I'm familiar with this course. First time I ran the Oly course last year, I made the mistake of not realizing the course was marked in km and not miles. Not this year. My legs are the typical post-ride leaden.



I'm moving okay along the road along the shoreline. I'm passing some, including some GGTC team mates who I cheer on, but I'm also totally getting smoked on the run by some.

I stop off at the portapotties. Sweet relief. I pass road bike guy and ask him how he's doing. He says it's how he always is right after the bike. I pull ahead of him. Onward and upward. Then it's down near the campgrounds and then we see the first hill. There's another racer who makes some comment about how big the hill is and I tell him the big one is after that one (okay, maybe that wasn't the most encouraging thing I could have said).

Somewhere along this hill, road bike guy catches up to me and passes me. He jokes that it's just like on the bike. I laugh. He says I'll catch him at the finish. I said no way, you can have it. I'm making my way up the hill steadily, albeit slowly, although there are others who are slower because they are walking.

Then it's back down and we're at the area where the long course has the turnaround at the bottom of "the pit" and I can see the turnaround marking on the ground where I was running less than 24 hours ago.

My legs still don't feel completely loose, but I make steady progress on the hills passing a good number of people (and of course still getting passed by some). Up some more and it's not too bad. Then it's down for a bit. Before we start heading up, they direct us off the road onto the trail that parallels the road. I'm chugging along going as fast as my legs will let me go. Mentally, I'm feeling much better than I was a year ago when I was feeling weary with the last couple miles to go.

Soon enough, there's the top of Lynch Hill and the last mile to go. The GGTC crowd is here and GN even steps out into the road and walk right up to me and cheers me on. Down the hill, I take a quick turnover of my feet and hope I dont' trip up. I'm actually passing people on this stretch. Down, down, down. Before we're all the way down, I catch up to road bike guy and say hi. He says "I don't know how you do it." I said "me neither" and I take off, fully expecting him to pass me on the flats.

I come onto the carpet for the final 200m. I still have something left so I crank up the speed and am in as much of a full sprint as I can muster. I pass people through this last stretch and then I'm past the finish line.
Post race
Warm down:

It's like an instant replay of yesterday. I get my medal and a wet towel for my neck and shoulders. I stop to have my timing chip removed. Then I head to the food area. I slug down some water and gatorade. RL and another GGTCer are here and we congratulate each other.

THe food line is pretty long, but there's no line at the powerbar giveaways so I grab a couple of those. DW fins me and congratulates me again.






Last updated: 2010-03-22 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:30:40 | 1500 meters | 02m 02s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/211
Overall: 887/2363
Performance:
Suit:
Course: The 1.5k (.93 mile) swim course will begin at the Lynch Ramp. There will be more than 20 wave starts at 5 minute intervals beginning with Collegiate Men, Collegiate Women, Age Group Men, Team In Training Men, Age Group Women, Team In Training Women and Relay Teams. Swimmers will swim in a clockwise direction on the triangular course. The course will have sailboats, clearly marked, at the corners and there will be course marker buoys and lifeguards on long boards every 100 yards. The swimmers will exit the water, go through the timing area, up the ramp and into the transition area.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:50
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:21:52 | 24.85 miles | 18.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/211
Overall: 318/2363
Performance:
Wind:
Course: The bike course is 40K (24.8 miles) long and should be considered relatively difficult. The bike portion of the course will be marked by Large Green Diamonds. Cyclist will leave the transition area to the north and proceed directly up "Lynch Hill" (a very steep climb.) Turn right on San Antonio Drive and head out of the park to Interlake Road. Turn right on Interlake Road and proceed over rolling hills to the turn-around point at mile 12.4. Triathletes will return to the park on the same roads. As they re-enter the park, riders turn left and head down Lynch Hill and back to the transition area.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:22
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:50:30 | 06.21 miles | 08m 08s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/211
Overall: 498/2363
Performance:
Course: The 10k (6.2 mile) run course is a combination of road and trails through campgrounds and challenging hills. The run portion of the course will be marked by Small Green Diamonds.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2010-05-31 2:22 PM

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