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Giant Acorn Sprint - TriathlonSprint


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Bumpass, Virginia
United States
Set Up Events
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 53m 48s
Overall Rank = 149/252
Age Group = athena
Age Group Rank = 3/10
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5. Had breakfast (cereal and chobani yogurt and black tea); took care of business. Got dressed then woke up the kids to get dressed and nursed the baby. Got in the car by 6:17. An hour to the race site. 4 yr old was cold and insisted I hold him so he could put his hands under my arms while waiting for packet pick up. He came with me to chip pick up and race marking too. Then I called my husband to come take him away! Went and set up my transition site. Hit the bathroom again. I had an hour until my wave. I waffled and waffled on whether to wear the wetsuit. The water was 73 and I have swum in colder with no wetsuit. Finally I decided that I had enough time, I should put it on, swim a little and then take it off if it didn't work. So I put it on (took a long time) and then I couldn't really zip it up myself. It also felt hard to raise my arms. I almost took it off. But I went down to the water and got someone to zip for me. Then I got in the water. It felt hard to move my arms. I tried pulling it up higher all over - legs, torso, and arms, and then it felt like I had more arm movement.
Event warmup:

Swam some. Still waffling on wetsuit. Went back to transition and took my picture in the wetsuit. Decided I was too lazy to take it off. Was hoping that the buoyancy would make me faster. Went back to the water and swam a bit more. Felt good. Not enough shoulder motion, but OK.

Saw my family right before the start and got kisses all around.
Swim
  • 17m 18s
  • 820 yards
  • 02m 07s / 100 yards
Comments:

Well, I feel a little disappointed in the swim, but maybe my goals are too ambitious. Hubby says I shouldn't expect to be as fast in a race as I am in the pool. He's probably right.
The water was warm (compared to the air!) and flat. No current. But my wave had close to 200 people. I actually had two people veer in front of me from each side and collide in front of me. There was just a lot of contact almost the whole race. It wasn't until the final couple hundred yards that I picked up the pace and swam better form. I was breathing on my left probably 75% of the time. It was hard to kick well with the wetsuit because I was higher in the water. When I stood up and started to run out of the water, I felt fatigued. My muscles felt just tired, like when you're on a diet and not eating enough and it's hard to climb the stairs.


What would you do differently?:

Not wear a wetsuit, or rent a farmer john wetsuit.
I don't know what to do about people. Maybe I need to work harder to keep my form and every-other-side breathing. (But I put "good" overall because this was my best event of the 3.)
Transition 1
  • 03m 15s
Comments:

I didn't know how easy I could get the wetsuit off, so I used the wetsuit strippers. I think they were in middle school. But it was fast. Got out of breath running up the hill. Did all the planned transition stuff. I could have been a little faster.
What would you do differently?:

I don't know. It was fine.
Bike
  • 57m 58s
  • 16 miles
  • 16.56 mile/hr
Comments:

Goal was to do under an hour, though I thought I would be closer to 50 min! But there was quite a bit of uphill. Right out of transition is a big uphill. Compared to the longer races I've been doing, this race was always very crowded. And for some reason this was the race of people not staying to the right. There were all sorts of people just wandering towards the middle and I was continually yelling "On your left!!" There were enough times that there were two or three people trying to pass at once that this was an annoyance. I wasn't over 16 mph at the beginning because of the uphill. Plus I hadn't hit my watch at the end of T1, so I had a few extra min on my watch and I thought I wasn't doing very well. But I was mostly passing people and working very hard. I'm happy with my pace for a rolling hill route. There was one time where a motorcycle was in my way. I think it was a USAT official. And there was a pickup truck I passed. No idea why it was going 10 mph. One of the last people I passed was a 12 yr old boy!
What would you do differently?:

I don't know. I could be a bit more aggressive on turns.
Transition 2
  • 01m 43s
Comments:

Boy did my quads feel beat after this bike! Always fun to run downhill with wobbly legs. Everything went smoothly.
What would you do differently?:

Nada
Run
  • 33m 36s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 10m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

This run was one of my best 5k's ever! Better even then stand-alone 5k's I did last summer! I was bolstered by the fact that it was so short. I was able to push myself really hard. My legs felt totally useless coming out of transition, and then there's a steep uphill, followed by a more gradual uphill. Felt like I was barely moving, panting. I didn't walk except maybe 5s to drink water at the aid stations. I told myself that the legs would feel better soon and just keep moving. I was excited to see the first mile under 12 min. I tried to pick it up a tad. The course was still a little rolling. I saw Elvis after the turn-around, and he eventually passed me. Elvis with a cape. The second mile was faster. Then another athena passed me. I tried to keep up with her, but I couldn't. Third mile, I was feeling good and couldn't believe I had just a mile or so left. Picked up the pace more. Once I got to the downhill through the woods, I really RAN. I saw someone in front of me I thought might be the other athena, so I booked it and tried to pass her. I didn't manage to, finished about 10 feet behind her. (But she wasn't athena.)
What would you do differently?:

Pick up the pace a bit sooner.
Post race
Warm down:

Family was waiting for me a bit before the finish. I went to give a high 5 to the 4 yr old but he wanted to run with me. He couldn't keep up, but was first to meet me at the finish line. I caught my breath. Then went and stood in a really long line for pizza. Turns out I was 3rd in athena! Not long before they announced my name, my 4 yr old fell off a slide so I was holding him. So I took him to the podium with me. The 1st place athena had to help me up. That kid weighs 36 lbs. Then my 1 yr old wanted to get on the podium too. I had to drag both kids away. There were some awesome other racers: Two women in the 65-69 category, another guy who was doing his 100th triathlon, and a 79 yr old man! Wow!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

wetsuit...maybe; lots of people all over the course; otherwise I don' t know.




Last updated: 2013-09-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:17:18 | 820 yards | 02m 07s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/10
Overall: 85/252
Performance: Good
Suit: borrowed wetsuit, full sleeves
Course: 3 sides of a rectangle, clockwise
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 73F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:15
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:57:58 | 16 miles | 16.56 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/10
Overall: 126/252
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: lollipop shape; uphill, out, rolling hills on the sucker part, then downhill back to transition.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:43
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:33:36 | 03.1 miles | 10m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/10
Overall: 199/252
Performance: Good
11:44 11:33 9:50 0:28
Course: uphill, out-n-back spur, through the woods on pavement downhill to the finish
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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

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2013-09-29 5:43 PM

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Virginny
Subject: Giant Acorn Sprint


2013-09-30 10:38 AM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Giant Acorn Sprint
I love reading your race reports!!! I can imagine the entire thing from the way you describe it! I crack up when I picture the kids having to be dragged off of the podium! They are determined to be winners just like mom. That's the right attitude! Great race. Awesome accomplishment, and great run.

Edited by PsyTri 2013-09-30 10:38 AM
2013-09-30 8:39 PM
in reply to: #4866631

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Penticton, BC
Subject: RE: Giant Acorn Sprint
Another great race & report. Your run was excellent. Really fun to read about it. Like PsyTri says it made me feel like I was there.

It is a strange feeling at the end of the season eh. I've been really slow and kind of lost without some goals to work for. Use this time to relax and plan your races for next year - when we'll be stronger and faster.
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