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River Cities Triathlon - TriathlonOther


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Shreveport, LA
United States
USAT
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 03m 53s
Overall Rank = 27/35
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:45 and had a diet Coke, a sugar-free Red Bull, 2 cups of coffee and lots of water. Took 3 endurolytes and one lava salt tablet. Ate some toast. Left the house at 6:15. This is fairly standard for me but the salt tab was a new addition.
Event warmup:

This event was really, really organized. Got all set up and then swam a little.
Swim
  • 22h 30m
  • 800 yards
  • 2h 48m 45s / 100 yards
Comments:

Boy, a half mile swim sure looks different when you aren't touching a wall every 25 yards! This was my first OW swim and I just wanted to take it easy since I have panicked before in this lake. Accordingly, I lined up at the back and let the more competitive swimmers go ahead. This worked for me. I wasn't the last in my wave, but by the time everyone had spread out, I could maneuver around swimmers I wanted to pass. About halfway into the swim, some of the faster swimmers from the later (and last) wave started to catch up. These guys were pretty aggressive so I lost some of my momentum when I got hit or plowed into. Had to dog paddle a few times because I was startled, but I never panicked. Just got back into my groove.

I heard one woman yell at one of the guys to stop hitting her. We also caught up to a lone swimmer from an earlier wave and I asked her if she was doing okay. She said she was so I swam on.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. If I were a competitive AGer, perhaps I'd start more to the front. But I wanted a calm swim, and I had one. My time probably reflects that I wasn't in full on race mode, but that is what the bike and the run are for. but
Transition 1
  • 02m 52s
Comments:

T1 was a run from the beachto a parking lot where the racks were set up. They had two baby pools filled with water where you could rinse your feet as you ran from the sand to the asphalt.

Thought I did pretty good here. I practiced and just dried my feet as I was putting on a shirt and then quick into the yanks laced running shoes. I stood up for this and I didn't use socks. At my last race where I couldn't find one of my socks, I learned that I don't really need them.
What would you do differently?:

I had a pretty good T1, but looking at some of the times, I know I can improve. Perhaps I'll get less modest and not put a top on over my tri top.
Bike
  • 1h 03m 40s
  • 18.2 miles
  • 17.15 mile/hr
Comments:

I've ridden the course a few times, and boy does it go faster when you are racing! This was a very good time for me. I need to work on the hills, but I did pretty well on them. My beef is people passing me on the hills. Being a good little tri-er, I always drop back so I'm not drafting but the person in front of me then slows down so I end up passing them back. This happened several times. Very annoying. They ended up passing me eventually but it burned me up a bit.

I several race officials handing out drafting penalties from the back of a motorcycle. I also saw some very stupid biking. The roads weren't closed to cars (but they were restricted somewhat) but I saw some stupid guys passing two abreast going up a hill and in the opposite lane of traffic. What if a car had been there?

Okay, this is already long, and I'm making it even longer. When I passed anybody, I'd always call out "On your left" and then say something encouraging. I just about ran into a guy who was passing me when I was going to veer left a little bit to avoid some patched asphalt. I looked behind me and the guy was right there on top of me. Thank you,God,for making me look. Otherwise our races would have ended badly.
What would you do differently?:

Do you want to hear how stupid I am? I set my aero bottle in backwards and realized out on the course that the bottle was too far away for me to reach the straw. I'm not comfortable enough to reach down and grab a water bottle, etc., so I took in no water during my ride.
Transition 2
  • 02m 24s
Comments:

Had a bit of a run to get to my rack. Helmet off, cap on, race belt on, swig of water since I didn't have any on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Run faster? Had water on the bike so I didn't need to take a swig at T2?
Run
  • 32m 27s
  • 5 kms
  • 06m 29s  min/km
Comments:

This wasn't a very good time for me. I walked the aid stations and took on water. Took on an icy cold wet towel at one of them. Although I tried to run the whole course, I just couldn't. Had to walk a bit. I always tried to say something encouraging to those I passed and those who passed me. At about the two mile mark, a woman called out "On your left" and I said something nice to her like go for it or something. Well, I noticed she was in my age group (telltale K on her left calf) and I said something like "Hey, wait, you're in my age group, you have to stay behind me." OMG, she started walking! I told her that I was just kidding, she needed to go for it, but she said she needed to walk. After about 30 seconds, she took off again. Good for her!

Toward the end of the run, I was walking and one of the course volunteers yelled to me to run because I only had two minutes to go. I thought, "Yeah, I can do this for two minutes," and off I went. The killer is that a woman from my age group passed me at the finish line.
What would you do differently?:

Run faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Drank some water and ate some nutter butter bites.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

It is all about the training, isn't it? This is my first season of tris and when I look at where I started and where I've ended, I've made an incredible transformation. I'm not fast and I didn't lose any weight. Who cares? I have two new loves to add to my first love of running. I had never swum any distance in my life. When I looked out at that lake and saw the swim course, I wasn't panicked, I was calm because I knew I could do it. Before this season, I'd never ridden a road bike in my life, and I certainly never rode a mountain bike 18.2 miles. Yes, many are much faster than I am and the competitive side of me doesn't like it. But the incredulous side of me is amazed that I just raced 18.2 miles.

Event comments:

If you are ever in Shreveport, LA, in early August, this race is a must-do. The swag for the $65 entrance fee is incredible. We got two shirts, sun glasses, tri-shorts, hat, socks,and an incredible duffle bag. It sold out in 12 hours or something like that. It was very organized. It was fun.

Perhaps the larger world outside of Shreveport routinely goes to races like this, and if you do, you are lucky. We'll probably move next summer, but I already told my husband that I'm coming back next year. He totally understands as he was there yesterday.




Last updated: 2004-08-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
22:30:00 | 800 yards | 2h 48m 45s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/35
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Very calm lake swim with water temps probably between 80-85 degrees. Perhaps hotter. The course was triangular and clockwise,
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Below average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:52
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:03:40 | 18.2 miles | 17.15 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/35
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: First half of course, some rolling hills, the second half flatter.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:24
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:32:27 | 05 kms | 06m 29s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/35
Performance: Below average
Course: A shady course mostly on asphalt with a little bit of trail thrown in. No real hills to speak of.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2004-08-02 6:48 PM

Extreme Veteran
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Subject: River Cities Triathlon


2004-08-02 7:01 PM
in reply to: #42753

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Elite
3235
2000100010010025
San Diego
Subject: RE: River Cities Triathlon
Awesome race report. 22 hours for the swim? I guess you should have gone a little faster :-)
In my race yesterday I put my aero bottle on backwards as well. I figured it out before the race started though.
The race swag is incredible. I might have to visit there next year just to get all the stuff.
Sounds like you had a great time!
Take care
Tom
2004-08-03 12:43 AM
in reply to: #42753

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Champion
13323
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Gold member
Subject: RE: River Cities Triathlon
great report...felt like i was swimming with ya.
2004-08-03 1:19 AM
in reply to: #42753

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Extreme Veteran
448
10010010010025
Edmonton, Alberta
Subject: RE: River Cities Triathlon
Nice race report, thank you for sharing.

:-)

Roy
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