Kokopelli Triathlon

kokopelli
2009-09-26
St. George, Utah
United States
BBSC
77F / 25C
Sunny

Short Version:

I did my 2nd triathlon - only 2 weeks after my first:

Triathlon - Sprint

Total Time = 1h 59m 28s
Overall Rank = 217/238
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 8/8

Splits:

swim (750m): 22:40

t1: 2:19

bike (20k): 53:14

t2: 1:23

run (5k): 39:54

Yep, I'm in the BOP, but I met my goal of sub-2 hours

Long Version:

Pre-race routine:

This was my first away-from-home triathlon, it was 2 hours away in St. George Utah. So, I left work early on Friday to do the drive and pick-up my packet and check-in to the Hotel. I also had a work-shop on Boundaries in relationships to go to on Friday night at 5-8:30 which was the exact times of the Pasta Party, so I didn't get to go to the Pasta Party, but the workshop was worth it!

After the work-shop, I went back to the hotel and bought a lean cuisine chicken fettuccine dinner and bottle of water... ate the lean cuisine and tried to get some sleep... pretty much tossed & turned all night, then the alarm finally rang, I woke up, ate an instant oatmeal, got dressed, packed up all my stuff and I was off to the races

I got to the race - it was still REAL dark! I got my bike out of the car and had trouble putting my front wheel on in the dark... someone offered me a flashlight and that helped bunches! Thanks! Then, I pumped up my tires and proceeded to the transition area and found my rack, they had us rack our bikes by our race number, so it made it easy... but, I was in the last rack from the bike exit, but closest to the run exit...

As I was setting up my transition, I realized that I had left my sun glasses in my car... so I had to walk all the way back to my car to retrieve them...I had plenty of time, so it wasn't that bad.

I put on sunscreen and had my neighbor spray my back - he didn't want to rub my sunscreen on and get his hands greasy before he put on his wetsuit... understandable..., then I put on my wetsuit - that I hadn't put on since March - it still fit whew - Then I started to head down to the lake, but it was real rocky, so I went back and got my sandals and went down to the lake. The Elite Olympic wave had just started.

Event warmup:

I did a short out and back in the lake... the water was perfect! And my wetsuit felt so buoyant in the water!

I waited til it was our turn to start and chatted with a few folks... one man was 70 years old, and he had been doing triathlons for about 7 years now - yep, he started at 63 years old... AWESOME!!!

It was a LONG time between my warm-up and when I got to go...

Swimming
00:22:40 | 750 meters | 03m 01s / 100meters
Age Group: 4/8
Overall: 188/238

Course: Swim straight to the first triangle buoy, turn left to the next buoy, then turn left and head back in.
Start type: Wade
Water temp: 72F / 22C

Comments:

It was finally our turn to start, we walked over the timing matt to the doc and jumped into the water - it was rocky on that side, so I found a large smooth rock and stood on it til it was time to go... another short woman shared the rock with me, it was perfect! Then we were off...

Yes, I was in the middle of things... that's where the rock was - oops! I tried to find my place while swimming and soon enough, the faster swimmers passed me and I had space to move... but I couldn't move! It seemed SO far to the buoy... I did a lot of breast stroke... and tried to swim freestyle as much as I could... I finally made it to the buoy and was able to swim around it without a problem... I did breast stroke almost all the way to the next buoy... why can't I swim??? I made it around the next buoy, and finally felt like I could swim... I sighted on the Transition sign and pretty much swam freestyle all the way back in - I had FINALLY warmed up and was able to swim...

As I grabbed my sandals, I noticed that there were still swimmers in the water, YAY I wasn't last :)

As I jogged up the boat ramp to transition I unzipped my wetsuit and took off my cap & goggles and the top half of my wetsuit, then I crossed the timing matt... My watch says I did the swim in 22:08, so I guess it took about 32 seconds to get to transition.

What would you do differently?:

I need to take longer on my warm-up and do it closer to race time... It took at least 12 minutes of the 22 minute swim to warm-up... not good! I could do better!

T1
Time: 02:19

Comments:

I found my bike easily - as I was in the BOP on the final wave, my bike was just about the only one left on our rack. I quickly removed the rest of my wetsuit, took off my ironman watch (left it running) and put on my Garmin, put on socks and shoes, helmet, glasses and I was off...

What would you do differently?:

My T1 time was 94 out of 238, and that included jogging my bike all the way through transition with my bike shoes on... I think I did pretty good - I'm not sure what I could/would change...

now that I think about this more, I could get the new 310xt Garmin that I could wear in the water so I don't have to switch watches... some day...

Biking
00:53:14 | 12.43 miles | 14.01 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/8
Overall: 210/238

Course: As described on the race website: Exit T1 at the South end, ride to the main road and make a LEFT hand turn on the main road. (You will have accelerated quite a bit at this point, so please be safe making this tight turn.) About 3.3 miles down this road you will hit "The Hill". This will last approximately less than a mile and it is about a 6% grade. Go all the way to your turn around. You will have your own turn around chute in the middle of the road to keep you separated from the long course cyclists. (You cannot miss it) There will be volunteers and a wide mat at the bottom of "The Hill" going over the cattle guard. Make a RIGHT hand turn back into the park area and get ready for your run!

Comments:

I started out on the bike okay...but forgot to start my Garmin til after the first turn... oh well...at least I remembered now...

Then I see the Hill... Holy Crap!!! The RD's never published the elevation profile for the bike portion, only described the course... I was told it was a 6% grade, it looked more like 10%, and felt like 15%!!! I tried to ride up the hill... there was a woman walking her bike, I thought no, I can do this, but my muscles started shaking with fatigue, my breathing was heavy... so I did the only thing I could do, I got off my bike and started walking it up the hill - grrrrrrr... I was about 1/3rd up the hill when I started walking... I got to about 2/3rds up the hill, and got back on the bike and rode the rest of the way to the top... passing the 2 walkers... one of the walkers said she was impressed with me, I said, "No, I walked some of it too"... when I got back on my bike, somehow it felt a little easier - although still hard... I was glad when I got to the top!

Then on the downhill and flats, I passed a few people who had passed me on the hill - that's always fun... there was one woman who kept passing me and I would pass her, this happened about 2 to 3 times - that was fun! Then we came to the turn around - a tight u-turn and back we went...

I got to the BIG downhill and tried to let loose, but it was a bit scary! There was a cattle guard that they put a matt over while coming down the hill... there was a lady in front of me, but I was afraid to pass her and wipe out on the cattle guard, so I slowed WAY down and let her go over it first... then I passed her wheeeeeeee - I love going fast!

When I got to the bottom of the hill, you could see a nice view of the lake, it was such a beautiful day! I took some time to just enjoy the day and the ride - at that point I wished I had my camera with me... it was beautiful!

I rode towards the transition area, and there were runners going this way, there were riders going that way, and I got confused on where to go... I almost came to a complete stop and yelled to a volunteer - which way??? She pointed straight - DUH... so I kept going straight and got to transition... dismounted and crossed the timing matt...

What would you do differently?:

more Hill work!

T2
Time: 01:23
Comments:

Jogged with my bike - with my bike shoes on, all the way through the transition area to my rack, and someone racked their bike right in my spot... oh well, I racked my bike next to it... I removed my helmet and bike shoes, slipped on my running shoes - those Yanks are GREAT, I grabbed my water bottle and off I went... the timing matt was REAL close this time :)

What would you do differently?:

My T1 time was 126 out of 238, and that included jogging my bike all the way through transition with my bike shoes on... I think I did pretty good - I'm not sure what I could/would change...

Running
00:39:54 | 03.1099 miles | 12m 50s min/mile
Age Group: 8/8
Overall: 229/238
Performance: Below average

Course: As described on the website: Exit the NORTH end of the transition area (where you ran in FROM the swim) Cross parking lot and run the length of the parking lot to the desert. You will be running the SGTRI run course in reverse. ( No huge hill to run up on this one!) Aid stations will be at every mile out on the course, you will have HEED, Water and Hammer Gels at each aid station.

As described by me: They are full of CRAP!!! What do they call that HUGE incline if not a HILL??? Not only did we go out into the desert, but it was soft sand! Did they mention that? NOoooooo...

Comments:

After my disaster run 2 weeks ago, I had a new strategy... I was going to walk the first 3 minutes, then run 1 min/walk 30 seconds til I got to the 10 minute mark, then go to run 1 mile/walk 1 minute... I was hoping to do this run in 40 minutes, as my BEST 5k is 34:23 and I knew I couldn't come close to that after swimming & cycling...

So, I started out with a 3 minute walk... and lots of folks passed me... I was surprised at how many people were behind me... but, lots of them were doing the olympic distance... okay... so, I get to the run portion and right away, pain in my shins... grrrrrrrrr... but I thought I could run for a minute!! so I did... when I got to the HUGE uphill, I walked the thing and went back to timing a 1 minute run/30 sec walk... I continued this for longer than 10 minutes as my shins were KILLING me! I felt like crying... ok, I did a few "oooohhh, ouch," whines out loud when I was by myself... I still ran for a full minute when I could... after about 22 minutes, I could finally run! I took 2 more short walk breaks after that, but mostly ran it in... at the last water stop, I tossed my water bottle away - it was almost empty, and I knew I would get water at the finish... it was uphill on pavement after the water stop... I ran up the hill and asked myself if I had any kick left... not much...but I tried to kick it in anyway - and finally crossed the finishing matt - tried to smile for the camera...

They had a clock at the finish, but it was WAY wrong as it was started for the Elite Wave, so I wasn't sure of my finish time... secretly, I wanted a sub-2 hour finish...

What would you do differently?:

I'm at a loss... this shin pain has got to stop!

More Bricks!

Post Race:

Warm down:

As I crossed the finish line, someone removed my chip, and I was handed a bottle of water and a medal - it's a nice medal :)

I ate a couple of orange wedges and mini bagels, and chatted with a couple of people as I cooled down in the shaded tent. Then I went over to transition to pack up my stuff. I picked up my ironman watch and noticed that the time was 2:07... It was nice to see that I got close to my 2 hour time goal... I didn't know the final results til the next day!


What limited your ability to perform faster:

I sooooo want to blame the elevation in St. George... but it's not THAT much higher than Las Vegas... the weather was soooo nice, unlike Vegas, it more than made up for the elevation... so, I guess I'm just slow... get over it!

Seriously, I need to lose weight and train more...

Thanks for reading

FINALLY - My first Triathlon Race

Before I start on this RR, I want to give a little history for those who don't know me:

In May of 2008, I ran my first Marathon and got 2 stress fractures... so, after recovery, in around November, 2008, I started training for triathlons - a new challenge, but less stress on my body... My first Tri was supposed to be in April of 2009, but in March, I started having BAD shin splints and decided with the help of my Physical Therapist, to NOT do the race in April... I took time off, worked with my PT - the minute I started running again - shin splints

Then I found an Active Release Technique Doctor who told me to go out and run, bike, swim... do what I wanted to do... I'm happy to say, that I FINALLY got to my first triathlon start-line yesterday - now to finish...

Lake Las Vegas Sprint Triathlon
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunset Racing
90* – 100* (all I know is it was HOT - and even HOTTER at the end)
Sunny

Triathlon - Sprint
Total Time = 2h 25m 37s
Overall Rank = 207/226
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 10/11

Pre-race routine:

I had laid all of my stuff out the night before the race, so on race morning, I just had to get dressed and pack the stuff into my back-pack and load my bike in the car.

I woke up early enough to eat a whole packet of instant oatmeal... usually nothing wants to go down that early... I also drank a bottle of water on the way to the race - about a 40 minute travel time.

I arrived at the race and met up with my friend and her roommate, who did not do the race. We walked our bikes over to transition, got body marked and set-up transition and took a few pictures. I thought we were early, but there were hardly any spaces left... I got a GREAT space anyway...

It was kinda funny that my bike didn't touch the ground at all... it's hard to see in the picture, but it was the only one that was just hanging in mid-air... I still love my bike! (It's the one with the pink fork)

This is me showing off my body markings:

My friend Jenn & I before the race: and NO, we didn't go shopping together - we just both like zoot :)

Event warmup:

The oly race started at 6:30 and the Sprint start was at 7:30… I was in the last wave, so I didn’t start til 7:45ish, My friend and I walked down to the beach as we were supposed to be able to start our warm-up at 7:00… but they didn’t let us near the water til about 7:15ish as many Oly swimmers were still finishing. It was fun to watch the swimmers come out of the water after their long swim.

I swam to the nearest doc and back... I felt out of breath, and wondered how I'm going to be able to do this race...

Swimming
00:23:49 | 800 meters | 02m 59s / 100meters
Age Group:	7/11
Overall:	198/226
Performance:	Good
Suit:	no wetsuit allowed
Course:	swim under the bridge to the bouey's... around 2 bouey's, back under the bridge to the beach... then run about a quarter mile to transition to where the timing matt is.

Comments:

The race only used 1 set of Bouey’s for both the oly & the sprint, after the Oly, they moved the bouey’s… It was tough to see the actual course from where we were standing, so I just swam til I got past the bridge, figured out where to swim next, then swam to the first bouey, then figured out where to go next, etc. I suppose that slowed me down a bit, but it was better than swimming WAY in the wrong direction…

I surprised myself on the swim. I thought it would take MUCH longer and that I would be the last one out of the water... but that wasn't the case... I sighted well, drafted some, and there were still people swimming when I got out :) Even one of the Volunteers commented, “you told me you’d be the last out of the water” and he gave me a High Five!

My time on the swim looks longer than it actually was since they added most of the transition onto the swim time... I hit the lap button on my Ironman watch after I got out of the water – my actual swim time was 20:32 – not bad, I’ll take it!

What would you do differently?:

I had taken my flip-flops to the beach, I ran with them a little way, but ended up taking them off. I'll just go barefoot next time.

T1
Time:	02:17

Comments:

Take off my goggles and swim cap, put on socks, bike shoes, helmet, sun glasses, race-number belt - grab the bike and go…

During this transition, I talked to my neighbor - who didn't finish the race...he looked fine, he wasn't injured, so I asked what happened... he said he swallowed a bunch of water and had a horrible swim - whatever - there's 1 person I beat to the finish!

We had to run with our bikes past the matt to the mounting line… then I stopped, made sure I got my feet on the pedals, etc… no running or fancy start for me…

Biking
01:06:38 | 14.44 miles | 13.00 mile/hr
Age Group:	6/11
Overall:	173/226
Performance:	Good
Wind:	Some
Course:	very HILLY... come out of transition up-hill, and continue to the steepest climb of the course. Then some downhill til you climb again, then an awesome downhill portion to the turn-around... after the turn-around, you must climb what you just came down... then a nice downhill back to transition

Comments:

I had Soooooo much fun on the bike... I was able to pass people and only got passed a couple of times. I like going fast on the descents! My max speed measured 36.7mph… I know people go MUCH faster than that, but that’s my fastest to date J

Lap	Time	Distance	Pace/Speed
1	06m 57s	1.00 miles	8.63 mph
2	03m 37s	1.00 miles	16.59 mph
3	07m 21s	1.00 miles	8.16 mph
4	06m 10s	1.00 miles	9.73 mph
5	02m 11s	1.00 miles	27.48 mph
6	01m 56s	1.00 miles	31.03 mph
7	02m 06s	1.00 miles	28.57 mph
8	03m 43s	1.00 miles	16.14 mph
9	06m 08s	1.00 miles	9.78 mph
10	07m 01s	1.00 miles	8.55 mph
11	07m 54s	1.00 miles	7.59 mph
12	03m 11s	1.00 miles	18.85 mph
13	02m 02s	1.00 miles	29.51 mph
14	02m 54s	1.00 miles	20.69 mph
15	02m 34s	0.54 miles	12.67 mph

What would you do differently?:

I put electrolyte mix in my aero bottle, but didn't put enough. Then I finished that and had to stop to re-fill my bottle. I didn't have any electrolyte mix in my 2nd bottle.

I need to learn how to drink from the cage or at least re-fill from the cage without having to stop for the refill...

T2
Time:	01:10

We had to stop at the mounting line – again, nothing fancy here… just stopped my bike like normal and ran up to the matt with it, racked it and took off my helmet and cycling shoes, put on running shoes and off I went…

Running
00:51:45 | 03.62 miles | 14m 18s min/mile
Age Group:	11/11
Overall:	214/226
Performance:	Bad
Course:	Hills, Hills, Hills - started with an uphill out of transition, and then a slight incline to head out to the dirt road. once on the dirt road the hills were very steep! up and down... came back out of the desert portion and ran around the transition area and went another mile down the road to the Village where the finish line was.

Comments:

I expected to have trouble running, but not THAT much trouble! I figured I'd run & walk til I got my legs under me, but once my legs were under me, I started getting shin pain - DARN... I stopped to stretch, loosened my shoe laces, stretched again... someone offered me gatorade... I took a sip, and kept walking. It took a good 2.5 miles before I could run - and then I was out of energy.

The race had advertised a 3.18 mile run… but I truly believe they set-up the turn-around in the wrong place… It even shows it wrong on their map! After about 2.5 miles, there was a sign that said “1 mile to go” the man I was running with at that point and I thought it must be wrong! But, it was right… According to my Garmin, the run was 3.62 miles, so that’s what I’m counting… I still can’t decide if this was the longest 3 miles I ever ran – it’s a close race with the last 3 of the Marathon I did last year.

Lap	Time	Distance	Pace/Speed
1	16m 09s	1.00 miles	16m 09s /mile
2	15m 40s	1.00 miles	15m 40s /mile
3	12m 51s	1.00 miles	12m 51s /mile
4	07m 11s	0.62 miles	11m 39s /mile

Almost to the finish, and I saw my friend walking back to her car… she had an event to go to after the race, she congratulated me on my race and told me it wasn’t much further to the finish – you couldn’t see the finish line til the last about .05 of a mile… I crossed a matt that brought up my name to the announcers, and as I crossed the finish line matts, they announced my name – even correctly (although he did stumble on it for a second) I threw my arms up in the air as if I won the race and smiled for the camera…I actually had to hold back tears of joy and accomplishment... I hope the pictures come out well!

What would you do differently?:

1. walk more out of transition... my body needs more time to adjust.
2. Bring a hand-held with water or electrolyte in it.
3. do more bricks

Post race

got to the finish and grabbed water & a bagel... walked around a bit then went and stretched. As I was walking around, I looked down to the lake… there was my team from work on the row boats – too cool! I yelled to them (I was supposed to practice with them, but I did the race) Then I cheered for the winners in the awards ceremony. I was glad that I finished in time for the awards

It was a LONG walk back to transition (just over a mile), I packed up my stuff and rode my bike back to my car. Came home and crashed!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

my run sucked! I need to practice running off the bike, and see if electrolyte replacement will help with shin splints?

If you read this whole thing