Pendalton International Triathlon, August 3, 1997, Race Report
I had a great race. Woke up at 4:30am and had breakfast: Oatmeal, Banana, 1 egg and drank a ton of water. We left for the race around 5:15 and I drank water until 6:30. Remembering my fluid problems on the last race I decided to give a full 90 minutes without water before the race. It worked. My bladder didn't bother me for this race. We arrived at 6:30 and I got my race number (32) and racked my bike and setup my transition area. Collette, my dad and I spent the next 40 minutes on the beach relaxing. Around 7:40 we headed down the beach for the start. I went in the water to warm up, but the water was freezing. I'm starting to think an investment in a good wetsuit is a good idea. A friend (Chad) was racing in this race. He started in the heat in front of me with a 3 minute head start. I knew I could catch him on the swim and was hoping to keep my lead on the bike.
I got a good start on the swim this time. I tried to relax on entry into the water and not hyperventilate like I did at the last race. It succeeded. I made it past the surf line without any problems and was with the leaders of the pack. I rounded the first buoy and was feeling good. My swim coach told me to put on some steam if I felt good after the first 500k. I did and pounded towards the second buoy. I was passing people left and right, all from the previous heat. My goggles let me down and were leaking the whole way. I kept stopping to site the next buoy and drain water from my goggles. I rounded the last buoy feeling even better and added some more steam. I knew there was at least one yellow cap 25M in front of me, but had been gaining on him. The beach was directly into the sun and it took a while to figure out the right direction. The crowd was heading the wrong direction and I stopped to see where I was going. As I got close to shore, a big wave (4 ft.) sneaked up on me and pitched me into the sand. I didn't have much air, but stayed on the bottom until it passed. Ouch. Caught a couple of waves in and Collette was there to greet me. "Your number 6 with a time of 23 minutes! You are one minute behind the leader.". Wow! One minute, a good wetsuit would have given me 2 minutes and the lead!
A long run from the beach to the bike and a quick transition. I was off. I got a little way out and sucked down my first goo. Washed it down with water. There were a few nasty hills on this course. I need to do some hill work. I probably lost a good 5 minutes on the hills. Chad didn't pass me until a little while past the 17k turn around. He was riding with a big pack. That's what he told me later. Pack riding is cheating! I stayed well behind the pack and watched them inch ahead of me. They were gone in about 15 minutes. The pack had at least 15 people in it. Oh well, this is my race. I came back down a big hill and had my second goo at the bottom. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer. It gave me a little cramp, which was gone by the time I got to the run. I ran out of water near the end of the bike. I need to get a big bottle for my aerobars and that should solve my problems on the Olympic distance. Maybe have to get another bottle cage for the 1/2 Ironman. Collette said my bike to run transition was less than 1 minute. I need to get some real running shorts. The ones I have are too heavy and hot! My bike time was 1:20 with an average speed of 28.7k/hr. A little slower than the last race, probably because of the hills.
Out of the transition area and running on my tree stumps. That's what they fell like after a 40k bike. I got my breathing down early in the run and moved along at a good pace. An early water table was helpful. I need to work on drinking from a cup while I am running. I about gagged when the water tried to go down the wrong pipe. There was a nasty hill in the middle of the run. It wasn't all that long, but steep. I got up it fine, but as usual they have a water stop after a big hill! I could barely breathe let alone drink. This time I stopped to sip the water. The run course was a double loop. On my way back to the first turn around, the run course was very crowded. I was hoping this meant that I was in the top 1/2 of the race since it wasn't that crowded when I started. I looped around for the second loop. I grabbed some water, sipped some, dumped the rest on my head and ran back towards the hill. This time the hill was a little tougher. Overall, I was passed by a lot of people, but made sure I ran my race at my pace. Towards the end my legs were really burning. My run time for the 10k was 51 minutes. My best 10k ever! My run times have really been dropping with 3 personal records in the past week!
My overall time was 2:34. I was 13th in my age group out of 24 people. I was 11 minutes behind Chad. Not bad for my first real triathlon. I now know I can win the swim if I just keep at it.
Should have done at least one brick that was a little longer than race distance. Say 50k bike and 12k run.
Need to work on my hill climbing. Especially if I am going to do Wildflower next year. They say the hills there are deadly.
A sane entry into the water helps in the long run. I went out way to fast in Carlsbad.
Figure out why my goggles are leaking.
Need to get some better running shorts.
Need to work on drinking from a cup while running.
Keep at it and I can be a contender next season. Looking towards Sydney in 2000!!!
We saw Larry on the 405 on the way home. I rolled down the window and told him how I did. What are the odds??!
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