Mayo Lake Sprint-done!

TrySports Mayo Lake Triathlon


2010-08-07


Roxboro, North Carolina


United States

FSSERIES

80F / 27C

Sunny

Triathlon - Sprint
Total Time = 1h 27m 49s
Overall Rank = 24/153
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 8/30

Pre-race routine:
Up at 4:30 or so, let Lainey sleep until almost 5. Car was loaded up the night before, so I just puttered around. Peanut butter, banana, and honey on whole wheat for breakfast, and a cup of decaf coffee. We hit the road at 5:31 am.

Event warmup:
I had time to do a 4-minute run out of transition, didn't get the normal 10-minute bike in. Oh well. Took a Strawberry/Banana Gu at 7:45. Sipping on Blueberry/Pomegranate GU Brew throughout the morning.


Swim
Comments:
Started on the backline, and just focused on swimming my race, and on swimming on-course. I achieved both of those. Caught a couple of drafts here and there, but moved off as needed. Swam to the best of my current ability, didn't have to make any significant course corrections, sighted about every 12th stroke or so. Caught Alan running up out of the water, so we were pretty much on-par with each other for the swim.



I can't remember a better-feeling swim. Had I not had to navigate around a few frog-kickers, I would've made up a few more spots. Though I was 21/30 AG and 111/153 OA, I thought this was one of my best efforts in a non-wetsuit swim. I can see steady progress if I'll just stick with it. Swimming focus must remain for the rest of the season, through the winter. Need coaching first.

What would you do differently?:
It's time to actually get some lessons, and join masters. It's hard to suck so bad at swimming, then nail the bike and run, EVERY time.

T1
Comments:
I really lost a lot of positions here. I really thought it was a lot quicker than this, but I got bogged down putting on socks, in advance of the trail run that would be coming up after the bike. Looking back, I should've gone shoeless on the bike, and put on the easy-to-pull-on socks (black) just before the run, instead of trying to pull up the Sock Guy socks before the bike. All said, I hit my goal of sub-2:00 on T1.

What would you do differently?:
No socks on the bike, put the socks on before the run.


Bike
Comments:
Took an Orange Burst GU when I turned back onto 49/Virgilina Rd. Felt good out of the gate. Right before the race, I swapped to the Vista SLs with the 12-27 cassette still installed. Traded aero for weight. For 75% of the race I was happy with that decision, then came the flat road headwind...

No one passed me for good on the bike. Had one guy at the start who passed me on 2 successive downhills, then I rolled past him on the uphills for good. Another guy that passed me back after I passed him on Mill Creek, then I put him away too.

Caught up to halfpint, who had a fantastic swim, and was working a great bike, out on Mill Creek. He snarled "you and your legs!" as I went by :)

Early on, there was quite a bit of blocking, position fouls, riding left of center...I was calling out "Move right unless you're passing!!" quite a bit at the start. 111th out of the water, and 14th after the bike...not bad.

Took second Gu (Vanilla Bean) with about 3 miles left on the bike.

What would you do differently?:
Race wheels? Aero helmet? More work on flat road headwind power generation? I felt like I worked the hills well.

T2
Comments:
This felt like a very good T2. Breezed in, breezed out. Took a bit to get the shoes off due to the wonky strap on the right shoe, but I got the bike racked, shoes off, helmet off, slid on the Wave Elixirs, grabbed hat, race belt, and water bottle and was gone.

What would you do differently?:
I could've benefitted from my trail shoes. In hindsight, bike sockless, at T2 put on run socks and take the time to put on the trail shoes. Speedlaces in the trail shoes might've worked, but I've never tried them in those shoes, only the Elixirs.

Run
Comments:
I was passed by one 23-yo male early on the run, but aside from that, I was making passes the rest of the way in. 111th on the swim, 14th on the bike, and 9th on the run, means I picked off 5 or so on the run. Fastest AG run, yet one of my slowest sprint runs to date. It was that tough of a course.

What would you do differently?:
Trail shoes, trail shoes, trail shoes. That and yankz/speedlaces.

Post race
Warm down:
None. Greg beat me by 28 seconds. I just walked over and we chatted about our race. Went back to the finishing area and cheered on competitors. Walked down to the 2.5 mile point on the run and cheered on competitors, took a couple of photos. When Lainey came by, I beelined up to the finish for some more photos.

What limited your ability to perform faster:
Swim. Swim. Swim. Same thing as every race. Super-long T1 compared to others. Speedlaces on the run. Correct shoes for the run. Aero helmet, race wheels. More speedwork on the bike (I have not ridden with IOS since last year)

Event comments:
A very nice, small, intimate race. Transition area is a little screwy (it's on a hillside), and I wish they'd assign rack locations, as these free-for-alls get weird with everyone throwing their stuff around. Still, it worked out okay, and I got to race with all my BT buds!! Even got to help a couple of folks who haven't done many with some time-saving tips (tape those Gu packets to the top tube, pre-opened; grab and go!)

Last updated: 2010-07-14 1:00 AM

STATS:
Swimming
00:17:42
750 meters
02m 22s / 100meters

Age Group: 21/30

Overall: 111/153

Performance: Good

Suit: Team Zoot/Gu tri top/shorts

Course: Short out with a dogleg right, then hard left and a straight shot to the end. It was actually a very nice swim course, very protected.

Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves

Water temp: 85F / 29C Current: Low

200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good

Breathing: Good Drafting: Average

Waves: Average Navigation: Good

Rounding: Average

T1

Time: 01:40

Performance: Good

Cap removal: Good

Run with bike: Yes

Jump on bike: No

Getting up to speed: Good

Biking
00:45:29
16.1 miles
21.24 mile/hr

Age Group: 3/30

Overall: 14/153

Performance: Good

Wind: Some

Course: Quite rolling. A flat section on the backside, but into a headwind. Fun course, reminded me a lot of Pinehurst. One 39-mph descent.

Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 90+

Turns: Good Cornering: Good

Gear changes: Good Hills: Good

Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right

T2

Time: 00:40

Overall: Good

Riding w/ feet on shoes

Jumping off bike

Running with bike Good

Racking bike Good

Shoe and helmet removal Good

Running

00:22:18
03 miles
07m 26s min/mile

Age Group: 1/30

Overall: 9/153

Performance: Average

I clocked the run at 7:20, 7:31, and 7:27 for the 3 miles.

Course: It was a tough course, much like running Company Mill at Umstead than anything else. Started on the shoulder of the road, then merged off to single-track very quickly. Up, down, left, right, repeat. Running in the Elixirs, I really had to be careful of my footing.

Keeping cool Good 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 Just right

Organized? Yes

Events on-time? Yes

Lots of volunteers? Yes

Plenty of drinks? Yes

Post race activities: Good

Race evaluation [1-5] 5