San Diego International 6-26-05
Pre-Race: So, my first International distance…and I had a killer taper. Was sick all week and did 3 workouts, one bike, one run, on swim. so I should be plenty rested. No excuses, training has been going good and feeling 100% over the nasty head cold I had!
Parents were coming out for the race, plus my girlfriend finally has a day off for one of my races, so I had a big cheering sections. Lots of people brought their bikes the day before, I will be doing that next time as most the good places on the racks were already taken. I was lucky and got the last “end” slot right next to the fence.
Got body marked, went on a 20 minute warmup jog, and then the announcement, “5 minute till start”. Oh shit, totally misjudged this. I got 7 minutes to get my wetsuit on, swim out to the start, and go as I am in wave 2. Next time I need to plan for a little big better.
THE SWIM: By the time I get the wetsuit on and hit the water, the pro’s get the 2 minute warning. I walked through the muddy bottom, swim out, and the pros go. Well, so much for loosening up…definetly need to plan better next time, no one to blame but myself. As I am thinking what I will do different next time, the gun goes off…and it begins.
Ok, so this is my second event with my QR SuperFull, and I got to say, I HATE SLEEVES. It totally changes my stroke, stroke rate is way down, and my shoulders hurt half way into the swim. Didn’t get to push the swim like I normally like too, so I was a little disappointed in that. Before my next event I think I am going to ge a sleeveless and see if I like it better, keep the full for the cold events.
Water was perfect temp, 65 I think, completely calm, and about 3 ft visibility…perfect conditions. Big U swim course. On the way back, super shallow and my hands hit bottom a couple of times. Need to just swim straighter
Still pretty good with the swim, but spent too much energy getting there. 2nd out of my wave, caught a few of the slower swimming pros. I was all over the course as my sighting was horrible. Add sighting to the list of stuff to work on that already has “pre race warmup on it”
THE BIKE: My swim to bike transition SUCKED! I just wasn’t thinking straight. What was the problem…didn’t do my prerace transition walk-thru/visualliation. Oh well, 4 guys pass me in transition, damn…added to list of things to work on.
Bike course was awesome. Out and back with a small loop at the top. Basically up hill all the way out, then come down the hill a bit, flip a U, and climb back up…then scream home. Roads were rough, lots of potholes and such.
Being wave two, I got to see all the pros, which was very cool! They were smoking on the bike, and it was good motivation not to get lapped!
Really happy with the bike leg. Held back a bit, still worrying about the run, but that’s coming along alot better. Another couple of month of good run training, and I will be able to let loose on the bike. Right now it is all about pacing.THE RUN: The BANE of my triathlon racing, the run. Good transition off the bike, and out to the run. Calfs were super tight again off the bike. Not sure why hey are always so tight, but they loosened up quickly this time, about 5 minutes, so I was happy about that.
First 3 miles flew by, felt awesome. Lots of runners were flying by me. I am amazed at how fast some people can run…I truly am in awe. But, I was good, and ran my own race on the run…let them all fly by. Mile 4 started to hurt a bit, so started to concentrate on form. Reached back for a gel and found that I lost it on the bike somewhere. Ok, no problem, just take a little more water. I was already trying to take in less water on the run as it starts to “slosh” around in ther. But I ended up taking just the right amount…I think a gel would have helped though.
Watch said I was 7:00 miles, well accept that mile 4 and 5 were mis-marked. Mile 4 was 8:45 on the watch…whoa. Then mile 5 was 5:35. Ok, something was off there on the markings.
Run was point to point so it was hard to tell where the end was…finally rounded the corner and saw the finish. Alright. Look at the clock as I cross the finish line…1:50, SWEET. Minus the 2 minute for my wave start, and I was 1:48. My goal was 2:00. Destroyed it, alright! First International distance in the bag!.
AFTER: Hung out for a bit stretching and chowing down on food. Shuttled back to the start to pack up my stuff…and ran into someone with a hell of a good looking shirt on! (Sorry dude, can’t remember your name, just remember you use your last name as your slowtwitch logon!)
All in all a great race, on a perfect day in SD. Next race is July 16th, Camp Pendleton International!
-bcreager
