Race Recap: Fearless Triathlon Double Sprint

I actually won this race entry in a raffle on RaceGrader.com.  I was intrigued by the double sprint format, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do it, and I will definitely add these races to my schedule in the future. 

I went into this race with no goals, but looking at past results, I felt like I had a chance at top 3 in my age group.

Swim 1 (400 yards, 7:51, 9th of 15 in my AG)
The swim was a small rectangle, with all the men going out in one wave.  With the water temp in the low 60's, I decided to go without a wetsuit, since I felt any time save swimming in the wetsuit would be lost taking it off.  I got in before the start and did a small warmup swim, and was feeling good.  Unfortunately, the race start was delayed about 15 minutes, and standing around in a wet tri suit this early in the morning wasn't any fun.

Again, disappointed with my position out of the water on the first swim.  This is definitely my weakness and progress has been slow.  Usually I'm somewhere near the top 30-40% in my age group, but not today.

Transition 1 (1:12, 8th of 15 in my AG)
Not much to say here, I bumbled around and just took a little too much time getting my shoes on.  I had made the decision to go the entire race sockless, and I've never had issues cycling with no socks.

Bike 1 (10Km, 18:17, 22.6mph, 5th of 15 in my AG)
The bike course was a small trip to Fiesta Island, and then one loop of the island.  I've never been on this path, so at times I had to hold back around some of the corners.  The course is pretty flat, so it's easy to maintain a constant effort.


Transition 2 (1:04, 10th of 15 in my AG)
More bumbling around in transition...

Run 1 (2.5k, 11:01, 6:58/mi pace, 5th of 15 in my AG)
As I was running out, the race leaders were just getting back, and I could hear that they were yelling something to the race officials.  Apparently, the cones for the turnaround were out of place.  Yes, they were.  Actually, I was probably the 3rd or 4th person to run past the point where the cones had just been fixed.  The first 20 or so racers actually shorted the course by about one mile on the first lap.  I don't blame them, because the cones had actually been blocking the path that they were supposed to follow.  There was also another spot at the turnaround spot that was marked with chalk arrows.  Well, again, we weren't supposed to follow the arrows, and there were supposed to be cones there to turn back towards the run finish.  

Unfortunately, I'll never know what these two course mistakes did to my final results, but I'm not too concerned either way.  The race director realized what the mistake was and hopefully won't let it happen again.

Transition 3 (:51, 6th of 15 in my AG)

Swim 2 (400k, 8:58, 6th of 15 in my AG)
I think the timing mat was way up the boat ramp, which is why everyone had longer swim splits the second time around.  The second swim was much easier, since the crowd was spread out by now.

Transition 4 (1:04, 8th of 15 in my AG)

Bike 2 (10k, 18:49, 21.9mph, 4th of 15 in my AG)
Not much to say here.  I would have thought I might be able to go a little faster the second time around Fiesta Island since I knew the course a little better, but I could tell my energy just wasn't there. 

Transition 5 (0:58, 7th of 15 in my AG)

Run 2 (2.5k, 9:35, 6:45/mi pace, 3rd of 15 in my AG)
I was able to pick up the pace a little bit on the second run.  There were a couple guys that looked like they might be in my age group, so I tried to chase them down.  Looking at the results, one of the guys that I passed was in my age group.

Final Result: 1:19:44.1 (4th of 15 in my AG)
Later that week, the race director removed the guys that shorted the course from the official placings, which technically put me in 2nd place.  I think that meant that I won a coffee mug, or something like that, but honestly, it wasn't worth the three hour roundtrip drive to San Diego to get it.  

Race Analysis and Lessons Learned:
I ended up finishing 45 seconds behind the next age grouper ahead of me (Jay Prasuhn of Lava Magazine).  Looking back at how much time I gave up in transitions alone, it could have been a much closer race.  

Also, the shoe/laces combination I used didn't work with a sockless race.  I ended up with two wicked blisters on the top of my feet from where the quick laces rubbed.  In rushing to put my shoes on, the tongue of the shoes most have bunched up in the middle, exposing the laces to my tender foot skin.

Post Race:
Another bonus to this event was the pro race that followed.  It was also a double triathlon, but the bike course was shorter, with multiple loops and drafting.  The run course was also shorter, with multiple loops too.  This made for great spectating.  This same format was just done in Las Vegas during Interbike, where a multiple lane swimming pool was erected in the middle of a casino parking lot.  Hopefully this format continues to grow because it makes for some entertaining races.

Female Pro Swim Start

Female Pros getting ready

Sara McLarty out in front on the bike

Race Recap: LA Triathlon (9/29/13)

After a long break (5 months) from triathlons, it feels good to race again.  Since IM St. George 70.3, I've been dealing with some nagging knee pain, along with a few weeks sidelined by a little wakeboarding injury.  Yes, father time is catching up.  I was able to keep up with some consistent swimming and biking, but my running has been real sporadic.

Anyway, here goes....

Race Goal: Top 10 (out of about 70-80 that are typically in the age group).  In 2012, top 10 meant 2:29 or better.

Swim: 1,500 meter ocean swim at Venice Beach, CA (water temp: mid 60's)
This year, the race organizers switched from age group waves to "SwimSmart," which basically replicates the corral system used at many marathons.  Your time starts when you cross the timing mat, and there is a continuous flow of people into the water.   I did like how low stress the start was, but honestly, I've never been too freaked out about the swim starts.  Yes, anxious and nervous, but never to the point where I was scared or freaked out.  The downside, you really don't have an idea where you stand amongst your age group.

The water was relatively calm and there wasn't much of a swell to deal with getting out to the first buoy.  I did do a warm up swim, but didn't notice the small current.  This current slowly pushed me off-line on the way to the first buoy, which was the them for my swim...not swimming in a straight line.  Instead of swimming straight to the buoy, I was approaching it at an angle.  Around the buoy, there's a long stretch to the turnaround spot.  Swimming towards the pier, made sighting much easier, but again, I kept swimming a little to the right and way wide.  Not much else to say, left arm, right arm, breathe, repeat, blah, blah, blah.

Back on to shore, there was about a 100+ yard run in the sand to the transition area, which oddly, is where the T1 timing mat was.  This just makes the swim time a little long and the T1 time a little short.

Swim Performance: 31:17 and 25th of 68 in my age group
Gear: BlueSeventy Helix Wetsuit, BlueSeventy Nero goggles
Lessons Learned: One open water swim in five months doesn't help improve open water swimming skills

Transition 1: 2:36 and 24th of 68 in my age group
Lessons Learned: Know where the transition entrance and exits are.  I assumed I knew where the entrance to T1 was, and I was wrong.  This meant that I racked my back in a horrible location.  In a situation where it's first come, first served, this is an easy way to lose or gain time.  I figure this little mistake cost me 20-30 seconds.

Bike: 40 kilometers, approximately 25 miles
When do you get the chance to bike on Venice and Olympic Boulevards, with no traffic? Basically never, and that's what is so cool about this race.  This is a relatively flat bike course along city streets of Los Angeles.  My legs felt heavy for the first half hour, and since I had forgot my Garmin at home, I really didn't have a solid idea what my pace or heart rate was.  Since I don't have a power meter, I'm accustomed to monitoring and controlling my efforts based on my heart rate, so for this race, I was relying on PRE (Perceived rate of exertion). 

Anyway, the bike course is relatively flat, and I only had to get up out of my aero bars for a couple short climbs.  Overall, I felt good on the bike, and since this wasn't going to be a windy day, I chose to go with a deep front wheel and disc rear wheel.

Bike Performance: 1:07:40 (22mph) and 12th of 68 in my age group

Transition 2: 2:26 and 32nd of 68 in my age group
Apparently, I taped by T2 bag a little too much.  The bags were taped shut to make sure your stuff wouldn't fall out between the time it was dropped off the day before and when the volunteers place it at your spot in T2.  So, between putting on my socks and messing with my bag, I ended up spending about a minute more than the top guys in my group.


Run: 10 kilometers, 6.2 miles
The run course is a 5k out-and-back, twice, with a killer hill (Bunker Hill) right before the turnaround.  Again, no Garmin, so I was running on feel.  The first loop felt good, and after the climb on the second loop, it was all downhill until the finish line, and that's when I decided to pick up the pace a bit.

Considering my running training leading into this race was pretty light, I'm pleased with my time.

Run Performance: 45:04 and 17th of 68 in my age group

Total Time: 2:29:01 and 18th out of 68 in my age group.
I fell a little short of my goal of getting into the top 10, approximately 4 1/2 minutes.  I know that if I clean up my transitions and squeeze a little time out of each portion of the race, I'm right where I want to be.


Other Race Pics:

Finish line in front of Staples Center

 Finish line in front of Staples Center

 Run pic, thanks to Wattie team member Jaclyn

 All done, ready to head home

Pre-race pic with Stan and Ramil, fellow OC Tri Club members