The Race: Beaches Fine Arts Triathlon - Ponte Vedra
Continuing where I left off I was about 20 minutes later than what I wanted which meant it felt like madness from the moment I arrived. First the parking was on the opposite side of A1A and by the time I got there it seemed like everyone was there. So I found a parking spot at the back of the lot grabbed the bike and ran. Got in line at the sign in grabbed my race packet and went the wrong way into the transition area.
At the transition I found the rack full and nobody there. So, I gave someone else's bike a slide and squeezed in as best I could but it was very tight. Another side effect of being late. Attached my number. Couldn't find the ties to attach the number to the bike in the race packet had to go back to the registration desk to get them. Stuffed my goggles into the elastic of my shorts and took off for the beach to get a quick warm up in before race time.
The ocean was flat like a lake with the exception of some wake being turned up by passing boats for a fishing tournament. The water was cool but comfortable no need for a wetsuit. It was perfect. Rather than wade in a little I went ahead and dove straight in forgetting my goggles in my shorts. As soon as I stood up the panic hit me THE GOGGLES. I lost them. I felt around all over and NO goggles. Unbelievable mental mistake. In all the rush and bother I slipped up and now I'm looking all over the beach for just one other person who was not wearing goggles to give me a little 'goggles aren't that necessary' hope and there was no one. That's all right this will be no problem.
The Swim: Being in the third wave you get about 6 minutes to pace and pick the perfect spot not to get clobbered. I found it right next to an older somewhat heavier gentleman who I knew I could beat out of the surf. Soon as the whistle blew we were off. From the very beginning of the swim I kept control of my breathing unlike the first time where I worked myself up so much I was near hyperventilating. Also in the first swim I followed the crowd right to the buoy and got the crap beat out of me several times so my plan this time was to swim past the bouy and then down the line. This worked absolutely perfect with the exception of a small lack of navigational skills leading me out to sea and the burning eyes from a lack of goggles. This caused about 3 course redirections so I lost quite a bit of time but it was a lot more comfortable and I had a much better swim.
T1: Out of the water up the beach and onto the bike. I have a hard time running around with no shirt on so the only thing that slowed me up in the transition was having a wet sticky body and a shirt that wicks water. My transitions are usually pretty fast as I'm riding a mountain bike there are no bike shoes or any special cleats. This I hope to change some day ;)
The Bike: The bike was pretty uneventful. I've never been to Ponte Vedra before but the bike route had two long stretches of beautiful tree lined streets and then past some very large and what I am sure inordinately expensive homes. I rode a larger gear in the bike than what I'm used to. Something they say you shouldn't do in a race. What I mean by that is you shouldn't venture far from the training road as it may have some adverse effects on the rest of the race. This change in gears caused me to work a lot harder on the bike in a vain attempt to increase my speed. This also put a lot more work on my legs I wish it hadn't.
T2: Jump off the bike and take off. Wear my running shoes on the bike so no change.
The Run: After the change in gears on the bike this brick was harder than ones I've done in training as I had significant wear in the back of my legs. This really hurt my run and I could feel it all the way out to the turn around. On the way back my good friend and great triathlete Mike who had already finished his race and won the masters division came running up to me and ran the rest of the way back with me. So he basically did the run TWICE! His running with me really helped push more out of me than I thought I had. He continually reminded me that Im doing something 99% of the population hasn't. Mike is an amazing athlete. I near sprinted the last half mile and finished in 1:16:13.
The only problem I had with the run is that my shoes, both of them, came untied AGAIN. This happened in my first race. I've trained hours and hours and can say without a doubt my shoes have never come untied in training. I have got to get lace locks this week.
The Finish: I felt great after the race. The swim made me really confident. I need to train using bigger gears for bricks. And I really look forward to doing my next race hopefully the 19th in Clermont.
Time:
Finish Swim T1 Bike
T2 Run
1:16:13 12:42 2:24 36:02 0:42 24:26
At the transition I found the rack full and nobody there. So, I gave someone else's bike a slide and squeezed in as best I could but it was very tight. Another side effect of being late. Attached my number. Couldn't find the ties to attach the number to the bike in the race packet had to go back to the registration desk to get them. Stuffed my goggles into the elastic of my shorts and took off for the beach to get a quick warm up in before race time.
The ocean was flat like a lake with the exception of some wake being turned up by passing boats for a fishing tournament. The water was cool but comfortable no need for a wetsuit. It was perfect. Rather than wade in a little I went ahead and dove straight in forgetting my goggles in my shorts. As soon as I stood up the panic hit me THE GOGGLES. I lost them. I felt around all over and NO goggles. Unbelievable mental mistake. In all the rush and bother I slipped up and now I'm looking all over the beach for just one other person who was not wearing goggles to give me a little 'goggles aren't that necessary' hope and there was no one. That's all right this will be no problem.
The Swim: Being in the third wave you get about 6 minutes to pace and pick the perfect spot not to get clobbered. I found it right next to an older somewhat heavier gentleman who I knew I could beat out of the surf. Soon as the whistle blew we were off. From the very beginning of the swim I kept control of my breathing unlike the first time where I worked myself up so much I was near hyperventilating. Also in the first swim I followed the crowd right to the buoy and got the crap beat out of me several times so my plan this time was to swim past the bouy and then down the line. This worked absolutely perfect with the exception of a small lack of navigational skills leading me out to sea and the burning eyes from a lack of goggles. This caused about 3 course redirections so I lost quite a bit of time but it was a lot more comfortable and I had a much better swim.
T1: Out of the water up the beach and onto the bike. I have a hard time running around with no shirt on so the only thing that slowed me up in the transition was having a wet sticky body and a shirt that wicks water. My transitions are usually pretty fast as I'm riding a mountain bike there are no bike shoes or any special cleats. This I hope to change some day ;)
The Bike: The bike was pretty uneventful. I've never been to Ponte Vedra before but the bike route had two long stretches of beautiful tree lined streets and then past some very large and what I am sure inordinately expensive homes. I rode a larger gear in the bike than what I'm used to. Something they say you shouldn't do in a race. What I mean by that is you shouldn't venture far from the training road as it may have some adverse effects on the rest of the race. This change in gears caused me to work a lot harder on the bike in a vain attempt to increase my speed. This also put a lot more work on my legs I wish it hadn't.
T2: Jump off the bike and take off. Wear my running shoes on the bike so no change.
The Run: After the change in gears on the bike this brick was harder than ones I've done in training as I had significant wear in the back of my legs. This really hurt my run and I could feel it all the way out to the turn around. On the way back my good friend and great triathlete Mike who had already finished his race and won the masters division came running up to me and ran the rest of the way back with me. So he basically did the run TWICE! His running with me really helped push more out of me than I thought I had. He continually reminded me that Im doing something 99% of the population hasn't. Mike is an amazing athlete. I near sprinted the last half mile and finished in 1:16:13.
The only problem I had with the run is that my shoes, both of them, came untied AGAIN. This happened in my first race. I've trained hours and hours and can say without a doubt my shoes have never come untied in training. I have got to get lace locks this week.
The Finish: I felt great after the race. The swim made me really confident. I need to train using bigger gears for bricks. And I really look forward to doing my next race hopefully the 19th in Clermont.
Time:
Finish Swim T1 Bike
T2 Run
1:16:13 12:42 2:24 36:02 0:42 24:26
posted by Migofast at
12:07 PM
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