Sprint Triathlon #5
Date: July 25th, 2015
Event: Sprint Triathlon (750m lake swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run)
Time: 2:11:18
(Swim: 21:33, T1 + Bike + T2: 1:07:43, Run: 42:04)
Age Group Place (25-29): Last...10/10
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The Swim- 750m Lake Swim (21:33)
Average Pace: 2:52 per 100m
Race Error #1: Put goggles on upside down.
The gun went off and I started swimming. I didn't realize anything was wrong until I looked up to sight for the first time. I couldn't see, but I attributed that to the thrashing water that was all around me from the chaos of an mass swim start. I kept opening and closing my eyes, and everything was just cloudy. I finally figured out that there was water in my goggles. It wasn't a leak, they were completely full, which made it hard to distinguish that there was water in them. I emptied the goggles and kept going. They filled right back up! I emptied them again, and same thing. I finally turned on my back and treaded water and realized that I had put the goggles on upside down. I had to take them all the way off my head and flip them. There were several concerned triathletes that tried to stop and help me. Many thought that I couldn't swim. This was funny to me, because of all the people in the water, I am one of the best swimmers, and my time would have shown it...you know if I managed to put my goggles on right. I told them that I was ok, just trying to figure out my goggles. I finally got them situated, but when I turned back around, I realized that I was far behind the group of triathletes I started with, and the next wave was upon me. I used this to my advantage and challenged myself to keep up and draft from the better swimmers of the wave behind me. I ended up passing several in my wave by the end of the swim, but obviously I lost minutes of valuable time fighting with my goggles. My swim was still about 2 mins faster than last year, but I was bummed that a stupid mistake like putting my goggles on wrong sabotaged my time.
The Bike- 15 miles + Transitions (1:07:43)
Average Speed: Not sure
Race Error #2: Forgot timing chip in transition.
About a mile into the bike course, I looked down at my ankle and realized that I forgot my timing chip in transition. I have to take it off after the swim in order to put my socks on, and I forgot to put it back on! I was already down from the swim debacle, and now this! I shook the mistake off and kept riding. The hills were challenging, I have only been training for a few weeks since my trip, but overall, I was happy with my performance. I don't have an accurate ride time since my transitions were included. After finishing the bike course and changing into my run gear, I had to run my chip back up to the bike finish to record the end of T1, which actually represented T1+ bike split +T2, before moving on to the run. That was embarrassing. Other athletes and even my former tri coach were yelling at me to go the other way towards the run start, and I had to explain to all of them that I had to go run my chip to the bike timing gate first.
The Run-5k (42:04)
Average Pace: 13:32 min/mile, Average Speed: 4.4 mph
Race Error #3: Watch malfunctioned.
As if I needed any more drama for the day, my GPS triathlon watch malfunctioned. It wouldn't switch to run mode and start tracking my mileage and time. This race error was the least of my worries, since I am perfectly capable of running without feedback from my watch, however it is what I am accustomed too. I usually use an interval timer, I like to see how much mileage I have completed, and monitor my pace and time. I had to just run the course based on feel and mile markers. At mile 1, I switched my watch to a normal stopwatch, so I did have at least time feedback for the remaining 2 miles. When I crossed the finish line, I don't think I have ever felt that relieved. I wanted to quickly put this day and race behind me.
Reflection
My race was an absolute mess today, but I refocused my energy after each debacle and finished with my head held high. Let's hope that I've gotten all the race glitches out this time and won't have these issues for my international and half iron distance tris coming up this fall.
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