Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
Options
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
RacoonQueen wrote: »'This evening' your time is quite late at night for us.
Just sayin'
Okayokayokay....working on it now.
But the spilts have not been posted so I will add those as an edit in a day or so. 0 -
The Luray Sprint Triathlon
Sunday, August 18th, 2013
Okay, as promised I will keep this brief by my standards...so here goes...
As most of you know, my current primary focus (because there is a time goal in mind) is actually marathon training. Specifically, my hope is to go a sub 3:30 in Dublin in 10 short weeks. (fingers and toes crossed!!!!) So, while I have been doing triathlon training, it has not been near the quality of triathlon training had I been targeting a HIM (which is on the radar for next year). I've really been looking forward to this particular race, yet in the days leading up to it I started to doubt the volume of my bike training (which is ridiculously low - I mean, only 17 miles on the bike a week?? wtf??) and quality of my swim training (other than when I had some help with snappy sets (thank you interested!
), I would get all comfy-cozy with my long stuff). But, the one ace I had in my pocket was I felt I had endurance and a decent amount of fitness, so I was hoping if I kept it smart and down to business that I'd have a fair day out.
My heart sank just a little when I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. Ugh! This was one bit of weather that I had been worried about. Due to my lack of time on the bike and my poor bike handling skills, I was sincerely concerned about what happens when skinny rubber tires meet really wet pavement. I knew then that I would have to take it handy and keep it out of the ditches. (I hope I got those phrases right!) Losing a little time to be cautious around the curves and on the downhill would have to be the unsavory order of the day. The only consolation was at least we all were in the same boat.
I arrived at the lake nice and early and racked my bike.....then trotted down to pickup my timing chip only to be told they did not have my chip. Whah?? It was gone. I could see the panic in the poor volunteers' eyes. They hadn't a clue what to do, and this rendered them paralyzed until a more seasoned volunteer came over and saved the day. Basically, they either gave my chip out to someone else, who was now parading as me...or, they never got it back from yesterday's event, which is probably the more likely occurrence. Long story short, I received another timing chip with another number assigned to it and was assured all would be well in the land of Oz. Famous last words.
After finally getting my transition area sorted in the rain, I grabbed my wetsuit and swim gear and headed down to the lake for a bit of a warmup. I love the atmosphere just before the race begins. There is such buzz...such energy. Everyone is hugging and wishing each other well. Nervous smiles all around. The National Anthem played, then it was just about show time. One last equipment check - wetsuit in place and zipped, goggles on and not leaking, Oryx's baby blue Pikeman Triathlon swim cap on for good luck, and the purple wave swim cap on top as my beacon. And if life couldn't get any better than that, one of my favorite UB40 tunes came blasting through the speakers just to elevate my psych and mood even higher just before the off.
I was immediately happy with my swim. It's a water start and I lined up in front and had a pretty good view of the first turn buoy. I jumped out in front of my wave from the get-go and kept it nice and steady, never feeling taxed or stressed. My goal was to go strong, but pace smart. It was all open water until just before I hit the first buoy, at which time I ran into the stragglers from the previous wave. (I was in wave 4, so there were 3 waves ahead of me I had to contend with.) Maneuvering around these swimmers and the first turn buoy wasn't too bad. It slowed me down, but it wasn't horrible. Yet. Once out of the first turn, it was time to concentrate on the next buoy and picking paths to go safely between the other swimmers. This wasn't too bad either, but as soon as I neared the second turn buoy the mass of bodies around me grew exponentially, and it never let up from that point on. I was heading home after the second buoy, but boy howdy was this complete chaos as the congestion was just insane. I hit the beach after trying to keep my line as straight as possible (which just wasn't) and saw another purple cap exiting the water just ahead of me. I'm guessing she must've made her way through traffic better than I did. Oh well.
Transition was a bit of a joke. It's a long run from shore to the bike, and the run includes some wicked stairs you have to climb. The wetsuit came off easily, but I fumbled putting my shoes and socks on, and I had trouble snapping my helmet, I was chatting too much to a friend, and wasted too much time drinking water and trying to get my shot bloks out of the package. This was horrible. Poor time management, and really showed my lack of preparation in this regard.
The bike....oh, the lovely bike in the rain. Well, what can I say? Basically, on the very first turn I could feel the bike slip from under me. Whoopsie!! I did not go over, but this told me I need to be very cautious on the turns. Up the first hill and I was feeling great. I was immediately passing people, including the gal who exited the water just ahead of me, and I knew right then I was going to have a solid ride. And I did. The only time I ever got passed was on the downhills, and that was only by men (and maybe one or two Athena-type women) who had more gravity-loving weight than me....however, I tended to kill the hills and smiled on the inside when I passed a few very fit looking men in their prime donning pointy hats. To their credit, they all gave me props when I passed them. I kept with the technique I am most comfortable, and that is pushing in the big ring and mashing my heart out. I don't know for sure what my spit is on the bike, but even in the pouring down piercing rain I know I got my sub 60 minutes. My bike said 58 minutes, but this includes some transition and I may have started it just a bit beyond the start...so....it's probably pretty close.
Ugh. Double ugh. If T1 was bad, then T2 was a disaster! First, I overshot my rack...then I tried to rack the bike the wrong way....then I realized I had not untied the double knotted laces on my runners which wasted stupid time....and then I just decided to breathe for a second and take in some water. Okay. Off and running now....after the worst transition ever.
The run...all I could think of was, this is one nasty b*tch of a run but it's only 3.1 freakin' miles. It took probably about a quarter of a mile for me to get my running legs under me, but then I was fine. I was passed by a few men within this first quarter mile, but after that I don't remember anyone passing me, only me passing others. I had been wondering about a particular fellow I train with - a guy who is younger than me, is way faster than me on the bike, and who is super-duper competitive. He was a target of mine and I wanted to make sure I beat him. So, you can only imagine my delight when I recognized his backside through the trees walking up a hill. Oh how my inner glow was on fire. He started running again as I neared him, and when I was just behind him I shouted to him, "is that David Sours' lovely physique I see in front of me?" Oh, you could just see the air being knocked out of him. He had started in the wave ahead of me so I knew I had 4 minutes on him...and he knew that as well. We had a bit of a chat, and then I pushed on, gleefully chirping to him as I looked back that he had just been chicked.
The rest of the run was pretty unremarkable. Passed a few more people, but I also kept this out of the red zone. I knew at that time my placement was sealed, so I finished hard, but I did not kill myself.
After I crossed the finish line and saw my time, I knew I had put in a solid performance for me, other than the horrid transitions that is. No need to go into great detail, but there was a bit of a fiasco with my results since I had a different chip than I had originally been assigned. Fortunately, I was aware that they hadn't a clue who chip #651 was (me!!) and after talking to 3 different workers the mystery was resolved, sort of. In the end it got sorted, and that's all that really matters. My final, unofficial time was 1:36:58, which I am over the moon about. I came in first in my age group, and first Luray woman home. I believe I placed 48th overall (men and women), but not sure what place woman to cross the line. Final results will be posted at some point, but I was warned that my particular results may take a bit longer due to the chip confusion, and I will post my final times as an edit (and maybe separate post) as soon as that information is available. But, if I were to guess what my splits are, in true Kurt style, I would guess my cumulative transition time was 5 minutes (maybe more
)....swim time around 12 minutes ...bike time around 58 minutes (for 17.4 miles)....and run time around 22 minutes. We'll see how close my guess is....I'll keep you posted!!!
Oh, and sorry for the lack of brevity. I did the best I could...for me.:)
EDIT:
See a few posts below for a more detailed explanation, but here are my splits based on the information I have been provided....
Swim, 750 meters - 12:05 (4/195 women, 9/448 overall)
T1 - 3:24
Bike, 17.4 miles - 55:11 (11/195 women, 52/448 overall)
T2 - 2:36 (128/195 women, 314/448 overall)
Run, 5k - 23:42 (13/195 women, 76/448 overall)
Final time - 1:36:58 (10/195 women, 48/448 overall)0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Well done dory - glad you enjoyed it. Florida - then vegas with world championships qualfication. You are still my boardie bet to get kona qualification when you decide to go for it
Gosh, thanks. But we both know age and gender are in my favor. So...just how does one qualify for Kona?? 0 -
-
Okay...so the results are up, or should I say, my partial results are up. They do not have my swim time nor my T1 time posted, but based on my other splits, and confirmation from a friend that I was second purple cap to exit water just behind the first purple cap (her time was 11:55), and the fact that the swim ranking I come up with for myself is coincidentally the exact same ranking (both for women and overall) that is suspiciously missing from the results page, I do believe my estimate of my swim time (and also my miserable T1 time) are pretty accurate.
Swim, 750 meters - 12:05 (4/195 women, 9/448 overall)
T1 - 3:24
Bike, 17.4 miles - 55:11 (11/195 women, 52/448 overall)
T2 - 2:36 (128/195 women, 314/448 overall)
Run, 5k - 23:42 (13/195 women, 76/448 overall)
Final time - 1:36:58 (10/195 women, 48/448 overall)
A few quick thoughts -
Felt great on the swim and I'm happy with my time based on congestion and conservation of energy.
Very, very, very happy with my bike, especially based on how little time I spend on it and how hilly the course was. I honestly believe this is an area I can greatly improve, and I believe it can possibly be my strength.
After thinking about my run, this time makes sense. My pb is something awful, like 22 minutes, so how in the world I would think I'd do a 22 minute tri run time is beyond me. ?? Plus, I admittedly did not push it because I knew my finish ranking was in the books at that point.
And my very miserable transitions are, well, horrid. Good god, I should be able to shave 2 or 3 minutes from that with some practice. What a disgrace they were. Oh well. Room for improvement.
Overall, happy as a clam with today. 0 -
-
DukeOfDromada wrote: »Savage racing there Dory Dory!! Well done. So any prizes?
Yes, nice etched curved slabs of glass for both of my first places. Not sure what I will do with these trinkets...maybe use them as cheese trays or dessert dishes?? I'm thinking a nice slice of Guinness Stout Cake dripping in ganache and whipped cream would be right at home perched on them. 0 -
Well done dory - glad you enjoyed it. Florida - then vegas with world championships qualfication. You are still my boardie bet to get kona qualification when you decide to go for it
Canada next year. No more vegas
Then Europe in 2015.
Dory places in every race she enters. A shoo in for kona.
Well done DD. I did say you would have noone in front in the swim. I love being right
And savage bike. I hate that you make it look easy.0 -
-
Ah, I never posted my mileage from last week, too tired to do so tonight but may do that tomorrow night. Bottom line is I hit my target run mileage of 50 miles, so all is well in the Dory world of running.
Monday, August 19th, 2013
Run plan: easy
Sneaky lunchtime run in humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife. Legs and body felt good. No issues post-race.
Actual: 4.2 field miles at high and humid noon
Evening run to make this a double day. Legs and body still felt good. Still no issues or repercussions from the triathlon. Happy camper.
Actual: 4.2 happy camper evening field miles.~~~~~~~
Swim
Just a straight swim in my 85 degree pool while the deer grazed in the field. No sign of my frog; I always hold my breath when I check the scuppers.
Actual: 1,000 yard pool swim0 -
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement