Sunday, August 1, 2010

HKTriA Sprint Triathlon 750/20/5

My First Sprint Triathlon... :)


I started the day really early by waking up at 4:00AM. This wasn't necessary I feel since my race wouldn't start for another 3:45 hours. Since it was my first triathlon, I took several days off without much biking or running. The last two weeks, I pounded the trails and ran up mileage on the bike. My goal was to be fresh and reduce the inflamation that I caused by twisting my left foot twice in a row. I took a cab at 5:15AM to arrive early to get my numbers placed.

The race basically was the same as the Aquathon I did previously the month before with an additional bike run. My swim was better but I seem to go off course a lot which took a lot of time out. One time I thought I was last, but then an official shouted at me stating that I was off course. I was heading for the starting bouy and not the third. Throughout the swim, I was fighting space and continuously hitting a breast stroke swimmer. I'm sure he hated me... Even the end, I went off course and had to swim to the right for about 20m to get on the pier steps. My time in the water stood at 28:43. Next time, I will look up every 6th stroke.
The transition for the swim2bike was very long. You had to run to your bike which seemed more than 100m. I used rubber bands for the shoes, but my right shoe hit the ground and came off before I mounted the bike. So, I had to retrace my steps with the bike and pick up my shoe and put it on.

The bike required 5 laps and the fast cyclists passed me twice. Although, I felt I trained sufficiently for my first triathlon, I obviously see that I can improve in all areas. My time on the bike were very inconsistent and I felt sluggish as well. I took a gel while in the transition and drank fluid right after the corner.

T1 - 1 min 57 seconds
2 00:02:37 1.00 22.8 - includes my mishap with wardrobe(shoe) malfunction

3 00:01:44 1.00 34.3
4 00:02:02 1.00 29.4
5 00:01:55 1.00 31.3
6 00:01:55 1.00 31.1
7 00:01:50 1.00 32.6
8 00:02:05 1.00 28.6
9 00:01:50 1.00 32.5
10 00:01:57 1.00 30.7
11 00:01:52 1.00 31.9
12 00:01:52 1.00 32.0
13 00:01:57 1.00 30.7
14 00:01:44 1.00 34.3
15 00:01:52 1.00 32.0
16 00:01:56 1.00 30.8
17 00:01:53 1.00 31.7
18 00:01:43 1.00 34.7
19 00:01:57 1.00 30.7
20 00:02:03 1.00 29.2
21 00:02:09 1.00 27.8

T2 - 2 min 25 seconds

Run - 5k, My time on the run is a bit weird and very inaccurate. I gathered both armbands, but this is my times:

Garmin
22 00:02:52 0.81 16.9

23 00:02:18 0.49 12.8
24 00:04:37 1.00 13.0
25 00:04:46 1.00 12.6
26 00:04:45 1.00 12.6
27 00:02:20 0.50 12.8

Polar
A23 - 3:52 - transition?
Manual Split - 2:13
A24 - 4:34
A25 - 4:47
A26 - 4:50
Stop - 3:33

I will work harder for the 1500m/40km/10km in October...