5th Annual Fall Triathlon Festival Olympic

My Results
SwimTm:     0:20:17.732
T0Tm:         0:00:32.995
T1Tm:         0:02:19.643
BikeTm:      1:13:15.845
T2Tm:         0:00:33.918
RunTm:       0:58:46.610
TotalTm:     2:35:46.743
Overall        69 / 107
M 30-34      7 / 8

5th Annual Fall Triathlon Festival Olympic 

So one more race in the books (defiantly not the record books).  On Sunday I completed the 5th Annual Fall Triathlon Festival Olympic.  Overall I think I did well (at least for me).  I placed 69th out of 107 participants.  Not great but not bad.

My swim was what I expected (which was average).  I swam 1500m in 22:17.732s.  That is darn good if you take into consideration I swam breast stroke the entire race.  That means my breast stroke is as fast as most peoples crawl (freestyle) for 1500m.  Not to bad.

I learned a great lesson during this swim, stop trying to race your swim.  I know I can not be at the head of the pack but I know I can be ahead of the middle if I stop racing and concentrate on my form.  On lap two I started to concentrate only on my form and then I started to pass people.
 

This race had some great cyclists.  My average was just over 20mph on the bike for 24 miles (not drafting). Not bad considering I have only been cycling for about 3 months now.   It’s always a pleasure passing someone who owns a $3K - $6K all carbon TT bike who does not know how to ride to it.  Unless you are an elite (or really dare good) cyclist you can hall butt on a normal road bike.  I have seen many A class cyclist ride 20+ mph on a normal inexpensive road bikes.  I think it is an ego thing sometimes.

My run was not my best.  I held a 10.29 min/miles pace for 5.6 miles.  The first 3 miles were horrible.  I could not get a steady pace going.  But this is normal for me.  I have been training most of the year for half marathons (13.1 miles) and I do not normally start to feel good till after the 3 mile mark.  The heat was also in the 90s so that did not help matters.  After mile 4 I felt pretty good and started to hold a more constant pace.

It’s been in the feels like 100s here in FL all summer so I have slacked on my running.  After Bernadette finishes Chicago she is going to have to kick my butt back into gear (if I can still keep up with her).

After the race I tried to cool down and could not.  I was not dehydrated but my body temperature would not cool down.  I could not stop sweating like a race horse even after waiting around for 30 minutes.  So I decided to jump into the lake for 30 minutes till my core temperature went down.  Finally it calmed down and I started to sweat at normal levels.

Overall I was happy with my performance.  I had no knee pains.  My current cycle training shown through on
the riding which I was really happy with. My swim was average and I learned a great lesson.  

Race Grade: C-
The event itself was just OK at best, I would give it a D grade.  But a typical Butter race. I had fun and that is all that matters.

1.    The Transition Area (Grade F):  No security whats-so-ever.  If you wanted to steal a $6K bike no one would have stopped you or noticed.  None riders walked freely though the transition area with no one stopping them.  The people taking down the bike rails were in such a hurry to leave one of them started to move people’s bikes till I said that would not be a smart idea.  The volunteer got the point when I told her she was moving a $6K bike and the owner would not be happy if they could not find it where they placed it.  Butter is known for splitting and running after races.  I had the same problem on a trail run earlier in the year.

2.    Judges (Grade F):  There was not a judge to be found.  People were wearing headphones during the cycling portion (very dangerous).  Many people were illegally drafting on the cycle.    

3.    The Swim (Grade B):  Nothing really wrong here.  Directions were clear and people went off in the correct waves.  The water was darker than coffee but they could not help that.

4.    The Cycling (Grade A):  The ride was very pleasant and there were plenty of people directing traffic and pointing out the turns.  Great job here.  Too many people were drafting though. 

5.    The Run (Grade D): Most people were just happy they did not run out of water like last year.    There were definitely not enough volunteers on the run.  Water placement was sparse over the run and the volunteers handing it out seemed like they could care less and wanted to go home.  The only sports drink to be found was that the transition area and it was warm.  No sports drinks, supplements or food to be found anywhere during the race.  Really?!?!  You paid good money for this race, it is feels like 100 degrees and you can only give out warm water.  Every water station during the run had only one volunteer so you were lucky if they handed you a drink.  It was also a trail run which I like but most do not.  It was slightly muddy in some areas but it was shaded and pretty.

6. Race Results (Grade B):  They were very fast and efficient at getting out the race times at the race.  Race results were posted online within a few hours. The photos are taking a few days to get up because of "technical issues."


Photos
Photos were done by Gray Quetti Photography (http://www.grayquettiphotography.com/)

Swim

• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176998811&effectRGB=

Bike
Ronnie James Dio Pose (Every race must have one)

• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176982170&effectRGB= 
• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176982155&effectRGB= 
• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176986189&effectRGB=

Not me but an awesome shot

• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176985969&effectRGB=

Run

• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176994982&effectRGB=
• http://grayquetti.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=176994998&effectRGB=