TechKnowGN

So, having been severely frustrated with the fact that my first triathlon failed to produce split timing, by the fact that my bike ride turned into a walk and ride, and the fact that the safety truck had to help me with a chain issue that would have likely meant not finishing, I had to do another one.

Yesterday was the Coffman YMCA Sprint Triathlon in Springboro, OH. It consisted of a 300 yard swim, an 11 mile ride, and a 5k run.

Springboro is an interesting little burg, if you ever happen to find yourself there. I spent the night before the race in a shockingly nice Knights Inn right off I-75 for $40. By shockingly nice, I mean the room was large, the room was clean, and the bed was comfortable. Way better than the average trucker style motel. With lots of floor space it was the ideal place to do pre-race bike maintenance and install my new computer. I got everything organized for race day, and settled in for several episodes of House before falling alseep.

I awoke to my alarm, dressed and ate, grabbed my bike, then headed to the YMCA. However, when I got there, I realized I hadn't grabbed my bag, so I had to go all the way back and get it. I got back to the Y with only 15 minutes til the scheduled start, so I hurried into transition. Thank goodness again for a night before packet pickup.

Almost the same transition layout as last time, from top to bottom:
Towel
shirt
glasses
socks
shoes

The helmet was on top of the bike seat with gloves inside.

This race was substantially smaller, about 1/2 as many athletes (250 pre-reg, about 50 or so race day), but because the facility was smaller, it felt equally crowded.

Normally, I train in a 25 yard pool, so I expected that this race might be more to my liking because it was in a 25 yard pool. Not so much. In fact, other than the fast folks who went first, the pool was a mess for everyone. The serpentine setup was such that each swimmer had to go out and back in each lane before moving to the next lane. What this lead to was a gigantic cluster of swimmers and such slow speeds that some folks walked through some laps. I started somewhere in the 150s, after having been #'ed 222. I just didnt see waiting when I knew I'd be pushing up on the people in front of me most of the race. I didnt quite have the swim I did in the previous race, but I am sure I won't be too upset with my time.

Next came the bike, which is the area I need the most improvement in over the previous race. I drove the course the night before, and while it was 1.4 miles shorter, and not quite as difficult, it was still hilly, lots of rollers with a couple tough climbs. It turns out that I was a lot better on the bike this time. I RODE EVERY BIT OF THE 11 MILES! No walking. In fact, I didn't take a break until after mile 5, and only to retie a shoe, and take a quick drink.

I didn't pause again until around the 8th mile, and I wound up taking 2 more quick breaks before finishing. Total stop time was about 4 minutes, maybe less. For the second consecutive race I had a bike issue, but I'll get to that in a bit. Based on my bike computer, my ride for 11 miles was between an 1:00 and 1:05. (Splits still are not up yet).

Transition was pretty quick, except I knocked over the neighboring bike, so I had to stop and fix it. I knew I was the last one heading into the 5k, because the safety truck had followed me the last 2 miles of the ride. I was surprised how many people were still on the 5k course though this race. Last race, there were less than half a dozen folks still on the course when I got there. This time, there were probably a couple dozen (I think) still out there, though all of them were on their way back when I was on my way out.

I was definitely stronger on the course than last time, as I didn't have to pause at the rest station to drink and rest. I did have to pause though, cause they didn't have the damn water ready, only some of that Heed crap. I didn't have to pause long, and I told them to have 2 waters ready for the return trip. there was a pretty decent hill in the 5k, and I did pretty well with it.

Just as before I found a little bit left at the end and sprinted my last 50 or so yards. I would have sprinted longer but part of the course was on grass until a bit before the finish, and I was afraid I'd fall or turn an ankle.

As it turns out I made a slight improvement over last race... 41 MINUTES! Yes, this race was 2 bike miles shorter, with a shorter swim, but neither of those makes up all of that time. The walk was harder, and the swim was pretty slow. My end time was 2:06. I STILL don't have splits yet, but I'll update when I do. My fiancee did a 4 mile run last night with 680ish finishers, and they had results in 4 hours! (She came in around 34 minutes, which is good but not her best)

2 last things:

1. They didn't have XXL technical shirts, so to make it up to me.... THEY GAVE ME A FREE ENTRY TO ANOTHER RACE! I'm going to do the Maumee Bay Triathlon June 21st. The big deal of that one is that it's close to my parents home, and the swim... is 750M! Double my longest, and it's gonna be an AWESOME challenge. I'm going to work with a swim coach a little to prepare for this.

2. Oh... and the bike problem I mentioned? I heard a familiar " thump thump thumping" before mile 10. I knew what it was, but I checked anyways at the top of the 2nd big climb. Yep, I'd flatted. But there was NO WAY I was stopping this race, especially so close to the end of the ride. I had passed a couple folks who had DNFed because of flats way sooner in the ride, and I was determined to get through. So I did the last mile and a half or so on a rear flat.

Yes.... I AM that hardcore.

Neil_B

Be sure and check that rear wheel. I can't help but think riding 1.5 miles on a flat is good for it.

Oh, and kid, Ya Done Good.

TechKnowGN

Yeah Im quite sure it needs trued as a bare minimum. I need to buy a new wheelset, but currently, the best I can probably do is a used wheel at the co-op. Eventually though, a bombproof wheelset is required. I know there are bigger guys than me on bikes, so it's gotta be the wheels on this sucker.

racethenation

Great job!

txvintage

Nice job TKG!

Sheesh you guys doing these float, ride, puke thingy's are gonna make me have to try one. My shot to h3ll knees hate you, lol.

I need to find a 25 Meter swim, 25 mile bike ride, and a 25 Meter crawl version.

eraven

Nice job, and yeah like txvintage said seeing this is starting to make me want to find one to tri in Dallas

flip18436572

As a race director trying to start a new event for our YMCA, we can't afford chip timing as our quotes for chip timing put us out of our budget by 3 times. We are a very small community and have very limited budget to just keep operating. That is why we post there will not be chip timing at our events to let people know in advance that they will not be seeing results quickly. We have to do it manually.

TechKnowGN

Yeah, I would never complain about a race that had a setup like yours if we knew in advance. But this weekends race used the same company to do chip timing as the last triathlon, and the last race failed to produce splits cause something got screwed up. So they supposedly brought in an "expert" to make sure it didn't happen again. The only change I saw was a chip on the bikes with the numbers to match ankle chips. And they STILL don't have the times up, even with electronic timing, going 48 hours post-event. I only had my finishing time because I asked at the end.

TechKnowGN

I take it back, splits are up now. They got them up just a bit ago. My final time was 2:06:43

I came in last by about 14 minutes. However, I wasn't the slowest at any one area.

My times:

300y Swim: 11:02 - This is probably close to a personal best for the distance, even with the slow pool. I beat 2 people in the swim.
T1: 2:03 - I had to dry off, sit down to put on shoes, and then put on my shirt. My transition was faster than at least 1/4 of the participants, but the area was not very busy when I got into it
11 Mile Bike: 1:05:07 - That's right, I averaged 10.1 mph on the bike. Which for me is a HUGE victory. I still haven't been putting in the kind of work I need to on the bike, but I will be for the next 2 months FOR SURE!
T2: 1:13 - Sadly, I can't blame my transition times for any delays, because frankly, I rocked the transitions. Under 4 minutes in transition in only my 2nd Tri is excellent.
5k Run: 46:48 - My 5k last race was 47 minutes on a much easier walking course that I hadn't pushed myself as hard through the bike section on.

Looking at my results in comparison to the other competitors, it's clear that the area I can make up the most time on is the bike. I am sure I would have been faster without the flat, but it really comes down to more miles and more speed. I need to do more hill work, and kick some butt in the pool.

racethenation

Chip Timing is great when the option is there, but is not a requirement by any means. I would suggest though that you make results tabulation and posting a priority. Most people that I know, time their own splits well enough that they are not as worried about the breakdowns. However, we want to see how the finishing order fell. The last duathlon that I did in March has never posted official overall results anywhere. They posted age group breakdowns with no times about a week after the event, but that is it. I would recommend that you have someone lined up to get your full results online with both age group breakdowns and overall finishes as soon as the race is over. At a minimum this should be done by the Monday after the event, but there is no reason why you can't have it worked out to be done same day. I have done a fair bit a web design, and once the results are tabulated, it should not take more than about 15 minutes to get results online. You should also let the participants know where to expect the results. This is just my thoughts from the racing side.

flip18436572

I don't want to take over this thread, but I am asking for email from every participant. Then I will email a results sheet to all of them. It will be a sheet with their overall time only with our current volunteer setup. We are trying to come up with something more, but that is all we have at this time.

I will also post it on our website.

TechKnowGN

As long as everyone takes a second congratulates me on kicking *****, I dont mind being threadjacked!

flip18436572

Congrats!!!!!!