thndrmatt
Real Life Mickey Wannabe!
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2005
- Messages
- 799
Another week, another race report! (2 actually)
Saturday was the Cypress Gardens Tri at the theme park of the same name in Winter Haven. This was a short distance event and they catered towards first timers. Distances were 600m swim (which ended up being about 750), 10 mile bike, and then a 5k.
We stayed at the Best Western across the street so no issues getting to the site race morning. Arriving at 2am the night before and being given a key to someone elses room and opening the door into the chain while they were sleeping is another story... End result was they gave us the only thing they had left (smoking) and didn't charge us for the night. I had to get up at 6am anyway so I was more interested in the $95 freebie. The clock in the room was 10 minutes fast so even after rolling around waiting for it to turn to 6 I got up and looked at my watch and it was still 5:50. I just didn't sleep that well, maybe 2-3 hours max.
The whole race in general was pretty disorganized for a tri. They were allowing anyone to just wander into transition, and had the $10k pro bikes on the closest rack to the exit. Anyone could have just grabbed one and taken off. No rack assignments just age group labels on each one, so it was a free for all. Over on the first timer racks I saw a lot of altercations involving people moving other people's bikes so THEIRS could be on the end and things like that. Bikes of all shapes and sizes, from the pro bikes to huge fat tire bikes to mountain bikes to cruisers and everything in between. The sponsor was Publix so there was a great pre race spread of fruit and drinks and whatnot.
The swim was in the lake made famous by the Cypress Gardens waterski show which is self-proclaimed as the longest running live show on earth. It was basically counterclockwise around the jetty that protects that portion of the lake. Just eyeballing it from the start I knew it was long, and based on my time I'd guess it was about 750m or half an olympic. Temp was great and it was really flat almost like bathwater. Things got started like 15-20 min late after the officials made their way down to the water. There were going to be 6 waves or something but basically all the athletes were just standing around waiting for something to happen. They started giving instructions finally over a megaphone but kept looking out and pointing over the water while they talked about the course so the sound all went that way and no one could hear. Finally they just randomly said ok we'll start in 4 minutes. Apparently they just forgot the national anthem because eventually some spectators and athletes just randomly started singing it and soon everyone joined in. The official said "ok whenever you people are done singing we'll start" in a pretty nasty tone of voice about halfway through the song. Anyway, eventually I swam and was real comfortable but since I was in the first wave the other waves all caught me and started clobbering me as they went by. Eventually made my way to the swim finish, the highlight being just barely beating one guy who started in my same wave and swam the whole thing on his back, frog kicking, right behind me, just to give you an example of how slow my freestyle is. Lots of people apparently swam slower but keep in mind there were about that many first timers, and for the online results they included the looong run to transition which I took out here and put in my T1 time.
Swim: 23:00, 13/14 AG, 288/375 OA
T1 involved running basically halfway through Cypress Gardens, up a couple hills, and finally to transition, probably about 500 yards. Pretty smooth for me, except I discovered I had accidentally packed my wife's thorlos instead of mine, which I was barely able to get over my heel because they were so small. Doh! Time is long due to all the running which was more like shuffling barefoot.
T1: 4:05
For some reason I was already feeling pretty poor right after getting on the bike. I dropped my gel in the first 10 feet and had to go back. My quads were already tightening up a bit and I just could not catch my breath for the first few miles. I was going after it pretty hard since it was so short, but I was only hitting speeds I usually hit and maintain on olympic distances that are more than twice as far. Some various undulations kept things interesting and I took in some gatorade and then gel/water as planned. Finished strong, so strong I blew right past the dismount line which was REALLY poorly marked. Was watching people ahead of me which turned out to be people who had just come out of transition to start the course. Since it was a continuous loop I didn't realize I had already reached the end and had to double back. Was satisfied with the results though based on how everyone else did, it must have just been a deceivingly harder course. Top 50% in my AG and better yet top 16% overall whcih is fantastic.
Bike: 28:22, 21.2mph, 7/14 AG, 59/375 OA
Real quick transition for me, one guy was still trying to put his shoes on when I came in, and was still there as I was leaving which made me feel good. Life is a competition!
T2: 0:51
The run was a quick turn into the park for a mile, lots of twists and turns and little ups and downs and bridges to run over, kept things interesting I enjoyed it a lot. Reminded me of running to Splash Mountain at park opening when I was a kid... The second and third miles however were basically across the full length of the parking lot, then doubled back to the close end again, then went around the entire lot again on the furthest border before reentering the park for the last few hundred yards to the finish. I continued to not have the greatest day mentally, but I'm happy with the pace I was able to sustain. Course was apparently short by quite a bit I had it at 2.9 even with all my zigzagging through the park. Low point was the 13 year old passing me with 100 meters to go who had started in my wave. Sprinted in and started attacking the finish line food. Title sponsor was publix, so there were turkey burgers, cheese trays, vegetables, fruit, wraps, all kinds of stuff.
Run: 25:03, 8:05mpm, 12/14 AG, 120/375 OA
My results were pretty typical for me. Near the bottom on the swim, excellent on the bike, middle of the pack on the run. But my swim is so terrible that usually puts me back in the middle of the pack overall.
Finish: 1:21:19, 11/14 AG, 147/375 OA
Mentally I might have been holding back just a bit, as I knew I had the RFTT the next day. Speaking of which, it's time for that race report!
Saturday was the Cypress Gardens Tri at the theme park of the same name in Winter Haven. This was a short distance event and they catered towards first timers. Distances were 600m swim (which ended up being about 750), 10 mile bike, and then a 5k.
We stayed at the Best Western across the street so no issues getting to the site race morning. Arriving at 2am the night before and being given a key to someone elses room and opening the door into the chain while they were sleeping is another story... End result was they gave us the only thing they had left (smoking) and didn't charge us for the night. I had to get up at 6am anyway so I was more interested in the $95 freebie. The clock in the room was 10 minutes fast so even after rolling around waiting for it to turn to 6 I got up and looked at my watch and it was still 5:50. I just didn't sleep that well, maybe 2-3 hours max.
The whole race in general was pretty disorganized for a tri. They were allowing anyone to just wander into transition, and had the $10k pro bikes on the closest rack to the exit. Anyone could have just grabbed one and taken off. No rack assignments just age group labels on each one, so it was a free for all. Over on the first timer racks I saw a lot of altercations involving people moving other people's bikes so THEIRS could be on the end and things like that. Bikes of all shapes and sizes, from the pro bikes to huge fat tire bikes to mountain bikes to cruisers and everything in between. The sponsor was Publix so there was a great pre race spread of fruit and drinks and whatnot.
The swim was in the lake made famous by the Cypress Gardens waterski show which is self-proclaimed as the longest running live show on earth. It was basically counterclockwise around the jetty that protects that portion of the lake. Just eyeballing it from the start I knew it was long, and based on my time I'd guess it was about 750m or half an olympic. Temp was great and it was really flat almost like bathwater. Things got started like 15-20 min late after the officials made their way down to the water. There were going to be 6 waves or something but basically all the athletes were just standing around waiting for something to happen. They started giving instructions finally over a megaphone but kept looking out and pointing over the water while they talked about the course so the sound all went that way and no one could hear. Finally they just randomly said ok we'll start in 4 minutes. Apparently they just forgot the national anthem because eventually some spectators and athletes just randomly started singing it and soon everyone joined in. The official said "ok whenever you people are done singing we'll start" in a pretty nasty tone of voice about halfway through the song. Anyway, eventually I swam and was real comfortable but since I was in the first wave the other waves all caught me and started clobbering me as they went by. Eventually made my way to the swim finish, the highlight being just barely beating one guy who started in my same wave and swam the whole thing on his back, frog kicking, right behind me, just to give you an example of how slow my freestyle is. Lots of people apparently swam slower but keep in mind there were about that many first timers, and for the online results they included the looong run to transition which I took out here and put in my T1 time.
Swim: 23:00, 13/14 AG, 288/375 OA
T1 involved running basically halfway through Cypress Gardens, up a couple hills, and finally to transition, probably about 500 yards. Pretty smooth for me, except I discovered I had accidentally packed my wife's thorlos instead of mine, which I was barely able to get over my heel because they were so small. Doh! Time is long due to all the running which was more like shuffling barefoot.
T1: 4:05
For some reason I was already feeling pretty poor right after getting on the bike. I dropped my gel in the first 10 feet and had to go back. My quads were already tightening up a bit and I just could not catch my breath for the first few miles. I was going after it pretty hard since it was so short, but I was only hitting speeds I usually hit and maintain on olympic distances that are more than twice as far. Some various undulations kept things interesting and I took in some gatorade and then gel/water as planned. Finished strong, so strong I blew right past the dismount line which was REALLY poorly marked. Was watching people ahead of me which turned out to be people who had just come out of transition to start the course. Since it was a continuous loop I didn't realize I had already reached the end and had to double back. Was satisfied with the results though based on how everyone else did, it must have just been a deceivingly harder course. Top 50% in my AG and better yet top 16% overall whcih is fantastic.
Bike: 28:22, 21.2mph, 7/14 AG, 59/375 OA
Real quick transition for me, one guy was still trying to put his shoes on when I came in, and was still there as I was leaving which made me feel good. Life is a competition!
T2: 0:51
The run was a quick turn into the park for a mile, lots of twists and turns and little ups and downs and bridges to run over, kept things interesting I enjoyed it a lot. Reminded me of running to Splash Mountain at park opening when I was a kid... The second and third miles however were basically across the full length of the parking lot, then doubled back to the close end again, then went around the entire lot again on the furthest border before reentering the park for the last few hundred yards to the finish. I continued to not have the greatest day mentally, but I'm happy with the pace I was able to sustain. Course was apparently short by quite a bit I had it at 2.9 even with all my zigzagging through the park. Low point was the 13 year old passing me with 100 meters to go who had started in my wave. Sprinted in and started attacking the finish line food. Title sponsor was publix, so there were turkey burgers, cheese trays, vegetables, fruit, wraps, all kinds of stuff.
Run: 25:03, 8:05mpm, 12/14 AG, 120/375 OA
My results were pretty typical for me. Near the bottom on the swim, excellent on the bike, middle of the pack on the run. But my swim is so terrible that usually puts me back in the middle of the pack overall.
Finish: 1:21:19, 11/14 AG, 147/375 OA
Mentally I might have been holding back just a bit, as I knew I had the RFTT the next day. Speaking of which, it's time for that race report!
Our intent was to hit the other half after the RFTT. Also stayed for Illuminations since we had to drive home the next night and were planning to be on the road long before the night show.
5:15 came eventually but I was already up getting ready and had turned off the alarm. DW was phoning it in again as she would be doing most of the driving home later in the day, and we had discovered with my bike and all the other stuff in the back of her Suzuki there was only room for one other person. This spot was soon to be inhabited by Becky who I picked up at Boardwalk. Did the ol flash your room key because they all look the same trick and the guard let me right in to the front. We were both wearing our LIME GREEN so she was easy to spot.
Anyone notice women outnumbered men by a whole lot? 1500ish to 1000ish...
. I'm pondering whether I can swing a trip down for marathon weekend just to scream team, since we'll also be going out to Houston that following weekend for my marathon. It will depend on when I get back from deploying in early Jan.
) Matt and Chester literally screamed team to the last finisher. I am impressed with thier spirit!
