Avia Austin Tri Race Report

This was a great race, very well organized.  The weather cooperated and it cooled off but was very windy!  I did the Olympic, my 3rd

Swim

Mass start by age group.  Wish they had started the swim in front of the dock rather than beside it.  It made for a more crowded start but no big deal.  After a few hundred meters things spread out. 

Good idea to get out in front of the pack if you are a decent swimmer.

Rectangular course was pretty simple to follow.  The swim was not wet-suit legal, the water temp was over 80 degrees.

I had trouble with my goggles and did most of the swim with water in my eyes.

T1

Pretty good hike to get out of the transition area and on to the bike.  Next year I’ll work on keeping the shoes clipped in, I had trouble clipping in for some reason.  It’s wasn’t too muddy so I think this would work well.

Bike

It was pretty windy which affected the bike for sure but it was easily manageable.

The course is well market and pretty fast.  There’s 3 u-turns.

The course was not near as crowded as CapTex.

There’s only one little hill coming back up the ramp to Cesar Chavez.  That caught some people off guard.

I had 2 Gu’s and two bottles of Gatorade during the ride.

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Run

There was a snafu on the run course that caused some of the pro guys to get DQ’s.  I could see how that would happen if you were leading the run, but I didn’t exactly have that problem

The run is very flat and winds around auditorium shores.  Had two more Gu’s and a couple cups of water.

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Overall, I had a good race at 2:33 which was my fastest oly time.  I had a bad swim due to the water in the eyes issue, a decent bike at 21 mph, and a good run under a 7:30/minute pace.

It was the first race that I didn’t fall apart and end up walking the run.

Never too young to be Aero

I thought this was very funny:

Swimming in Barton Springs Pool

Being new to Austin, I didn't know what to expect.  I needed a place to swim near downtown in the morning so I tried Barton Springs Pool

Barton Springs is a spring fed "pool" located in Zilker Park.  Its not really a pool though, its more of blocked off section of Barton Creek.

Here's a map with it location.

-Yes, the water is cold.  But in the summer once you swim about a lap, it feels great.  Just jump in and get going.  You are warm in about 5 minutes

-The water is very clean, you can see to the bottom of the "pool" pretty much the whole way

-Opens at 5 am, its free in the morning until 9 am

-The limestone bottom is slippery

-There is every range of swimming ability there. From very fast to people in swim trunks and no googles cruising around.  How fast or slow you are won't be noticed.

-Many people wear wetsuits, you don't need it in the summer but its great practice if you want to wear one.  I do so half the time.

-Between 5:30 and 7:00 am when I swim, there are about 30 - 40 people there.  Plenty of room.

-Most people start on the south (right) side by the steps and swim to the other end.  There's a marker near the steps that shows one length being 1/8th of a mile.

New to Swimming Advice

Swimming is the most intimidating part of a triathlon to most people.  The first time I tried to swim I was exhausted after 25 meters.  It seemed impossible and was very discouraging.

I did two things that I wish I knew upfront that made swimming much easier:

1.  Terry Laughlin Swimming Video - Swimming is mostly technique.  Once you learn the basics of breathing and stroke, it becomes much easier.  I watched these videos and got a sense of the basic mechanics of how to swim and breathe.  I got them on netflix, but here's a link to their site:

www.totalimmersion.net

2.  Masters Swim - Once you can swim about 200 M straight (doesnt matter how fast), join a masters swim class.

A msters swim class is simply a class for adults lead by an experienced swim coach.  They prepare workouts for the class and help students with technique.  I have been in 3 different masters swim class and the people range from beginners to very fast swimmers, so there's nothing to be intimidated about.

If you do these 2 things, you will become very comfortable swimming quickly.

Lake Travis Triathlon Report - 2011

This is my first race report and I will be more detailed in the future, I did this race months ago......

Swim - 500M


The swim start in a pretty wide cove in a wave start.  The cove is wide enough so that the start isnt too frenetic, there's plenty of space.  The course is a big triangle.

The lake level was very low and it has been very windy here lately....that resulted in two things:

1. A surf!  Swimming into the wind was tough with the waves it created.  I hadn't experienced this before and seemed to get a gulp of water everytime I tried to breath.  Once you made the first turn right of the "triangle", it became much easier.  The second turn became even easier since you now had the waves to your back.

2. A long run to Transition.  Up hill through rocks and grass with stickers, probably 400M.  I dropped sandals by the edge of the water.  It was a life saver.  Many did not, its a must

Bike - 20K

 2 laps around a 6 mile loop.  Traffic was limited to one lane and was no problem.  Good roads.  Seemed  to have more hills that it did:

Here's my garmin data:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81480876

Run - 5K

The 5K run is through a trail that is mostly gravel and flat.  Pretty easy course, but since the start was late (9, I think), it was pretty hot by the time you were to the run.

But since its a trail its a little slow.  But it was also short.  I average 7:44/mile, but should've around 7:15 or so.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81480882

The race was very well organized and the volunteers were great.

I wasn't happy with my race (I never am) but I came in 4th in my age group which is the best I have ever done.

Will definitely do it next year so I have a shot at the top 3

Take aways for New Triathletes:


-Bring some kind of footwear from the swim to T1.  Tennis shoes or sandals you can easily run in work best.  Put them right by the swim exit and run up the hill to the transition area in them.


-Be prepared for a little surf and get in rhythm where you are breathing between the waves.