Sunshine Coast – New Beginnings

March 15, 2015

Date of Race: 13MARCH2015

Location: Sunshine Coast, Australia

Category: PT2

Results:

Time

01:34:05

Swim

00:19:00

Cycle

00:44:20

Run

00:30:45

Local Knowledge and Conditions:

Temperature was quite warm (mid-upper 80’s) by the 0910 start-time and the humidity was hovering in the high 80% range.

Pre-Race Strategy & Warm Up:
So based on morning air and water temperatures, as well as race history (Dallas) I decided I would go “no-wetsuit”. After setting up transition jog out a bit to warm the muscles up and conducted dynamic warm-up routine. Made my way to swim start for warm-up swim, water felt great without the wetsuit but I would be sacrificing some speed.b Warmup was complete and I was ready for my first “RACE” since Dallas.

Psychology:

Mentally was feeling good, slightly in my head about heat and humidity but not starting in my wetsuit helped this time. Seeing the rest of my competition in wetsuits however did have me thinking though.

Race break down:

Swim-

Pace felt right and was with the pack for a little bit but after about 200 meters they were gone, that got in my head quite a bit from there. I thought my spotting was okay and it is hard to tell using the Garmin info but my pace was on par with my training. Distance according to Garmin though has me doing +160 meters.

T1-

Bike leg set-up is in need of change. Being on a knee that doesn’t lock and having to walk the bike 200+ meters to and from mount/dismount was costly. Through learning from fellow athletes I have found the knee to use. Gonna need a foot change and directly connect the cleat to the blade of the foot NOT the shoe.
Bike-

Felt good throughout, current times posted have “Transition” included in the Bike time and with the issues outlined in “T1” notes will wait to better see how my time relates to the competition.

T2-

Dismount to transition spot again an issue as outlined in T1 notes. I also needed to dry my stump before putting on running leg.
Run-

Run went well up to about 4.25k, at this point my prosthetic began to turn. In the past 2 years of racing I had not experienced this in a race and is something I intend to work out with my prothetic provider upon returning home.

Lessons Learned (Or Re-Learned):
The best lesson learned is, YES I CAN RACE!

+ Bike Cadence 85-90 is where I need to be

+ Run was good, ice water on the course helped keep cool and hydrated

– No wetsuit may have played a big role in the immediate deficit

– Transition / Bike leg need different knee and foot setup

– Running leg NEEDS work.

Future Goals:

* Continue to improve swim. It is hard to tell versus the competition due to not using a wetsuit but still know there is still some much needed improvement here

* Improve bike pace (relative to course) by .5 – 1 mph at next event

* Improve Transition – leg changes need to be faster

Fitness (endurance, nutrition, hydration):

Hydration was great, maintained a good sweat throughout the race. Drank well on the bike and took in 1/4 – 1/2 bottle every lap on the run.

Nutrition – I will be refining my overall nutrition but race nutrition was good, BASE SALT used in bike water. Breakfast was oatmeal w/peanut butter, fruit and toast w/butter. And a couple hands full of granola after setting up transition.

Endurance – Energy was good throughout, was unable to really turn it on for the last 2km of the run due to prosthetic turning on me, not happy about that.

Something funny that happened:

Post race, got caught lounging in the ice pool by the ITU photographer… DANG IT!!!

It sure was great to not only be out there really “RACING AGAIN” but to share in this wonderful experience with my fellow TEAM USA Athletes. Thanks also to everyone for the awesome support, well wishes as well as the many thoughts and prayers along the way. To the continued journey ahead.

“Improve Tomorrow What You’ve Done Today” – The words that drive me.