Haleiwa Sprint Tri '13 Race Report

Bike Factory Haleiwa Sprint Tri Relay Race Report

Relays are a great way to do triathlons without doing a triathlon. I understand that doesn't make much sense, bear with me. At this point I've done plenty of tris, I know triathlon, and I enjoy triathlon. But sometimes I don't feel like doing an entire race. I want to be a part of the event, but for whatever reason doing the whole thing isn't in the plan. Last time we did a relay, the Lanikai Tri last year, it was because the Grey, Diesel, and I were mid-Honu training and none of us wanted to do a sprint, but a race sounded fun and we figured we could place, which is always nice. For the Haleiwa Tri I didn't feel fit enough to put together a respectable effort for an entire race so I talked the guys into relaying it. Again, we knew we should place. That helps sell the idea.
I swam, Diesel rode, and the Grey ran, like last time, because that is our strongest line-up. I picked up Diesel at 5am race morning, both of us grumbling that I had talked us into getting up that early to race for such a short period of time. He has a twelve mile ride ahead of him. That's less than 30 minutes of work. I had a 500m (they said) swim. That's less than ten minutes of work.
Sometimes triathlon is dumb like that.
We met the Grey there and got set up easily. Check-in and everything went well. I was excited because Carrots, my tri-friend and Super Awesome Wife's knitting buddy, was doing the race too. Seeing friends makes races better.

T1 Set Up

Diesel and The Grey getting ready

It's very early

Carrots and husband

Race start was planned for 6:30, which is kind of dumb because it's still dark at 6:30am. So we probably started at 6:40 or so. Two waves, men first, then women and relays. I wasn't thrilled with having to wait to the second wave. I know how quickly I swim, and I know how slowly a lot of triathletes swim. I'm going to hit the back of the men's pack. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?
I lined up on the beach with the girls pointing as straight on to the first buoy floating 150m offshore as I could. Why swim at and angle? That makes your race further. Why are all you people so far down the beach?
I didn't hear a countdown for the men, just the horn. Fine, whatever, go go go. Once they were away I got my goggles ready and shook out my arms. Next to me on the beach was a very serious looking woman in a pro tri suit. Like name on the stomach and back and everything. Decided to hang by her. If you're going to get beat, get beat by someone who didn't have to buy her own gear.
Thirty seconds...GO!
I had a great start. Killer start. Looking to my sides I think I was the first to the turn. Pro Girl may have beat me, but I didn't see anyone in front of me. Felt stronger than I expect. So fast that I was worried I'd run out of gas before the swim was over. And I might have if it was really 500m. There's now way it was that far. 400m tops. By the second buoy and the turn into the beach I was in the middle of the men's pack, fighting through feet and bodies. Got wide of the group for the sprint in and swam hard. I don't think I was the first of the second wave out of the water, but the transition area was pretty damn full when I got there.
Honestly, the hardest part of the swim was the transition run. Long ass run from the beach, along the park, up to T1. Then chip to Diesel and he was off.

Dirtbag swam hard

Carrots gets her helmet on...

And she's off!

This is the fun part for me. I never get to see transition fill and empty. I never get to cheer on other triathletes as they chug into T1, change, and head back out. It is cool and made me feel like part of the tribe. Then it was out to the street to watch the cyclists on their three laps and talk to Carrot's husband, MamaSaid, who came down for the race (Super Awesome Wife's mom was in town and Dirtbag Baby had a long day the day before so they skipped this event), and another relay team. This race is cool because they have a beach cruiser division. So you've got dudes and dudettes on $5k bikes roaring by then a guy on a rusty cruiser with high bars pedaling away. Triathlon should be fun.
Diesel came ripping in to T2, and I had to call out to The Grey, who got distracted talking to someone and had to rush into transition to get the chip.

Diesel goes zooooom

Coming in at the end of Lap 3

Diesel and The Grey in for the switch

Grab the chip!

And he's away!

 The run course was a tough out and back along the beach. So it was sand and trail out, then on the beach back. No one really likes this run course. Thanks Grey! He had a great time.

Here he comes!

And across the line!

 Once he was across the line we hung out for a while, talking, snacking, and being friendly. Diesel and MamaSaid left to hike and the Grey and I checked out the results postings only to discover that we weren't listed. What the hell? The Grey and I bothered the timing guy until he gave us an answer- The chip time for the bike said 18 minutes, which is impossible. Which means he thought Diesel only did two laps. Which means he disqualified us! What. The. Hell. The Grey argued and I grumbled until he looked at the swim time and run time and the final time and realized that what his chip was telling him didn't make any sense. So yeah, the Grey bullied the timer into giving us our time back. Second place! Woo! We got a nice tile, leading to many jokes about doing this race until we can refinish a bathroom. We are hilarious.

Team Dirtbag!

Carrots is a tough triathlete

Tough guys with second place tiles

 Another race with good swag, we got nice long sleeve shirts, a sticker, and a bag. They tried to give me a trucker hat instead of the bag and I shot that right down. Who wants a trucker hat? That's what the race people get for giving me a choice. I'll take the choice. 
I love being around events like this and relays are a great way to play without too much pressure.
Final Splits
Swim- 5:49 (hell yeah, but that means there us no way it was 500m)
T1- 2:16 (long ass run)
Bike- 33:37 (blazing!)
T2- 00:37
Run- 26:24 (not bad for a bruised up old man hehe)
Final Time- 1:08:42

Swag- long sleeve, sticker, bag

Haleiwa Sprint Tri 2010 Race Report

Two down, sports fans. Two triathlons in under a month, how does that sounds, huh? Sounds to me like going from zero to a lot pretty quick. And I'm happy I did it like that. There's no better way to learn something than to do it over and over. And now, it being November and all, the triathlon season has ended. This gives me time to start building a more solid base going into next year (and I do have plans for next year, which I will get to later).
This tri started different from the last. And I mean right away. My stomach, which was near perfect for Ko'Olina, was not happy at 4am Sunday. I'm sure it was a combination of nerves and eating a little too much of the veggie pasta the night before. Either way, it was not a happy morning for the Dirtbag tummy. This is something that sometimes must be suffered through. It always goes away once the event starts. It's the waiting that sucks.
The swim was a 400m open water mass start. I'm going to say that last part again for those of you who need things repeated. Mass start. Every single athlete competing started at the same time. All 153 of us sprinting towards that first buoy. It was a madhouse. Arms and elbows and feet and hands everywhere. Splashing, kicking, pulling and sometimes grabbing. I'm pretty sure I elbowed someone in that opening sprint. Not on purpose, they just got too close to my stroke and got to feel the power of the Tattooed Wake as a result. (That's right, my nickname has a swimming-specific nickname. What?)
The swim course was a triangle from one point on the beach, right turn around a buoy, straight to another buoy, right turn, back to the beach. A lot of people started near the exit, which didn't make sense to me because Mr. Pythagorean says that means they are swimming further. So I joined the clever people down the beach. I had a straight shot at the first buoy. This helped me be in the front third of the people making the turn. I got a little off track from buoy two to the beach and swam slightly further than I should have. Have to keep popping the head up to sight on the cones at the beach and that slows you down. But the swim was still pretty good.
As you might be able to tell from the picture, there was quite a run from the swim exit to the transition area. My T1 went alright. I could be faster. Practice practice.
I got out on the bike and got to getting. It felt better than Ko'Olina almost immediately. Factors contributing to this are the lack of swim-run-swim-run tired and experience. I set off in the front third of the cyclists and, just like last time, was promptly passed by slower swimmers but much better cyclists. This was expected. What was not expected was that I managed to hold my own in a small group that eventually formed around me.
The ride was three laps through Haleiwa town, with the roads blocked to traffic. It's not a difficult route by any means and I rode it a few times prior to the race to familiarize myself with it. I would get passed but I passed plenty of people as well. Sure, a lot of them were Cruiser division guys on their single speeds, but still. What ended up happening by lap three was a group of three or four guys, myself included gathered. We started doing the I pass you, you pass me back, we both pass a slower guy, etc...thing. It was kind of fun and I'm sure it made me faster. I've never ridden in a group before. So I'd say a race is a good time to start. Yeah?
T2 was also just ok. Slower again than I would have liked.
I set off on the run feeling like my pace was not where it should be. I just felt like my quick feet weren't all that quick. Nothing from there on out happened to change my mind. The entire run was off road and nearly the entire run was on a trail of sticks, rocks, and sand. Normally this would not be any problem. I run in Vibram Fivefinger KSOs. There is very little between me and the ground. Not that I'm complaining. I love my shoes and wouldn't trade them for anything. It's just that a few times I thought to myself, "Oh, going to remember that rock tomorrow." And I did.
The last mile of the race was on the sand coming back to the park. I'd like you to go to the beach and go for a run. I'll wait...
Back? Ok, good. Hard, innit it? Yeah, sure is. Screws with your stride, your cadence, and your head. Running in soft sand will suck your will to live if you let it. I'm happy to say I never stopped running. I criss-crossed the beach looking for more solid lines and running on rock slabs and fighting through that. This whole time I was passing one or two people and being passed by one or two (or three or maybe four) people.
Like Ko'Olina, I finished as hard as I could. I really didn't feel as muscle tired as I would have liked though. I think if the run had been on solid ground or a more traditional track I would have done better and felt it more. Not to say I didn't feel it. I just think it could have been harder. Or maybe I should have dug deeper during the run...could be it too.
I finished 71st overall, 13th in my division of 23, with better cycle and run pace times than last time. I'm not complaining about anything. I'm very happy with the outcome and can't wait to tri again. (Get it? Ha, I'm so funny!)
Tomorrow or the next day I'll post my thus far plans for next year and will continue to track my workouts. I'll probably get back on the bike some time this week, unless Obi Tri wants it back tomorrow. Then I won't ride until I get Kratos all sorted out. A run is also forthcoming.
Thanks for reading, thanks for all your support!

Haleiwa Sprint Tri- Race Results

Just like last time, I'm tired right now and don't feel like writing a race report. That will get done some time in the next few days along with the pictures from the race getting posted. Not as many of those as last time so it might be a Double Bonus Pictures/Race Report just for you! I know, super-awesome, right?
Anyway, the race was fun, it went well, and running on the beach is hard. Results are here. That link takes you directly to the page with my time right at the top.