Triathlon Performance Analysis - Comparison to Expectations

In my Expectations Management post, I said what our time budget was for the various parts of the race. I thought I ought to compare them to what actually happened....

I have corrected some of the times because the course was a different length than I expected in some places - the swim was ~720m compared to 750, and the cycle was about 16.3 km rather than 20 km. On the other hand the run was 5.6 km rather than 5 km (cycle and run lengths according to my gps watch).
The results of the race are published on the Hartlepool Council web site.

Phase	My Budget	My Optimistic View	Actual	Corrected
Swim	30 min	20 min	16:06	16:46
Cycle	60 min	50 min	43:41	53:36
Run	30 min	20 min	27:21	24:25
Total	120 min	90 min	1:31:52	95+5 (transition) =100 min

So once I have corrected the times for the slightly different race distances, the cycle and run were both mid way between my budget and 'optimistic view' (so maybe I couldn't have done the cycle much quicker after all - I guess the tandem and Benjamin is a lot heavier than the bikes most people were using, and I don't like to go too fast in case it goes unstable...).   The surprising one was the swim being faster than my optimistic view.   I think that is down to Laura helping pace me up and down the pool so much.

Our finishing position was 142 out of 158 starters which is what I would have expected when we set out.  I was surprised it was not higher after the run because we were overtaking quite a lot of people, but I think we were un-lapping ourselves rather than really overtaking them.    So I am quite pleased that our timing was in line with our earlier 'Expectations Management'!.

Cold Water Swimming 1

Although I have lived by the sea most of my life, I have never had the urge to get into it, but I thought I should try out the new wetsuit and learn to swim in cold water.   This morning, Sandie, Laura and Benjamin took me down to the beach to learn to swim...That is, Seaton Carew beach in North East England - the North Sea....
The wetsuit was good at protecting the  body, arms and legs, but the extremities still suffered with the cold.   I first noticed that agonising feeling of cold water on the hands, then when they had acclimatised, the back of my neck got it, before finally my forehead when I started to swim properly.
It was quite a lot harder than I expected to start with, but once I was used to it I got better, and towards the end I was managing something like my swimming pool swim technique.
Sandie thinks I did about 800m and it will have taken about 25 min.
I definitely need to practice this a bit so that I can just get in and swim - it took 3 attempts to get going this morning, which is not good for a race!
Benjamin enjoyed the beach though...

What to Wear?

As someone that normally steers well clear of cold water, I don't have a handy wetsuit in the wardrobe, so what to wear for the Triathlon swim?
Everything I have read says that you need a special swimming wetsuit that will keep you warm, but is flexible enough to swim, and also has a smooth surface to reduce friction.
But these are quite expensive for what is probably going to be a one-off event for me.   I could hire one, but then realised that Amazon has a mega special offer on a 'normal' one that makes it about half the price of hiring a good one.
So I have bought a very cheap 'normal' wetsuit (for <£19!) to see what that is like - if it proves impossible to swim in, I will hire a good one.

The wetsuit arrived this morning and I was pleasantly surprised - I managed to put it on, and I can imagine swimming in it - I think the limiting thing for the swim will be my poor technique rather than poor equipment!   Even tested it by getting into a bath of cold water.  I can't say that it was pleasant, but I could lie in it without feeling like I was getting hypothermia.

Will try it out in Hartlepool Bay on Saturday morning......

Learning to Swim 4

After Laura pointed out that my breaststroke is faster than my front crawl, I have abandoned the idea of learning front crawl for the race.
Went to the swimming pool this morning for another 1000 m practice, with Laura pace making.

Not too bad - pool quiet so no excuses there, and managed the 1000 m in 22 min, which would be the equivalent of under 17 min for the 750 m race (on a like for like basis).

Of course the race will be in cold water wearing a wetsuit, so I will keep my estimate of 30 min for the swim for now, and treat anything less than that as a pleasant surprise!

Learning to Swim 3

Another attempt at learning to swim front crawl, with Laura pace making for me again.

I managed about 8 lengths front crawl, but had to do it very slowly to manage to breath enough, and I got quite dizzy with my head going from side to side to breathe.  

Gave up and went back to breaststroke.....

Overall time still not good - 24 minutes for the 1000 m, but Laura reckons I was noticeably faster doing breaststroke than front crawl.   Maybe I will try all breaststroke next time to see what sort of time I can do.

Then I have to decide what wetsuit to get, and learn to swim in that.....The cycle and run are going to feel easy by comparison!

Learning to Swim 2

Went to Mill House for another swimming practice with Laura tonight.   It was much busier than on Friday, so it was a bit more difficult to get into a rhythm.  Still, tried to do front crawl again.   Made over 2.5 lengths before I ran out of oxygen, which was a bit better than last time, but had to complete the 1000 m using breaststroke.

Halfway through the session they put a barrier across the bottom of the pool, so we had to try to re-calculate the number of lengths we had to do while exercising.   Mental arithmetic is really hard when exercising!

Conclusion is still that I am rubbish at swimming.....I sense a last place coming on!

Learning to Swim

I have never been any good at swimming, so the swim part of the triathlon is going to be quite a challenge.   I went to the baths on Friday to check I could do the distance before entering.

I thought I'd do 1000 m, as the event is 750 m, but is in cold water, which I expect to feel much harder.

Laura came along to pace me.   She was not impressed with my swimming ability - ran out of oxygen after one and a half lengths of front crawl and had to drop back to breaststroke, which I do not think is very efficient.

Still, did the 1000m in 25 mins, which gave me confidence that I will survive the event, but am going to have to try to learn how to do front crawl before the race.....

We would do much better as a team if Laura was allowed to do the swim part, but she is not old enough to compete, so it will have to be me...