Double Race, Double Reports Part 1

Double Race Report! Double weekend of fun!

2013 Bank of China Festival of Sport Sprint Triathlon and Revolution Asia Compressport Splash'n'Dash Aquathon Race 1

Evidently exhausted giving it all I could on the run.

Entering T2 After my worst ever bike split on this course. 

 First triathlon of the season, new bike, new tactics and a new approach. What could go wrong? Evidently everything to do with the bike!

It was a gloomy morning on the 12th of May 2013. The Olympic distance (HKTriathlon Association has an age restriction; OD is only open to anyone >20 years old) had all setoff since 06000-0630. Sprint + fun distances would start between 0730 and 0830. 

I arrived relatively early about an hour and a half early to get a nice long warm up and setup my transition on the maiden race of my 2012 Felt AR2. I made sure I was well hydrated knowing that once the sun came out it would be very hot with high humidity. Knowing that the bike was a full on hill course I had prepared an electrolyte/sugar mix for consumption to reduce chances of me crapping in the last few K's of the bike and the run. 

Swim:

Garmin Connect

Water was icy cold! I had an excellent swim (avg. 1:36/100m) considering that I haven't been training my swim as intensively as my run and bike. Came out the water pleasantly surprised with my time and to find out that I was ahead of one of my coaches! 

T1 was a bit of a mess for me trying to get my race belt clipped on but I made it through. 

Bike:

Garmin Connect
Here's where I failed....or what could have went wrong did go wrong.

1. Flying mount onto my bike: no problems
2. Cycling up the 300m 10% grade slope right at the beginning of the course: no problem
3. Take a sip of electrolytes after the slope: no problem. 

Then......I dropped my bottle after that sip -.-. Great job Brian. I decided not to stop and instead power on...which threw my nutrition plan out of whack since this course was 75% slopes (approx 6-8% grade). 

Finished first lap....looked at the time and I wasn't doing that well. I was 2mins behind my initial goal time and my legs weren't feeling fresh. I felt that familiar twitch that would signify a cramp if I didn't do something. 

I passed where I dropped my bottle on the first lap....and found nothing. A truck had rolled over it. :/ Great. 

Luckily I borrowed a bottle of water from the athlete drafting behind me so at least I had hydration. Managed to hold a higher speed in the second lap.

Run:

Garmin Connect

Both calves cramped up immediately coming off the bike. Not a good sign! Spent 30s stretching it out and limped on. Held a max. pace of 4:30 and focused on catching 1 person after another; grinding 1 meter after another.

Hardest Sprint I've actually done in ages. Mainly my fault for dropping the bottle.....and need to improve on hill courses.

Total time: 1:18:33

Stay tuned for Part 2: Race Report on Revolution Asia Compressport Splash'n'Dash Aquathon Race 1