Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Racine, Wisconsin
United States
HFP Racing
64/6F / 0C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 44m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Old man
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Pre-pre routine. Sat. was all day basketball for my older son, then the drive to Racine (about 1-1/3 hours), check-in, then drive back home. Got about 4 hours sleep.
Woke up at 3:45 a.m., got ready, grabbed gear, had some gatorade and pb toast and nanner, and a couple of Clif bars (during the drive).
Got to Racine by 5:45 a.m., stopped off at the McDonald's on WI-20, just off of I-94, for a potty break so I wouldn't wait in line at the porta-potties, and found a decent enough parking spot about 4 blocks or so from the park. Grabbed the gear and hauled down for body-marking.
Saw Peter and Scott before they closed Transition.
Walked with Peter, Lori, and Scott the mile to the start.
Finally saw some Donks - Craig, AJ, Clint and his brother, Teri, Deanna, Aron and Rich!
While attempting to swim in the hip-high water, Donnawiz spotted me and said hi! She's such a sweety.
Yelled out my traditional starting EEEAAAWWW!! before my wave started.
Event warmup:

Walk the 1 mile to the start and a haphazard swim for about 5 min. or so in the hip-high water.
Swim
  • 31m 28s
  • 2200 yards
  • 01m 26s / 100 yards
Comments:

Had fun. The swim is tough for me, and will always need to figure that aspect out.
What would you do differently?:

Swim more? Make the course the correct length?
Transition 1
  • 05m
Comments:

Took a lot of time in T1 due to the STUPID, cheap, worn-out timer-chip strap. The strap ripped and tore when I took off the wetsuit. There was no way I could strap it back on. What a waste of time.
What would you do differently?:

B1tch and complain to get a better strap next time before the race if it's worn that badly.
Bike
  • 2h 48m
  • 56 miles
  • 20.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Guesstimate on the bike time since I don't have an official time because of the timing chip, I had placed it in my jersey pocket and the signal didn't register. STUPID timer chip strap!
Luckily, I had the ForeRunner on, but I didn't start it until about a mile or so down the road. The Garmin registered around 55 miles or a little more with an avg of 19.9 mph.

A huge carnage of waterbottles, gel packets, a lot of back bottle cages (I should have came back and snarfed a couple), aerobottle "poofies", and some other miscellaneous food items, and one spare innertube with CO2 cartridge setup rubber-banded together.

The volunteers were great, and there were quite a few kids that were helping out. THANK YOU!

I pushed this one a lot harder than normal, and hit the first hour with doing just over 21 mph (I checked and that stuck in my head)! That's fast for me.

Now the fun - Sandi caught me, and super-speedy Donnawiz! She was coming from behind and was saying - "I see a carrot. I'm going to catch the carrot". FUNNY! I tried to outsprint her, for say, uhh, 100 yards - 200 yards. That didn't last long.

Thanked all the cops and volunteers that I could.

There were at least 4 instances of a flat getting fixed, one or two incidences of someone dealing with a cramp on the side of the road, and one major accident that happened with about less than 10 miles to go - the racer was on his back lying in the road on a left turn with the cop by his side. Didn't see any blood, but he was hurt - don't know what happened.

I will say this - HOW MANY EFFIN' DRAFTERS ARE OUT THERE, FOR CHRISSAKE? Buncha cheaters!

As I was coming in, I saw DJ and Schmize on the run and EEEAAAWWWed them.
What would you do differently?:

A little more training.
I started to tire out with the effort I did (since I never pushed it that hard before. It felt great, though.
Break up the cheaters. ;)
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

When I tried to rack the bike, one of the metal legs on the rack came off. However, there was another guy who just came in and racked his bike in the rack behind me, and offered to help. VERY cool! I thanked him.

I do know that my T2 time was faster than T1.
What would you do differently?:

STUPID worn-out time chip strap, causing me to not get a time for the bike - need to figure out how to register the chip without getting held up if that happens again.
Run
  • 2h 17m 15s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

Just before the first mile, my left hammy cramped up and I had to stop and stretch it out for about a minute.

My left knee had a weird "twinge" once in awhile, but only when I picked it up some, so I kept my pace in check.

The run course is the best part because I enjoy seeing the familiar faces and interacting with persons, which get my spirits up!

I caught up with Aron, and then Chris and Jean (ajotto, TriDDS, tri-n-spin, respectively), and Clint's brother Joel. I saw DJDavey, Schmize, Deanna, Amyjo, Anna (runswithjasper), Scott (sgoehner), Michelle (trainergirlmick), 'bert (bertgwen) ;) , Travis and Sandi, Laura (Whizzzzz), MissKelly, Clint, Teri, Peter and Lori.

Nice, overcast day!

BEST DANG SUPPORT CREW YOU COULD EVER HOPE FOR - Craig (firstnet911) and pack.
What would you do differently?:

Figure out how to avoid cramps and get faster?
Post race
Warm down:

Iced up the quads, got some fuel from the food tent, and walked over to the Donkey tent site.
Met up with Fred (Clint's dad), all the other Donks mentioned, and finally asked Coredump his name since I didn't remember it from IM Moo last year (Chris). Chris ran super-speedy, too!

PJ (PeggyJo, maggyruth) showed me her engagement ring - VERY NICE!
Gave "I Wanna" (aidana ;) ) a big hug.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cramps, mostly. STUPID worn-out time chip strap!

Event comments:

REPLACE THE STUPID TIMER CHIP STRAP!!

I PR'ed by 16 min. from last year!!

Fun things heard during the race:
1). What's with the carrot?
2). What's that? A donkey?
3). Donnawiz, coming from behind on the bike to pass me - "I see a carrot. I'm going to catch the carrot". That was funny.
4). The photographer, while going up the hill on the 2nd lap - "So, what is it about the donkey? I saw a number of them."
5). "EEEAAAWWW!!!" - the Donks on the course.
6). Some lady in a group of people on a corner by mile 2 and change, while coming around on the 2nd lap, "What is that supposed to be?", to which they didn't think I heard and to which I yelled out without turning back "IT'S A DONKEY!!". Then the group started laughing.
7). From Craig, as I was coming towards the "Donkey corral" near the finish, in his bullhorn, "... Phil Gillett ". (Sorry, Craig, I was listening, but didn't catch it very well.)
8). Chris (TriDDS) and Jean, on the first lap after the turnaround, "You're looking strong". Then just after the 1/2-way mark they caught up and said "We're going to run with you for awhile". Then they left me with their good pacing.
9). More "EEEAAAWWW"s by Donks.
10). Bertgwen, on the run course, "Did you take a nap?". ;)
11). And the best line was by Schmize, as he passed me around mile 2-1/2 on my first lap, said in an "urban-ish" voice "Let's make this course our BEEEE YOTCHHHHHHH!" and gave a "hang-loose" sign. Thanks, Schmize, and of course, YOU ARE SPEEDY AND YOU RAWK!

Some reflection -
I can be quite proud of my accomplishment for PR'ing this race, but what stands out to me is seeing the Donkai with all those bright, happy smiles, talking with each other, and having fun, even after pushing their bodies to their limits. Your are a terrific bunch and I thank you for all the support and energy you give. To Craig, for being the ULTIMATE JOCKSTRAPPER with picture-taking, bullhorn-inspiring, and beer distributing.
What stands out most of all this is Michele, whom (so I heard) just finished up with chemo recently, completing her first HIM, sporting a pink cape during the whole run, coming down the stretch to the finish line, and fighting back tears that probably would have filled up Lake Michigan.
CONGRATULATIONS, trainergirlmick! I applaud you! (I hope you don't mind that I inserted the photo in here).

If I missed anybody (I know I met a tall guy with dark hair cheering at the end), I'm sorry. Go ahead and reply and remind me.

And last but not least, thank you to Craig for the photos.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-02-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:28 | 2200 yards | 01m 26s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Suit: Pro-Motion full
Course: Wave start from shore, in waves every 3 min., point-to-point following. Go out 25 to 50 yards, turn right, follow buoys that parallel the shoreline. Follow out to final right turn and back in to the shore, then run on loose sand to Transition. Water was shallow and was less than chest-high most of the way. Course is OBVIOUSLY short in length. Now the fun part. Approx. within the first 300 - 400 yards, I got up and started water-walking. I was looking around and saw this guy to the right of me, and took a triple-take (with me not having my glasses on, it was blurry). I swore it was DJDavey - so I walked over to him while he was swimming, I tapped him on the shoulder. SURPRISE! It was. How funny! During the swim, we kept giving each other some shat. Davey had the best one on me - sometime around the 1/2-way mark or so while breathing on my right side every 3rd stroke, I saw him flipping me off! By the 4th or 5th time I saw him do that, I finally stopped, got up and started laughing! FUNNY! There was another guy that I never met before and he shouted out "Hey, nice wetsuit!" and it turned out we had the same ProMotion with the red pattern on it. I saw him later near the end, and he still had good spirits. I never had so much fun swimming before.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 05:00
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:48:00 | 56 miles | 20.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Relatively flat out-and-back course with a couple of "climbers". There were some rough roads, but mostly smooth on the county roads.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:17:15 | 13.1 miles | 10m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back, 2 times. 2 hills in the first 1/2 to 3/4 miles, then flat, and one little "roller" before the turnaround. Many people on the course cheering, and that was a welcome! 4 aid stations were setup, so you can hit them at the same spot when you go out and come back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4