Door County Triathlon Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Egg Harbor, Wisconsin
United States
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 00m 36s
Overall Rank = 219/627
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 25/64
Pre-race routine:

We went up to Door county on Friday. Spent the night in fish creek. It was really nice and relaxing. Watched the Sprint on Saturday and drove part of the bike course. My mom, Dan, Ross and Sarah all came up saturday afternoon and we did dinner and I went to bed early (8:30). I slept surprisingly well and woke up ready to go!

Drove the race site, got there about 2 hours before the race started. I slowly set up my transition area. Grabbed my wetsuit and headed over to pee one last time before donning said wetsuit.

We saw DJ, TracyV, and Sgoehner and talked with them for awhile.
Event warmup:

I swam out to the turn bouys and back, maybe 200 yards. Felt REALLY good and strong. I stopped to talk with the coast gaurd guys for a little while and thank them for helping. Stood around and waited for the start!
Swim
  • 35m 48s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 42s / 100 yards
Comments:

Great swim! I got swam over a few times, and same over a few others. But all in all that was good. I swung WAY wide on the turn to the right, and then way wide outside the straight bouys going out (oops). took me about 200 yards to find some open water to swim in, but once I found it I was gone. After the turn around the chop started. I tucked myself in on the bouy line on the back stretch to help with the chop some. I felt really strong through the swim. Hand touched the bottom, stood up, cap and goggles off. Had a little trouble finding the zipper cord on my suite, but i got it. pulled it down below my waist, sat down and had my wetsuit stripped.
What would you do differently?:

Practice sighting a bit more. That may have helped my swim time some. Very pleased with this portion!
Transition 1
  • 01m 34s
Comments:

socks on, ring on, shoes on, helmet on. I didn't really pay attention to where I put my wetsuit (which I'll have to do next time.
What would you do differently?:

could have been a bit faster with a little practice (but 15 seconds at most)
Bike
  • 3h 02m 11s
  • 56.3 miles
  • 18.54 mile/hr
Comments:

Once on the bike it took me about 10 minutes to get my HR under control and my RPE was low but the HR was still in the 140s, so I went with it, thinking that my HR would come down. No such luck, now I understand what "eating the paste" means! Very easy ride down to sturgeon bay, felt really strong down to there with a very slight head wind. No major hills through this section to report

Came up on the first aid station and grabbed a water to get some cold water in my aerodrink. Kept with the pace, but my HR was still in the high 130s low 140s (which is too high), but I still felt good so kept with it. Made it out onto the "stick" portion of the stick and loop out and back. This is where the roads got pretty rough and the hills started. I kept the pace as easy as possible (as my gearing would allow) up the hills. At about mile 26 I saw the support crew , which was a REALLY nice pick-me-up because I was starting to feel a little down because the heat was starting to really kick in.

Rode the loop portion without incident. Picked up another water bottle at the aid station. Most of the back trip was into the wind, which was very tough mentally because the heat was just STARTING to get at me.

Saw the support crew at the same place on the way back. Again a VERY nice pick-me-up which was very needed. Continued back into Sturgeon Bay, Under the bridge and snagged another water at the aid station (a majority of this one went on my back/neck to help cool me). This is where the suffering started.

Riding out of Sturgeon bay the hills became steeper and more numerous, on top of that, the wind was mostly at our backs, so the heat REALLY started to hurt now, but I made it up over the last big climb and started the descent down the bluff. Descent went well and the turn back towards Murphy park. I tried to grab a water at the aid station just after the turn but dropped it (bumbed about that). I ended up running out of water about 4 miles from T2. Finished up the ride, trying to keep the HR down. My stomach was a bit uneasy coming in, but I didn't think much of it.
What would you do differently?:

I have to get faster on the bike, badly. It would have REALLY helped with my shoulder's being sore on the run later and would have helped drastically with amount of time I spent on the run course. More time on the bike is all. Oh ya, and not eat the paste, that made the run HURT!

I had some chafing issues as well, so possibly some Assos in T1 would have helped.
Transition 2
  • 02m 9s
Comments:

shoes off at mile 56, feet on top of the shoes. Hopped off no problems! I ended up heading to the Port-o-john to take a pee before heading out on the run
What would you do differently?:

not have to pee is the only thing that would make this faster.
Run
  • 2h 18m 51s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 36s  min/mile
Comments:

Only one word can describe this.... Pain. I ran the first 4 miles but had to walk cause my HR would just NOT come down and I was already starting to hurt. I was taking water and ice at every aid station. I had to resort to a run/walk plan usually walking uphills and running downhills. My stomach really started to hurt and cramp, I didn't take any other nutrition other than a gatorade on top of the hill (which didn't help). I was doing more and more walking. Once I made it to the bottom of the hill before mile 6 I very quick decided that any hope of a 5:30 finish were gone. I made it to the top of the hill past mile 6 and ran all the way down to the aid station in Egg Harbor (downhill) and walked the aid station. Then just tried to keep moving forward.

I made it to the bottom of the bluff (mostly running) then walked the bluff which was very physically challenging. Made it to the top, dunked myself in one of the dunk tanks they had and took more water and ice. This is where I had to walk. I walked the next 2 miles (10.5-12.5). I finally started talking with someone who has done several HIM (usually around 5 hours) and IMMOO and mentioned that this was FAR harder than the IM even with the heat being so brutal. That made me feel a TON better. I asked if he wanted to run the last half mile with me, he agreed so we went.

Going down the hill felt GREAT. About half way down I let my stride open up and down into the finish shoot I went, slapped hands with a few people and gave a heel click for the finishers shot!
What would you do differently?:

Pace the run better. I knew it was warm and should have been smarter/more disciplined on the run. I should have gone for a negative split here, start slow, end fast, kind of thing. Lesson learned for sure.
Post race
Warm down:

took the shoes off, jumped in the cooling pool (it felt GREAT!). Once I got out, put the shoes on, grabbed my medal, went to talk with my mom, brother, and Erica. Returned the timing chip, and went to go law in the water for a bit.

We ended up going to lunch pretty much RIGHT after, which turned out to be a bad decision for me, because of some heat exhaustion. I got EXTREMELY nauseous and asked if I could go out to the car to cool off. On my way out I had to lay down on the sidwalk cause I couldn't see straight. The waite staff quickly got me some ice and I moved all over my body to help cool me off, that helped a lot. I layed in the car and napped with the dogs. My stomach was in rough shape from all the Gu's and Gatorade, cause I don't think it digested...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

HEAT! I definately need to get stronger on the bike, looking at my placement amongst both my AG and overall its just bad... REALLY bad! I'm very glad I put in the long bike (75 miles) that I did. Some more run volume wouldn't hurt either, maybe run in the heat some more for acclimitization.

Event comments:

Sean Ryan does a GREAT job of putting this on! It was SOOO well organized. PERFECT frist HIM for ANYONE!




Last updated: 2011-02-11 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:35:48 | 2112 yards | 01m 42s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/64
Overall: 113/627
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex 3
Course: Out past the pier and a right hand turn then an out and back to shore. Finish was about 150 yards from the start.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:34
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:02:11 | 56.3 miles | 18.54 mile/hr
Age Group: 36/64
Overall: 403/627
Performance: Average
Avg HR: 140 Max HR: 166
Wind: Some
Course: bit of a loop with an out and back stick and loop. Roads were rough throughout.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 91
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:09
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:18:51 | 13.1 miles | 10m 36s  min/mile
Age Group: 22/64
Overall: 176/627
Performance: Bad
Avg HR: 147 Max HR: 178
Course: an up and back with some loops and parts that you head back on. Big hill at miles 6 and 9.5.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5