Spring Bassman Half Distance Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Tuckerton, New Jersey
United States
CityTri Racing
64F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 16m 47s
Overall Rank = 110/140
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 19/24
Pre-race routine:

Stayed at parents house around 30 minutes from the race site. Slept reasonably well. Went to bed around 930 and woke up at 245 to eventually fall back asleep till 415. Has some coffee, 2 english muffins with peanut butter a GU and cheerios. Packed up the car with dad and headed out and got to the race site at 610, kids, wife and mom and later by aunt/uncle. There was a long line a packet pick up and for approximately 5 races going on I would have assumed they would have had it move more quickly. Set up transition which was in a sandy area next to the beach that surrounded the lake. They did have these huge tarps down so being on the sand was no big deal. one side was for the HIM and the other the sprint.
Event warmup:

After putting on wetsuit I was able to get in a modest 5-10 minute swim to get used to the water.

had a gu 60 min before ans sipped gatorade
Swim
  • 43m 48s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 04s / 100 yards
Comments:

One of the mental things I have not gotten over yet is the fact that when you look out into the water and see a 1.2 mile swim and in this case .6 miles (x2) in front of you, it is so hard to believe that I swim this regularly in a pool. But it is so much harder in the open water than a pool.


This was a wave start which the wome and aquabike and duathlon went first, followed by 40+, then 39-men. The lake was very calm and around 68 degress, so besides the faceshock, it was very comfortable. This swim overall would be great for a first timer. Very calm, reasonably shallow and pretty clear water with minimal chop and no current.

The first 300 yards was a swim parallel to the shoreline with the usual choas. I was hit/kicked and bumped as well as I did some of it myself. It took a little while to get into a smooth breathing pattern because of the constant course changes due to avoiding slower swimmers and being overtaken by faster swimmers. After turning towards the left side of the lake we swam through some shallow seaweed water, but not too big of a deal. I started to pass some of the earlier wave but had a couple fast guys from the following wave moving up fast. Made a few similar mistakes by overcorrecting my line to the far left buoy therefore I felt I zig zagged too much. I nned to learn to trust my initial spotting. I feel I always lose a few minute combined due to this mistake. Made the turn at the far left buoy and started to get my groove. When we reached the far right buoy to start heading to shore there is a very shallow area that some people were walking but I felt swimming was best. After turning at the starting spot we did it again. at this point I had more open water. I was typically breathing every second stroke and it was not until about .8 mile marker was I really warmed up and started breathing every 4th stroke therefore going faster......I need to remedy this for the future. Came out of the water feeling pretty good and even though I was still not the fastest swimmer it was 5 minutes faster than the last time!!! another Half iron swim done!!! big deal for me considering where i was 18 months ago.
What would you do differently?:

Need to trust my stroke earlier and be more aggressive getting into a 4 stroke breathing rythm, navigate better, and warm up better so I can groove my stroke earlier...and of course work to fine tune my swim techniques...but feeling more comfortable as I do more races
Transition 1
  • 03m 8s
Comments:

Wife and kids gave me a some encouragement. My calf cramped 2 times trying to step out of the suit in my usual way by stepping on it so I had to get on the ground and pull it off. Since I am never threatening a podium spot I never seem to rush the transition too much. Put on a long sleeve shirt for colder starrt of ride.
What would you do differently?:

my endurolytes fell from my stem bag, so I guess I need to secure them more......maybe start taking the T more seriously
Bike
  • 3h 10m 44s
  • 58 miles
  • 18.25 mile/hr
Comments:

There was a long 100+ yd run/walk from T1 to the mounting line which added to the bike split as well as returning. The route is a 2 loop "big Dipper like" pattern. You ride approx 11 miles out to make a turn down a desolate road (5 miles)(bullnose or head rd ??? to make a left back on the original road and about 2 miles down you pass the spot were you originally turned right onto the desolate road. It is mainly flat with some mild inclines but no outright hill climbs. Very easy for most. There are 3 brides you cross 4 times total...2 are 10 feet long wooden bridges that are no big deal but I recommend avoiding the metal peices that are rivet-like, the other bridge is bigger and has a metal surface for about 20 feet, I was told by the race director that you may feel the bike shist 2 inches but again no big deal.

My race: Going out I felt great. maybe too great .my plan was to average 19- 19.5 mph and i was easily going 20-23 with a tail wind. the clouds of pollen were amazing and my black shirt could prove it, also the pollen was caking on my torpedo set up. In there i had 7 gus dissolved in 16 oz of h20. Was having a good ride till about 3 miles from the turn around where i began to get this strange sensation . Almost as if i didnt feel well, but not really nauseous, just a feeling like i did not feel like i would finish, even though i have done this distance before on a more difficult course. I made the turn and just tried to ignore it. I just changed my mental attitude to stop worrying about breaking the 6 hr mark and just try to have fun and enjoy the day. Thankfully by the time I got a few more miles into it that bad feeling went away and got focussed again and dealt with the headwinds coming back which slowed me down a little. In retrospect I feel iwas taking in calories too fast on the first loop. I had a black marker line where I should have taken half the bottle by the turnaround and I actually had gotten to that point about 10 miles too early. I am wondering if that lead to my "bad body feeling" I had. Not sure. Came into transition and my watch said 3:03 but my time was 3:10 but I think they added a lot of time for the long path too and from the transition area. Overall I enjoyed the ride and it is a very forgiving course, compared to montauk last year. I wanted to break 3 hrs but I was about 13 minutes faster than my last HIM
What would you do differently?:

need too ride even harder in training to break that 3hr mark..be more careful with nutrition
Transition 2
  • 02m 46s
Comments:

Came in and my wife was just over the fence asking me how I was doing....I felt pretty good, that bad feeling was long gone. My only complaint was I was hungry so I had a banana which tasted great. My right foot which I have been dealing with a metatarsalgia/neuroma issue was hurting worse than usual but I was hoping that just like in training it would go away 10-15 minutes into the run. Grabbed my powerbar, 4 gus and 2 endurolytes which I swallowed one...also I forgot to take off my long sleeve shirt I wore on the bike (later removed and thrown to "fan club"
What would you do differently?:

not much except as I mentioned above , take it a little more seriously. But saving a minute is not much of my priority.
Run
  • 2h 16m 23s
  • 13.2 miles
  • 10m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

I reaaly enjoyed the run course. I enjoyed getting off the road and it made it more interesting. When I left transition my foot worried me because it was aching real bad. Fortunatley it did let up. You run about 1 mile and at the first aid station you turn a sharp right to hit a narrow one way trail. I missed it, but the aid station yelled to me to turn around. Then you go back to pavement, then a trail, then back to pavement for the last 2.5 miles. I wanted to run a 9:45-10 min mile and nearly did this the entire time but in the the last 3 miles it fell to 11 minutes as I was slowing down, but overall I can complain stil about 6 minutes better than my last HIM Half MAry

I took a gu approximately every 30 minutes and a life saving powerbar at mile 7 which tasted great.

After doing the first 5+ mile loop , you circle around transition and go on another off road adventure to do a 2+ loop. On this loop I stopped to urinate in a campground bathroom which I had been holding since getting off the bike. Not sure why but didnt want to lose too much time and this one was right there! It was great to see family going through this area twice in about 20 minutes. Kids were playing on the beach and when they saw me they sprinted to try to catch me lol

Than off to do the first loop again.

I got a brief blast of energy and ran the next mile or so around 9 min, I quickly slowed myself down and my body took control of that also and I went back to a 11 min pace. I was real happy with my control on the run.
I had gotten right quad cramps that slowed me and brought me to a stop several times in my last HIM and this time NO CRAMPING...I am not sure what to attribute it to ? better trianing, better nutrition plan with more solid food, 2 endurolytes, not sure? This time I never stopped running, had to slow down but kept moving, so I was proud of that.
What would you do differently?:

essentially train the bike better and harder to set the run better. I usually can easily do a 1:53 HM in training in a unrested state(probably better if rested and racing) and feel I should do a 2 hr-2:10 run and the very least.....but other than that I felt in control and never really felt the suffering I had in my last HIM
Post race
Warm down:

Finished with my older son running with me across the finish line!!! then was greated by parents, wife, younger son and aunt and uncle which was great...had some solid food that was made by the race organizers and hung out for about a half hour and went home or at least to my parents house.

Legs and back were sore but overall I was in a good state of mind afterwards

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I really need to increase the bike intensity and get more mileage in. As much as I have improved since last october and have gotten stronger , I can still get faster.

Event comments:

Overall to those maybe reading this who are contemplating this race, I would reccomend it and may do it again next year. It is a great course for a first HIM and I wish I would have done this one first before Montauk Mightyman last year. To be a little critical, there needed to be more bathrooms near the pavillion, and some of the volunteers (usually the younger ones who were alone) could have been a little more supportive in as far as encouragement. But all in all things went well and I realize its hard for a race to go perfectly. I heard of one story that the police told an aquabiker to go the wrong way. They got the bike mounting signs up late and the race started about 10 min late,,,,,but no biggie as long as you were not that aquabiker, that was a travesty




Last updated: 2012-05-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:43:48 | 2112 yards | 02m 04s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/24
Overall: 0/140
Performance: Average
Suit: xteraa vortex 3
Course: counter clockwise 2 loops in very calm water, no current to speak of.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:08
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
03:10:44 | 58 miles | 18.25 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/24
Overall: 106/140
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: This was a 2 loop "big dipper like" route on pretty much a flat course...would recommend it for a person doing a HIM for the first time
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:46
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:16:23 | 13.2 miles | 10m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/24
Overall: 0/140
Performance: Good
was around 158-162 most of the run, at the beginning I was 166 and did get it to 155 . My goal was to be sub 155 but maybe cardiac drift kept it from going that low. But essentially for all of the run I never felt like I was skyrocketing
Course: 2 5+mile loops you do first and third and a 2+ mile loop in between. Paved and a lot of trail running . Mostly on hard pack but one stretch near the pavillion and transition was soft sand and a little dangerous
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]