Age Group National Championship - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Milwaukee, Wisconsin
United States
USA Triathlon
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 29m 34s
Overall Rank = 1383/2677
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 64/122
Pre-race routine:

I got up around 3:30 and had a bowl of cereal, OJ, and some coffee. I headed to the race site a little before 5.
Event warmup:

I walked around quite a bit and did a little jogging. I had to leave my bike the night before, so no riding (not that I would have, anyway). I did a few yoga stretches before getting my wetsuit on. Just before transition closed, I had a Hammer gel and drank some water. I also took an electrolyte capsule about an hour before transition closed.
Swim
  • 26m 54s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 38s / 100 yards
Comments:

I really tried to take it easy on the swim and I think I did OK. I didn't get winded much at all and sighted reasonably well, although I got off course a few times. I was mistaking the "out" buoys for the "in" buoys. the hardest part of the swim was getting up the steep ramp to get out of the water. When coming to the exit point, I was wondering why there were so many volunteers on the ramp. They were helping pull people up the ramp. Without help, I probably would have crawled up the ramp. I appreciated the help.
What would you do differently?:

I think in hind sight with better sighting a pushing a bit more, I could have done 1:33/100 pace without too much additional effort.
Transition 1
  • 03m 38s
Comments:

I did OK getting from the water to my bike, but then I screwed up. I got my wetsuit off and shoes on OK and I had a sip of water. I then proceeded to run with my bike but had neglected to take my helmet! What an idiot! Fortunately, I hadn't gotten very far, but I probably lost 30 seconds, anyway. I was feeling pretty good and running well with my bike. It was quite a ways from the water to the transition area.
What would you do differently?:

Put my helmet on!
Bike
  • 1h 10m 52s
  • 24.86 miles
  • 21.05 mile/hr
Comments:

I had a electrolyte capsule before the run and drank a bit of water. My goal was to tray and keep up a reasonable pace without getting my HR too high. I stayed pretty much in zone 4, but was creeping into zone 5 towards the end. I pushed up the last hill, getting my HR up but I also passed lots of people. Generally, I pushed on the uphills, and tried to recover on the flats and downhills. Since I[m not that aero on my bike, it seemed like I was better on the uphills. Hitting a max HR of 160 in the lat mile was probably a bit much ((above zone 5.0), but I felt OK. During the ride I drank 24 oz of Perform and probably 6-8 oz of water. This felt like a good amount.
What would you do differently?:

I need to get stronger on the bike this winter. To be more competitive, I'd like to average 22's instead of 20's and 21's. As it was, I averaged over 21 mph, which was good for me.
Transition 2
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

I did a good job jumping off the bike with my shoes off and felt strong running into transition. I got running stuff on without incident and ran fairly strong out of transition.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 46m 24s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

I started out keeping a steady pace with my HR in zone 3. I slowed a bit for miles 3 and 4, but was still going at a reasonable pace. The last couple miles I picked up the pace by alternating running steady and "checking out," by picking up the pace. I alternated this about every 30 seconds and this helped me to maintain a significantly higher average pace. This was something I used to do on some 4 mile time trials back in high school. This was my fastest run time for any triathlon by 13 seconds per mile. By the end my HR was way up there, but I felt good.
What would you do differently?:

One thing I noticed was that I was carrying more weight than others in my age group. I think if I could lose 10-15 lbs (which is very possible) I could get faster for all 3 events. Now I need to figure out how to eat less pizza and drink less beer.
Post race
Warm down:

I was surprised how good I felt after this race. I think getting enough fluids and taking the electrolyte supplements bot helped. I didn't do any stretching, but walked around and got a jacket out of my car to keep warm. The 2XU top & shorts I bought for this race definitely kept me cooler during the race, but too cold afterward. I made the mistake of not getting a bottle of Gatorade at the finish and only drinking the bottle of water i was given. Once out of the shoot, there was nothing to drink, which I thought was poor. The post-race meal was not to my liking and there was nothing to drink with the lunch. I sat around for about an hour to hour and a half waiting to get my bike. Once i got the bike, I drove to my Niece and her husbands house, took a nap for an hour, and then made the 5 hour drive back to Fort Wayne.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I need to lose a few pounds and get over my hamstring issues. This limited my training. I can't complain about any of the events, as my swim and bike times were good and I hd a PR on the run, with the fastest miles the last 2.

Event comments:

The race was put on well, but it's just hectic with that many people. If it had been warmer, the start would have been a real pain for the later waves. It would have been nice to have more to drink at the finish, but overall, they did a nice job. Not being able to have my transition bag in transition due to security concerns was a pain. I suppose this is the way of the future.
I realize what I've been doing with my 910XT, I was going to mulitsport and hitting the start button. I needed to hit the enter button to get to multisport and THEN hit start. I should have checked this before the race but I forgot.




Last updated: 2013-06-01 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:26:54 | 1640 yards | 01m 38s / 100yards
Age Group: 63/122
Overall: 1284/2677
Performance: Good
Suit: Full 2XU
Course: A one loop course inside the breakwater. This was my first deep water start. It wasn't too bad, but it was a bit crowded at the start.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:38.1
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:10:52 | 24.86 miles | 21.05 mile/hr
Age Group: 76/122
Overall: 1429/2677
Performance: Good
mph HRa HRm 1 19.46 155 157 2 20.11 152 154 3 18.95 152 154 4 20.22 154 159 5 23.68 144 146 6 23.08 145 147 7 20.22 150 155 8 20.22 155 159 9 25.17 144 147 10 23.84 148 151 11 22.50 149 152 12 20.34 151 156 13 21.05 147 150 14 20.93 151 153 15 22.93 148 150 16 20.45 148 151 17 20.34 150 151 18 21.69 148 150 19 21.69 147 153 20 21.95 152 154 21 22.93 150 152 22 20.81 149 155 23 17.82 152 155 24 17.82 155 160
Wind: Little
Course: The roads were closed for the race making this a nice ride. The course was mostly flat, but there was a major hill on the highway going up a bridge. The course was out and back, so this had to be done twice. I screwed up my Garmin again and was stuck in run mode for the entire race. I quit hitting the lap button and just focused on my heart rate (not HR zone, since I was in run mode).
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:45
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:46:24 | 06.21 miles | 07m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 45/122
Overall: 1162/2677
Performance: Good
since my HR monitor was not setup correctly, I only got 5 complete miles. min/mi HRa HRm 1 7:40 156 158 2 7:20 158 160 3 7:38 160 162 4 7:34 162 166 5 7:13 167 170 The last partial mile on the Garmin was .83 miles and i was going at 7:03 pace, with average HR 170 and max 175. This is the highest I've recorded since I've been recording HR.
Course: Flat course along Lake Michigan shoreline.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4