Pleasant Prairie Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
United States
62F / 17C
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 56m 49s
Overall Rank = 329/497
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 20/36
Pre-race routine:

Where to start with this. Other than my usual cereal that I eat, the pre-race routine actually began the night before with the constant vigil with StartingtoTri and her friend Ellen of staring out the window at the rain and lightning and thunder and lamenting about how miserable the race was likely to be if they actually held it. The rain was coming down and there were bouts of thunderstorms from early evening up until about 6:00 a.m. when things finally started to clear just a little. That said, it was still quite cloudy but did clear up pretty nicely. It was 85-100% humidity in the air though, with an occassional drizzle and sprinkles during the race.
Event warmup:

jowisc, jschmitchicago, CindyK, and MarkK met StartingtoTri, Ellen and I at the Raddison and we walked the mile and a half to the race site in the rain. It was certainly a bonding moment for all of us.Thanks to Cindy and Mark for bringing the ponchos. Those were life savers.

Then it was uncertain if the race would be held due to the weather so we hung out in the Lakeview Rec Plex waiting for them to make the final announcement, which they finally did shortly before 6:30. The race would be held in its full distance and would start at 7:00 instead of 6:30. We were allowed into transition at 6:15 and told we needed to be out at 6:45. And then the race didn't start until about 7:15. A lot of people bailed on the race both before and after the annoucement and I kinda figured whoever was left was either hardcore, stupid, or maybe a little of both. I wasn't really sure which category I fit into at that point.

I stood around with Whizzzzz while we waited for the swim to start. I thought I was getting a headache because maybe I was dehydrated (although I did truckloads better than Racine) and once I moved my goggles off my forehead and put them on my face I realized it was only because the goggles were sitting on blood vessel or something. As soon as I moved them I could feel the headache go away and could feel the blood start flowing like it was supposed to. I had been feeling anxious about the swim because I knew a headache would be difficult to deal with and this made me relax about the swim and about the fact that maybe I wasn't dehydrated like I thought.
Swim
  • 31m 24s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 05s / 100 meters
Comments:

Since this race was just for fun I decided it was a good race to mess around with some new techniques. One of them was to go out on the swim harder and to be more aggressive. I realized at Racine I kind of sit back and take the swim easy and it's costing me time. There were a couple of things I did to work on this:

1) My best previous oly swim was 35 minutes and some change. I wanted to come somewhere near that. Someone I know has been doing awesome this season and they had a time very close to that yesterday so I used them as my mental rabbit.

2) When I would feel myself falling into a relaxed stroke I would really try to focus on a purposeful, strong stroke

3) There were two women who kept swimming right into me. And really clobbering me when they would do so. At first I thought it was just one who kept running into me over and over again and then they were both there at once at one point and I realized it was two of them, both without a wetsuit, wearing the exact same uniform. They REALLY made me mad. They wouldn't just swim into me, but they would hit and kick when they did so. They were ridiculously aggressive sometimes and it wasn't really gaining them any ground on me. At first I would just try to swim away from them (which I continued to do) but about halfway through I got pretty aggressive back. I was sick of it. And a couple of times I swam really hard to get away from them. I'm not sure if I beat them out of the water, but I hope so. I was sure trying.

Whatever happened today, it worked. I set an oly PR swim by about three minutes!!!!! Yeah. :)
What would you do differently?:

Focus more on keeping a purposeful, strong stroke the entire swim. Continue to work on being more aggressive both in the swimming itself, but also in dealing with other swimmers who are being aggressive. I'm decently assertive in the water, but I tend to back off a bit when I run into the super aggressive people because I assume it must mean they are a better swimmer. What I learned today is that it might just mean they are obnoxious, but they don't necessarily have anything on me in speed.
Transition 1
  • 03m 3s
Comments:

Slooowwww. Like always. I really need to work on my T1. I also lost some time because I had accidentally buried my socks under a layer of towel with my running shoes. If it rained during the bike I wanted the running shoes dry. Somehow the socks got in there too, but I didn't know and I absolutely cannot ride or run without socks so I had to find them.
What would you do differently?:

Put my socks in my cycle shoes like I normally do. Work on being faster in T1 in general.
Bike
  • 1h 26m 38s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 17.21 mile/hr
Comments:

As part of the "this race is only for fun" theme, I decided to hammer on the bike as much as my legs and the conditions would permit. Given that I stupidly decided to do lunges for the first time in about two years on Friday night, my butt was pretty dang sore still and this didn't do me any favors, especially on the rollers. (Hey, since this was for fun, I didn't stick to some super serious training or taper. I just did whatever to maintain as much fitness as I could after Racine).

My butt just hurt for a good portion of this ride and my hamstrings that have been acting up for forever, were aggravated by it all. I was a little worried how they would survive on the run given how they were feeling on the ride. Turns out they were the least of my worries on the run.

It was drizzling a bit and this kept me, the roads, the bike, and the brakes in a nice state of damp to wet. They had warned us to be careful on the turns for this reason so whenever I hit a corner I tapped my brakes a little in advance to make sure they would work if I needed them and then proceeded with caution.

I yo yo'd back and forth with a woman on the bike. She was doing better on the low grade inclines and rollers (thanks to those stupid lunges) and I was stronger on the flats and downhills. We rolled into transition within about a second or two of each other and I decided it was ON for the run. I knew the run would be tough though. My legs were feeling pretty trashed and my run is just not as strong as it used to be.
What would you do differently?:

Not do stupid lunges two days before the race. Ride more hills so I don't have to bat an eye at the rollers like today, and just get the miles in to be a stronger rider in general. I put in some long rides this summer to train for my HIM and several shorter rides and thought I would gain more than I did on the bike this year. This pace was not quite as fast as my oly pace from last year although it was decent all things considered. I rode hard and kept a fairly decent pace for me and I'm not disappointed. I just need to keep putting in the miles until I'm a better rider.
Transition 2
  • 02m 35s
Comments:

Ugh, AGAIN I forgot to tie my shoes the night before and had to do it in transition. And for some reason my fingers felt all stiff and uncoordinated so it took me awhile. Made this transition slow as well.

The good thing--I beat the woman from the bike out of transition. :)
What would you do differently?:

Tie my shoes the night before.
Run
  • 53m 11s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a tough run. Since I tried to focus on the bike more this year and for not having gained as much as I would have liked, I sure gave a lot up on my run. That's a tough thing to accept. I know that overall it's a decent pace and I am grateful for that, but it's one of the slowest oly runs I've ever done. And I was really struggling to maintain my pace. It didn't help that I went out too fast on the first mile.

The course was also messing with me. It seemed like it wound all over the place. And at three and a half miles you were still heading AWAY from the finish. THAT messed with me a lot. I kept thinking surely they have to head us towards the finish soon. I much prefer an out and back, even if it's two loops or one big loop. Then I don't see people running every which direction and yet still have no idea where the course is going.

I saw Whizzzzz around mile 3 and talked to her for a few second. And then sometime after mile 4 I saw the woman from the bike. She was about a mile and a half behind me at that point and I saw the look on her face when she looked up and we made eye contact. I smiled and thanked the tri-gods that my not so great run IS still a decent pace and used her as part of my motivation to keep pushing. Around mile 6 I was hurting to keep the slower pace I had established for the run after the first mile and I was starting to feel a teeny bit light headed. I kept pushing as best I could and somehow managed to maintain it. Saw Coredump near the finish and could barely muster a wave, but it helped to have someone cheer for me at that point.
What would you do differently?:

I would have handled my run training in general differently this past year than my training plan called for. It just doesn't seem like I should be dropping in the standings overall at my races because I've gained so little on my bike and lost so much on my run. When I had a stronger run I actually had a better chance of placing better overall than I do now. Next time I need to follow my gut more about what works best for me with running.

I also need to work on wrapping my head around the fact that when you're focusing on long course, your short course is not going to be as fast. And I need to wrap my head around the fact that I AM going to have to give up something on my run to have a stronger bike. Having always been a stronger runner, I'm extremely resistant to giving up anything and I want to kick butt on the bike NOW if I'm going to do so, but that's not how it works and I need to be okay with that.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around until I didn't feel so light-headed. And then walked back to the finish to cheer Whizzzzz in.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think that's all been covered.

This race was actually only seven minutes behind my PR time and I had expected to be much slower. I'm not sure where I thought the extra time was going to be added on since I wanted a similar bike and only slightly slower run from my PR, but for some reason I thought it would be a lot slower. Overall I was happy with my time and for the last race of the season and the crazy weather, I had a good time

Event comments:

The delayed start and fewer volunteers were due to weather and not the race organization. Overall it was a well organized race and they did a great job given the inclement weather. I would recommend this race to a first timer or a veteran triathlete looking for a course that will allow them to turn out a good time.




Last updated: 2007-07-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:24 | 1500 meters | 02m 05s / 100meters
Age Group: 21/36
Overall: 320/497
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless Blue Seventy
Course: A big triangle in the lake by the Rec center.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:03
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:26:38 | 24.85 miles | 17.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 23/36
Overall: 389/497
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Out around Pleasant Prairie on rural roads. Very little traffic. A few small rollers, but nothing serious.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: 85
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:35
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:53:11 | 06.21 miles | 08m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/36
Overall: 275/497
Performance: Below average
Course: A winding course around the Rec center and a little bit out on Highway 165.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4