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Savageman 70.0 - Triathlon


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Swanton, Maryland
United States
Set Up Events
41F / 5C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 52m 48s
Overall Rank = 104/242
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 6/21
Pre-race routine:

I drove down early this year, so I could be more relaxed on race day. Still, driving 500 miles to a race will wear on you physically. Plan was to check out the 'Wall' early. This helped-and on Friday, I drove over, took pics and rode up it 3 times. I fell the first time and rolled with my bike but was close to the grass so there was no real damage. That startled me, but I vowed to go even harder the next time around. I made it up the next two times without falling, but it takes big power. It was a huge confidence boost as the section is quite steep and has a very rough surface with deep holes. Additionally, it takes some good balance to find the right lean to keep enough weight on the back of the bike despite being so far over the front wheel...tricky...very tricky...I rode a bit more on Saturday, after the rain stopped and did my usual warmup. I could not bring myself to do a 'Rusty pre-race brick'. Sorry Tankboy, not this time, but I am definitely planning on doing it the next time I actually race.
Event warmup:

After dealing with the heat over the past months, to me, it was freezing! 41 degrees at the start and I did no specific warmup, other than keep myself fully dressed with sweat pants/two extra shirts, hat, socks and gloves with hand warmers. Transition was all set up so I could make choices once out of the water. My spot was by the bike out exit, so I was going to be able to do the long walk slowly and bring down my heart rate. Left transition, shed clothes and stood on hand warmers near the water until the start, then slowly went into the water and shivvered until the race began...Brrrrrrrrrr......
Swim
  • 41m 17s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 57s / 100 yards
Comments:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/591662041
There were no time goals for the swim. I had fun being out there and trying to enjoy the moment. It feels good knowing that I'm in much better control of everything at the start of races. The OWS that I've done at Crystal Lake with Tony and the Cyclonauts have helped immensely. I did very little swim training to try to improve and my time would have been a PR if I'd stayed on course, so I'm quite happy with the results.
What would you do differently?:

Hug the right buoys on the second leg between the turtle and the swan. Even though the sun is challenging, you can see the shore and I was unaware of a whole other stream/line of swimmers much closer to the land than I was until much later. No worries, though, as I wasn't here to swim in the crisp waters of Deep Creek Lake.
Transition 1
  • 05m 49s
Comments:

I came out of the water, stated 'Im aliiiiiiiiive!' with enthusiasm this time. Then walked up the winding path towards the parking lot acting as transition. Took the junk off my head, pulled down the suit a bit and sat down at the bike on the pail. Took off the wetsuit and dried myself off twice. Put on arm warmers, second tri-top, second tri-shorts, long socks, toe warmers stuck on top of my socks, bike shoes, gloves with hand warmers in them, glasses and helmet.
That's a lot of sh*t to put on! It took forever, but I didn't care. Goal was to be warm and of sound mind and body at Westernport.
What would you do differently?:

I could go much faster in transition, if I ever race this. I'm good with the time on this day.
Bike
  • 3h 51m 34s
  • 55.7 miles
  • 14.43 mile/hr
Comments:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/591662083
It was all about the challenge on Rock St. My heart was racing before I even got there in anticipation. Got my mental game on and felt very ready this year. Super stoked to make it all the way up the wall and get a brick!! I had my teeth grinding and my face sneering until the very top when there was definitely a little self-cheer. All I wanted was to make it up that wall and seeing people fall in front of me didn't help. Lots of cheering and the noise is a bit overwhelming. I had to try to focus and stay calm. I laughed when I heard someone yell out 'sexy bike, sexy rider!' right before I went up the last part of the wall. it distracted me for about 2 seconds then I got my focus back. Up I went... then I had to keep going up for a long while...I did pee on the bike for the first time ever. (There are very few places where one can say this and expect people to understand-when I told my wife, she just kind of looked at me funny)

I hit my Hr goal of 135 square on. Power was higher than I wanted, but what can you do? It was super hilly and I couldn't stay aero with constant back spasms and pain. NP was 192. My FTP was 232 and I had done a 20min test which reconfirmed that it was not significantly changed, about 1-2 weeks prerace (that came out at 227). IF for the race was 0.82, TSS=259.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 2
  • 02m 24s
Comments:

Nice and steady transition, shedding clothes and drinking a bit of Red bull. This was not a good decision as it unsettled my stomach.
What would you do differently?:

No Red Bull.
Run
  • 2h 11m 46s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/591662101
I was happy with the pace overall. Would have liked to see faster, but I go by effort/heart rate, not pace. Adjustments always need to be made and nutrition/hydration seemed good. I met and chatted with so many people to pass the time. Was fun pacing Zach Bittinger, an 8 timer, who wanted to go sub6. He was on his second loop and I my first, so I paced him up/down the firetower road and dropped him off at the finishing turn. He thanked me a dozen times, which was cool. We dropped the pace from 9:30's at the begining to 8:15 by the end. (I saw he finished 3rd in his AG and ran 5:52xx).

I could not go that fast for my finish and I was happy to just be done at the end.
What would you do differently?:

Train with much higher volume if I really want to go sub 2hrs.
Post race
Warm down:

Cooled legs off in the lake. Ate some BBQ, had ice cream then packed up to go back to the Inn for a shower and a drink.

104 224 53 M Dale Toce South Windsor CT 133 00:41:17 126 00:05:49 111 03:51:34 110 00:02:24 109 02:11:46 06:52:48

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=42...



What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overall training, but faster was less important than staying upright.

Event comments:

This is a race that will long be remembered. The physical challenge, the beauty of the area, the variability of the weather all add to it's reputation. Setup took over from Kyle Yost and seemed to do a pretty good job. I will not be back next year, but I think I might do it again when I am in the 55-59 AG.




Profile Album


Last updated: 2014-07-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:41:17 | 2112 yards | 01m 57s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/21
Overall: 133/242
Performance: Below average
If you check out the map on Garmin, you can see how far off I went on the back side. Not good sighting, but I felt so fast on one guy's feet that I nicknamed 'the bubbler'. He was kicking so hard with his legs going above the water that it churned and I could spot the bubbles from 10 feet away. So I let him lead me, like a lead blocker, all the way off course. Sigh. One of these days, I'll get on slightly faster feet that know where they are going, but not this day. Plan was to use the Garmin for individual legs, so I could have paces/power etc and other stuff which you can't get with Garmin Multisport mode. I just had to remember to stop/reset and to restart it at the beginning and the end of each transition. I did a pretty good job of this for the most part. I hit the lap button at the turtle (12:25) and then at the Swan, the next turn buoy, to come back (17:37). The last section was the slowest pace, but I was constantly stopping and trying to see where the other people were- and when I wasn't at the finish and I'd already been out there for 40 minutes, I was realizing that I was way slower than I thought. (11:18 on the last stretch).
Suit: full helix
Course: Clockwise, flat rectangle. Deep water start heading into the fog, again-find the turtle-swim into the fog-find the swan, turn again and find the end. Definitely needed mirrored sunglasses, which I had, but didn't help enough. Many people were swimming to the left and to the right of the buoys. I tried to do what was asked and keep the buoys on my left, but I was way off course in the fog.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 05:49
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
03:51:34 | 55.7 miles | 14.43 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/21
Overall: 110/242
Performance: Good
Similiar to last year, I was on pace for 20+mph av at mile 18, just before the wall. And despite a few minor climbs-it is pretty much downhill for the first 55 minutes or so. But when I got to mile 17, I took off my gloves and sunglasses and started to get ready mentally.After the wall, you continue on up Big Savage Mountain for another 40+ minutes. That'll suck the life out of your legs. I tried to keep my power down around 180, but really never could. It was at 200 for most of the course and only fell towards 190 late in the race. My heart rate was at goal of ~135 and I figured I'd push a bit on Big Savage and maybe set a new 20 minute power record (which I did not do, but it felt like it). Perhaps paid for that a bit later, but not too much.
Wind: Little
Course: 18 mile of extended transition-mostly downhill cycling for ~1hr, then 30 miles of Appalachian Mountains spiking your heart rate causing hyperventilation and screaming/burning leg pain, finishing with almost 10 miles of flat/rollers which you can't do anything with after the friggin' mountains ripped your legs apart. Over the course, the speedometer will often read 3-6 mph, followed by 35-40 mph after getting over the top. Very dicey S turns in the shade in the beginning and several more later on. Well marked but you need some bike handling skills to do well on this course. Glad I didn't have to do the course in the rain, like the Savageman 30.0 racers yesterday.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 72
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:24
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:11:46 | 13.1 miles | 10m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/21
Overall: 109/242
Performance: Average
Plan was to keep it conservative and stay relaxed. I break up 1/2M distances into: 0-3; 4-7; 8-10; 11-end. For this course, get to mile 4, get to the park, get to mile 10, get to the end. Goal HR was 135, but I could not keep it there. Finished at 133, so it was close. Too much cramping, inability to keep a solid pace in the second half.
Course: 2 Loops with 2 big hills-the campground, a steady rise on paved road, then winds back to the lake, then down the street to the firetower road, which had 1/4 mile of stair step up over rocks and drainage ditches which will crush your quads and hamstrings all at the same time. Most people walked stretches on this section. Then once on the road, it is a mild decline to the finish.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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

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2014-09-18 8:06 AM

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Veteran
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South Windsor, CT
Subject: Savageman 70.0


2014-09-18 1:30 PM
in reply to: #5051550

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Veteran
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Houston, Texas
Subject: RE: Savageman 70.0

Great race, Dale....way to come back for revenge on the wall!  I'm super pumped for you -- all your hard work on the bike is definitely paying off!

2014-09-18 4:06 PM
in reply to: #5051550

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Pro
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NJ
Subject: RE: Savageman 70.0
Dale, congrats on the redemption and the Brick!! I don't think any of us that haven't actually tried to ride up the wall can really appreciate the difficulty and technical challenge. Well done!
2014-09-18 9:17 PM
in reply to: #5051550

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Master
3205
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ann arbor, michigan
Subject: RE: Savageman 70.0
Very cool.
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