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Rev3 Quassy - Half Course - Triathlon


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Middlebury, Connecticut
United States
Rev3
63F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 55m 56s
Overall Rank = 261/872
Age Group = 55-59M
Age Group Rank = 9/43
Pre-race routine:

Since I was doing the 'Full Revolution', I knew I'd be sore for this race. Plus, my older son Mike was doing this and he was a bit nervous but in control. Since we were late to transition yesterday, we were up earlier and went through the motions which are now routine to me but still chaotic and I need to follow my lists. Shower/Dress with race clothes and I am of the mindset to have everything on me that I need at the start line beginning at the hotel-including: chip/tattoos/Garmin/race kit then warm clothes over it. Ate my usual breakfast: cereal; banana, Boost but this time with a few advil to help my already aching legs. Back was sore and legs had fatigue but I've done back to back long training days like this so I wasn't really worried about the race, but the weather looked dicey with the threat of T-Storms worrying me about cancel or a long day in the rain for both myself and Mike. The latter proved to be true..Drove in and had plenty of time for transition set up and we didn't forget anything. No fog but it was much cooler and the sky looked stormy but no rain-yet. Was told the water was 72 degrees which was again warmer than the outside. Did brief warmup just to loosen up. I had no intention of going fast today. Hung out with Mike and Bobby (Dream Chaser) awaiting the start.
Event warmup:

Walking to the water was almost enough of a warmup for me, but I did a little swimming to make sure the wetsuit fit right.
Swim
  • 40m 38s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

This went far better than yesterday, albeit a bit slower. I wanted slower and just wanted to get this done and get to the bike, which was the main focus of today's 'race'.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1200162607
What would you do differently?:

Start out slower. When will I get that through my thick head.
Transition 1
  • 03m 42s
Comments:

Gotta say I was thrilled with the carpet from the Swim exit to the transition parking lot. That is a long 1/4 mile on feet that are beat up. I had all kinds of cuts on me feet from going without socks during yesterday's race and I want to thank the Rev 3 people for that carpet! Reset the Garmin while walking up to the transition area. Chucked the swim stuff off and sat down to put on socks for today. Bike shoes on, Helmet on and decided not to use visor. Jog with bike down to the Mount Line. Felt pretty OK. 13/43 in my AG which is quite reasonable for not hurrying at all. 329/872 OA.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really.
Bike
  • 3h 11m 46s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.52 mile/hr
Comments:

Get to the mount line, jump on and I'm off. Ready to hit the planned goal of 185W. Helmet doesn't feel right so I stop at the guard coming out of transition and ask if I can take my helmet off and check the straps. I thought I had it on backwards or something, but the straps just moved sideways. Got it on and started down the hill but the bike wouldn't come out of the #28. Back and forth but it won't work. I think it must be sticking because of the rain and moisture or something like that so I unclip and kick the cassette with my right foot and it drops down. I'd hoped it would loosen up but I was simply unable to down shift for the entire bike leg. It took 10 miles before I figured out that I could wiggle the shifter cable up top and it would allow some friction to loosen and it would partly shift. I could not force the pace and could not shift aggressively so it was a useless day for experimenting with race pace. I was pretty disappointed at that point and we hadn't even started any hills or gotten to the long 7 mile up segment. Happy that I was able to shift up to the bigger cogs with no problem, especially going up those damn hills but wasted speed on the flats and downs with the shifting troubles. Only later when I took everything off and cleaned everything, finding some junk stuck in the bottom gears which was part of the problem but the cable was frayed going into the bike frame. And I just had new cables put in so it was quite a surprise to me. Overcast skies became slight drizzle but the bad stuff would happen later.

Overall, it was annoying more than anything else. And I knew the weather was getting worse and the run was still to come. I ate well and took nutrition q 40 minutes and drank enough. Probably don't need to take even half the usual amount of fluids in cooler/wet conditions and that is something to remember, for me anyway. Also should have eaten a bit more on the bike.
AP=167, NP=184, IF=0.78, TSS=198, cadence=71 (pathetic). HR monitor died so I didn't wear it today.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1200162641
What would you do differently?:

Check the bike carefully prior to every race and make pre-race sacrifices to the weather gods of rain and bike cassettes.
Transition 2
  • 01m 53s
Comments:

Went through the motions for this with no heart. Got my visor on, grabbed a ShotBlocks and started to eat a few. Bike stuff off pretty quickly, followed by putting on run shoes. Socks felt ok so I didn't use the extra pair in the plastic bag. Race belt w bib on and out the back. Went the right way twice now-woo hoo! Reset Garmin again for Run mode. 8/43 AG; 203/872 OA.
What would you do differently?:

Zip
Run
  • 1h 57m 47s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 59s  min/mile
Comments:

Goal was to survive the run, but with the bike going so easy, I felt I had to work a little bit on the run. I had to get something out of this day. Tried to hold a steady pace of ~9:00 min/mile right from the start and since I didn't have my HR to go by, I looked at the Garmin a lot to engrain what it 'felt' like today. This was a new run course and it looked more forgiving on paper. I knew I'd get to go down the K-swiss mile instead of having to go up it. I expected my quads were going to take a beating in those first 4 miles. Held pace pretty well overall and then the rain went from a little to heavy, heavy rain. I had to pee badly and I'm not saying if I did go pee while running or if I washed myself with water at the next stop, which may have been quite cold, or if I didn't. I'm just saying that I was over hydrated for the rainy, stormy, monsoon conditions. Went with coke from about mile 5 and took a lot of gels, more than I would normally but I think that's because my body was still recovering from yesterday and I had a difficult time handling the pace. Surprisingly realized that I could go sub6 and maybe have a shot at an overall 70.3 PR. The HIM that I've done are usually hard (like this one, SOS and Savageman). So I started to push those last few miles in order to have a shot at it. Saw Bobby at mile 12 or so walking. This race is very challenging and he will crush IMLP as this type of training weekend causes you to step up even more on race day the next time.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1200162672
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the line and still wasn't sure if I'd beat my HIM PR. Got very, very cold quickly but my wife was helping and giving me a towel then warming blankets etc. She's the best. I was seriously worried about Mike as the conditions were the worst I've ever raced in and I wondered if he would call it a day or push through it and rise to the challenge. I know him well and was pretty confident he would cross that finish line but these conditions were going to extract an added toll. Was finally able to find out that I beat my best time by 17 seconds! Needed to get into my truck with the heater and change into warm clothes while waiting for Mike to finish. Got to chat with Bobby before he took off for home and warmth. Just having him around during this race was special and I'm thankful he took on the challenge of the Full Revolution!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Bike mechanicals, Rain and once again doing the Olympic race the day before all slowed me considerably.

Course Maps
http://rev3tri.com/quassy/course-maps/

Event comments:

Lots of people had changed to the OLY yesterday to avoid the weather drama but there were still a LOT of people out there today. Surprised by the numbers of fans out on the course too. Love the race and the venue. I'll be back but gotta figure out the long term goals. (photo from the day before when it wasn't a downpour)


Profile Album


Last updated: 2015-11-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:38 | 2112 yards | 01m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/43
Overall: 394/872
Performance: Good
Splits were set for 0.3 miles: 8:05--whoa, felt fast and knew that I had to slow way down to avoid a repeat of yesterday 10:32 10:50 9:31 plus a few seconds walking up to the transition mat and then high-fiving my wife and son
Suit: Helix Sleeveless
Course: Inverted triangle-again, but this time 4 buoys on each leg of the triangle-each 0.1miles apart, first 3 yellow, with last one being the red turn buoy. Usually the back leg is 'blind' as the sun is always in my eyes. Due to the weather being bad, this was the first year I could see out there. Fun! Swim up the the beach until you can touch as the water is so clear that you can see many feet down and be fooled that you are in more shallow water.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:42
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
03:11:46 | 56 miles | 17.52 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/43
Overall: 234/872
Performance: Bad
No HR data with dead battery in the Garmin HR monitor strap. I didn't bother to look at lap data with the shifting being messed up.
Wind: None
Course: Same badass bike course. Up or down and it seems like it's mostly up. You've got to get through the long segment in the middle before getting to the fun downhills on the back half and the rollers which are more tolerable. Course is a single loop with +3500 feet of elevation and a seven mile grind from 23-31. In reality, it is 4 hard miles, some false flats. (23.5-24.5/25.5-26.5/27-28/30-31). I did a training ride and did the first 3 hills (a 4 mile stretch) 5 times up and down and THAT was hard. At least I could shift that day. Anyway, after that section, you get to go down the S Plunge at mile 32, very dicey but at least I didn't see anyone crashed at that point this year. Rainy roads kept people more sane and slower. Then some rollers until the most fun mile from 46-47 down hill super fast past the cows. I hit 47.8mph but it took a while to be able to get into my 11 gear, such is life. A couple last rollers and then spin back up to the park. GC said I only burned 2 matches so I stayed well within myself on this ride.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 71
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Bad Hills: Bad
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:53
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:57:47 | 13.1 miles | 08m 59s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/43
Overall: 295/872
Performance: Good
No HR data. Splits were as expected: 9:00 on the flats, 30-45 seconds faster on the downs and 30-45 seconds slower on the ups--as long as I could hold even effort. Goal was to get through each quarter of the race 'on pace'. I set my sights on miles: 3.3/6.6/10 and then would push/hold on to the finish.
Course: New run course-basically keeping the change made by Challenge last year. Double loop with the first being 7 miles around the lake, this time counter clockwise and then start the second loop across the street and redo the Oly run course.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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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