Deer Creek International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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United States
HFP Racing
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 26m 27s
Overall Rank = 140/166
Age Group = 20-29
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

SATURDAY: In reality, half the day was gone before I fully realized that I had a race the next day...been so damn busy. Earlier I printed out Mapquests AND Yahoo's directions to the race - 2 hour 45minutes. Trev and I started packing around 8pm - he quickly got bored so we had to play. When the wife got up around 10:30pm, I finished packing. Printed out Michaels Race Checklist, filled up my Camelbak with Gatorade and got all the other stuff ready. Ended up going to bed at 12:30am - SUNDAY. Got up at 3:00am. Thanks to my wife and Trev for still being up to wake me! So I had a good 2.5 hours of sleep total. Drank espresso for the drive and ate a sandwich...drank a pop too. It is VERY nice driving to Columbus when nobody is on the road. The big help driving on little sleep was Oakenfold@Creamfields, Dave Seaman@Portrush in Ireland, SebFountaine@Passions and CarlCox@Ibizia. Thank god for UK DJ's! I arrived at 6:45 - only one small wrong turn. I was in the middle of agricultural Ohio. Farmlands forever.
Event warmup:

The 'warm up' actually consisted of getting my race packet, my bike mounted and my gear ready. I hydrated with Gatorade as the coffee left me a little dry, then peed about 4 times before the race start. I chatted with a few people and was told the horror of Pineman '03 - Right after the swim started at this very lake, the fog rolled in and swimmers got lost. I drove in some HEAVY fog to get here...it looks ok though. The water was WARM! No suit needed. I did not stretch, I have more bad luck then good stretching for a swim.
Swim
  • 43m 18s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 53s / 100 meters
Comments:

OMG! The swim was atrocious! BUT the only one to blame is myself. I could not breath well and I never got comfortable. I wanted to quite on lap one. This kinda felt like when I first started running and couldn't do more then 5 minutes without my chest exploding...I remember I always asked myself 'why am i doing this!?!?'...this time too. Granted this was the first open water swim of the season and the training was started too late. The other people swimming didn't bother me though...I stayed out of their way (or tried too).
What would you do differently?:

Get up to at least an hour long swim MONTHS before the race...I ramped up too quick and only had a month of 4 50min swims. I never was able to work on speed either. Oh well, this was expected. Training has been difficult to juggle.
Transition 1
  • 05m 1s
Comments:

I walked from the beach to the T1. Couldn't get my shirt on. It rolled up and my number ripped out of the corner. I forgot to tape my gels to my bike...they stayed in my camelbak...ON MY BACK! Whoops. Ate a gel though. Took too long getting the sand off my feet.
What would you do differently?:

Plan a little better. Should have run to the T1 but since only race #1, kept it relaxed.
Bike
  • 1h 38m 4s
  • 24.8 miles
  • 15.17 mile/hr
Comments:

I kept my pace and gearing just like training. Didn't want to get too excited. I drank 3-4 swallows of gatorade every 10-15minutes. Never had to pee. Had to stop at the half-way to get a gel to eat. About 4 big 'granny gear' hills for me. I recovered quickly from them. The course was quite, serene and relaxing. Lots of farms and feilds to look at. Although I never smelled any breakfast as I passed. I guess the farmers get up way early to do their eating.n I didn't pass anyone. Then again, I was near last on the swim and on a MTB...couldn't expect anymore.
What would you do differently?:

A real bike would improve my time considerably. I was riding on knobbys. Someday when I am not poor...or when somebody wants to give me a real bike! :) I kept it relaxed pace on the bike...I could have pushed it a lot more if I wanted to. But it was the first race this year.
Transition 2
  • 05m 7s
Comments:

Racked the bike and took off...also got a gel to eat as I left the transition...that is gel #3 for today.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 59m 2s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Had a drink of Gatorade at every station...just a couple of swallows. The run started out good. I never got the time to practice bricks and was very surprised that my legs felt good and NOT rubbery. I kept a relaxed pace. This was the only part of the race where I passed several people. This was actually the only part of the race where I SAW people! :) An interesting observation: Most people were quite..not too many 'good jobs' or 'way to go' people seemed more focused...or more near death being near the back of the pack with me! This race series does offer a couple 10 thousand dollar purses at the end...maybe this race had more 'serious' athletes for competition and less newbies that I have seen at just isolated races that are not part of a series. Who knows. Everyone was nice nevertheless.
What would you do differently?:

I held back. The run was the only event that I was ready for. My long runs has been from 70-90 minutes for 3-4 months. Running was the only thing I could fit in this winter and early spring.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked some and drank some more liquids. Didn't stay long as I had to get back to my expectant wife who just turned 26...we were celebrating her birthday today with a cookout...so I had to jet. I chattered with a guy from Pittsburg who had his bike racked near mine...told me of his 1/2 and full IM experiences. I was tired, ate chocolate and drank coffee to stay awake for the long, busy drive home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Personally, I really sucked-@ss on this race...I am embarrased to even post this report. But it IS a benchmark for this season and it will be cool to see how my times change as I focus on different events as the season progresses. That or either they get worse after our second kid is born due to no training! SO WHAT LIMITED ME TO PERFORM FASTER? Limited training time available. Getting started on swimming too late. Riding a MTB. I would love to shave at least 40minutes total off my time by the end of the year...that would put me mid-pack. Gonna try the swim 3x/week and some drills for speed so I can hopefully get the 43 minutes to about 30-35. The bike? I need a real bike if I am gonna improve much here. I may see about getting some sliks put on to start. The run...I may work on some intervals...I have a good base established. Will try to go for negative splits during training.

Event comments:

This is an excellant beginners race with a calm lake, only a few hills for the bike AND little traffic. Lots of volunteers...I never made a wrong turn. Plenty of drink stations for the run. There were about 6 different waves going out at different times due to at least 4 different races (sprint/oly/male/female/du). They all went off on time. Kudos to HFP.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2004-06-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:43:18 | 1500 meters | 02m 53s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 150/166
Performance: Bad
Suit: Cycle-Shorts - Pearl Izumi's
Course: A 2 lap swim along the length of the beach...could touch bottom on the length closest to the beach. A very nice sandy beach no less...no muck.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 05:01
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:38:04 | 24.8 miles | 15.17 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 138/166
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: One big loop around The lake. Back-country roads, very little traffic, smooth pavement. About 4 big hills.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90?
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Below average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 05:07
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:59:02 | 06.2 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 122/166
Performance: Average
Course: A loop. First and last mile cross-country over the damn - kinda sucked. The other 4 miles on pavement. Drink stations about every 1.5miles.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %?
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5