Door County Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Egg Harbor, Wisconsin
United States
95F / 35C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 49m 24s
Overall Rank = 150/329
Age Group = 35-39W
Age Group Rank = 29/63
Pre-race routine:

Staying at my parent home along with family, sister and her family and my other sisters kids. Went to bed at 8:30 and everyone tried to be quiet for me. 4:15 wake up. Shower. Last minute packing. Ate my egg/ham/cheese sandwich at home since I had the time and took coffee, water and a gatarade to drink on the way.
Event warmup:

Set up transition area and checked out gel vs bike sticker placement - needed to move number so gel packs didn't rub on my leg. The sticker did instead but much less sharp/stiff, didn't cause me much damage. Walked through the transitions. Got my bike tires pumped to 120, something I can't seem to acheive myself. Organized my bag of goodies to take to the starting area, but thought I'd leave my Prime in the cooler until I was ready to leave. Head to the beach after chit chatting and walking transitions some more.
At start area ate a cliff bar, finished off gatarade and water bottles. Wet suit on about 1/2 hour before wave and found my family. Did a small swim warm up - water was warmer then on Friday or Saturday, not shocking at all.
Swim
  • 40m 35s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

Crowded start, needed to reroute many times. Someone kept stroking into my head and I had to swim over someones legs to get into a open hole. Thing started to thin out after making it through the first bouy markers. Overall good swim, not a quick as I would like but I did think I should be pushing too hard. Took a good coughing mouthful of water on the back leg.
What would you do differently?:

Start farther to the side or right up in front and push it a bit more off the line.
Transition 1
  • 02m 5s
Comments:

Used the wetsuit stripper which helped a lot but should have tried less to help, would have been faster. But no stuck wet suit on my feet this time! Transition went smooth, got down some gatarade. My start on the bike is alway pathetic so it was an average get you feet in the pedal start for me.
What would you do differently?:

Let the strippers do their job.
Bike
  • 3h 14m 9s
  • 56.3 miles
  • 17.40 mile/hr
Comments:

Bike was fun. Lots of fast and some slow towards the end. About 10 miles in had my first gel and ate 2 bags of sport beans spread out on the trip. I remember at about mile 5 that I never drank my Prime before the race - oops, down 350 some calories and a ton of carbs. Besides that, did pretty well with my nutrician. Dropped my first bottle of gatarate out of the bottle exchange at 15 miles. Swapped between water adn gatarade through the bottle exchanges, had 4 gels evenly through the ride and choked down a Cliff bar around 30 miles. I love Cliff bars, but it wasn't very appitizing that day - oh well, I ate if for my own good. The last 15 miles the heat was setting in and I got a feel of what was to come. Not a cloud in the sky.
What would you do differently?:

Could have pushed a little harder, especially the last half - bagged it on the hill and didn't utalize some of the down hills all that well
Transition 2
  • 02m
Comments:

Fancy dismount sort of worked, second foot stuck a bit. My pinky toes were really curled up and the sides of my feet were numb when I got off my bike but by the time I was to my spot the feeling was back. Grabbed a ice cold bottle of water from the volenteers at the dismount and got to my location. Had to put on socks, took a bit. Got situated with my new stock of gels, asthma inhaler, tampon (yeah, really) hat, nike+ watch, number belt and was off. Legs felt very good going out and pace was decent
Run
  • 2h 50m 34s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 13m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

HOT! I drank the 20 oz bottle of water by mile one and had a full glass of water and gatarade at the 1.5 mile station. I continued on but started walking around mile 2. I was afraid I might never go again but the heat was there and my body said I should walk. I walk/run to mile 4.5 and walked through the big hill. Along the way I took full advantage of every water station and friendly resident with a garden hose. I was soaked as I left but then was looking for the next station shortly after. I kept ice pieces stocked in my hat and saw people being treated for dehydration by the medical team. I started calculating if I could walk the rest of the way from mile 5 on - I think I could make it within the cut off but decided if I felt I could run I'd better since my exercise math is usally incorrect.
The second half of the run I felt much better and ran miles 6, 7, 8 and 9. Then the next giant hill - I walked that and then ran for about anothe mile. The last could of miles were intense. The heat was strong and I could tell I was getting a monster sun burn. The run was without much shade but the end was near. Running down the hill to the finish my sister was there yelling to my family that I was coming and that it was 102�F Heat index - I said, at least I'm under 7 hours (I was aiming for that 6 hr) I never cramped but needed my inhaler early in the run. Without the dunk tanks and garden hoses, I would have been a goner.
What would you do differently?:

I think I handled the heat well and managed my fluids correctly. My time sucked but I was smiling and lucid at the finish. Maybe attempted a new coat of sunscreen but with all the water sprays, not sure it would have made much of an impact.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my finishers metal and sat down in the ice baths at the finish. After a good 5 minutes or so met my family and hung out on the beach. Had a pork sandwich then cleaned up my stuff. My bike computer said 101.2F
Enjoyed burgers with my family back home and fresh beer from a local brewery. I felt great and thankful for making it through. Sunburn on my back was bad - slept on my stomach only for 2 days and it peeled like crazy the Friday after the race - Yuck!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat took it's toll. I did what I could in the area's where it wasn't going to hurt me too bad.

Event comments:

The staff was excellent and the volenteers were great. They pulled off a great race in difficult conditions. The bike course was a lot of fun and I think the run was hard without being too over the top
The extra effort made with ice baths and extra fluids paid off and made this event into a great day.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2011-07-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:35 | 2112 yards | 01m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 19/63
Overall: 114/329
Performance: Good
Suit: full sleeve
Course: Kind of a long triangle. Headed straight out then right turn to turn around/triangle tip. Next leg into the waves but I breath to my left so not too bad. 90 degree turn to the left the straight into boat launch about 400 yards
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:05
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
03:14:09 | 56.3 miles | 17.40 mile/hr
Age Group: 32/63
Overall: 173/329
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Out and loop then back. Mix of country and "city" (downtown Sturgeon Bay)
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:50:34 | 13.1 miles | 13m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 35/63
Overall: 167/329
Performance: Average
Course: Loop with 2 hills - one a good size and one ridiculus hill.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
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