St. Francis Health Center Topeka Tinman Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon


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Topeka, Kansas
United States
Ultramax Events
84F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 39m 9s
Overall Rank = 89/214
Age Group = 3539
Age Group Rank = 17/21
Pre-race routine:

I aimed to go to bed at 9 o'clock the night before, but that didn't work out. I finally hit the sack at about 1040. Alarm went off at 430. I ate a couple slices of toast withe peanut butter and a little coffe. We decided to drive to Topeka in the morning. Last year, we stayed in a hotel overnight, but this way we saved a few bucks and didn't really costs too much time.

We hit the road at 5:30 and arrive right at 6:30. I was a little bit more rushed in transition then I would have liked.
Event warmup:

I did not get a warm up swim in.
Swim
  • 19m 28s
  • 1094 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

The Tinman long course just had two large waves of men. Its a mass start this makes the entire first quarter of the swim very crowded. It was also somewhat odd because the course immediately went to the right, so running into the water was at an angle, almost parallel to the beach.

My swim was below expectations. I just never found a groove, and never found a good set of feet to draft off of. I'm struggling to figure out why I am a 1:30 swimmer at the pool consistently but I clocked in at more like 1:55 in this event and several others before. I guess what it means is that Open water just isn't the pool, and I need to get this idea that I'm a strong swimmer out of my head and work harder in the open water.
What would you do differently?:

I need to focus on doing more open water swims.
Transition 1
  • 02m 47s
Comments:

Transition one went pretty well I got my wetsuit off fairly quickly. I was somewhat concerned about this as this was my first wetsuit swim. Since Transitions is something that I literally never practice, I thought it went ok.
What would you do differently?:

Actually practice
Bike
  • 58m 27s
  • 19 miles
  • 19.33 mile/hr
Comments:

Overall, the bike went pretty good. In hindsight I don't think I pushed myself quite enough. I think I enjoyed passing people a little too much and settled in and got a little too comfortable. Looking at my download of the race, I see my heart rate was pretty high at the start before I started to relax. I took one goo about 5 miles in. I should have done it sooner. I had 2 taped to my bike and never took the 2nd one. I think this was a mistake that hurt me later. Toward the end of the bike I got past by a couple of guys who were moving pretty good. I heard a set of zips behind me and when he passed me, I thought "I can't have that" and decided that I could not let them get away. I stayed on their tail for the next 8 miles or so. That tells me I should have been faster for the whole ride. I think I was comfortable passing weaker riders and didn't chase the stronger riders. I was really hoping to finish over 20 MPH, which would be a good improvement for me, but I finished at 19.5.
What would you do differently?:

Push harder throughout. I never felt like I was in trouble. I think I was too accepting of allowing "fast" people pass me at the very beginning. I think I need to pick a rabbit and just chase.
Transition 2
  • 01m 11s
Comments:

Transition number 2 also went fairly well there's not much that I would change.
Run
  • 1h 17m 19s
  • 7.8 miles
  • 09m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

This is where things got rough and pretty dark. For some reason I just didn't seem to have gas in the tank. I felt it right away. The first mile or so, I actually was on pace (I peeked at my watch and was running a little of 8min/mi pace). On the run, there is a small hill by the ball fields and I walked up. Even though I was on pace, I knew I was in trouble. As I rounded the ball field I felt the sun. As I was crossing the damn I got a huge cramp my hamstring. It felt like my muscle turned into a softball. Its kinda freaked me out because I've never had that happen before in my hamstring. I've had lots of cramps in my calves but never in the hamstring. I thought this would finish me. Severe calf cramps have lingered with me for days and made me walk with a limp.

I started walking and massaging it out after a minute or two some guy came up behind me and told me "Come on". I don't know why but I did. I ran alongside him for about the next 4 miles. I really feel like, he carried me. Had he not told me to "come on" my day would have been even darker. During the run he also picked up two more runners that were struggling, so there were 4 of us for a while. I don't know who he was. His name is Steve and he is a coach from Wichita. He is 59 and I believe won his age group.

At about mile six I lost Steve. He kept going at the start of a large hill at the end and I had to walk it.

I'm really not exactly sure what happened in the race I expected/hoped to come in between 8 and 8.5 minutes per mile. I was almost two minutes slower than that today. I didn't think those expectations were not unrealistic. I did 8:28 last September to end the season. I think it was a mistake to assume that my best race last season would be right where I pick up this season.
What would you do differently?:

More preparation for the heat. I cooked out there.

Seeing that I finished 17/21 in my age group is embarrassing to me, but it is what it is. This *seems* like failure to me. I know, it's really not, though. I've never thought about being in contention. I'm too new in this sport and do not come from a background in any of the three sports. My fitness is still "new". Also, I read somewhere recently that the sport of triathlon is just pretty competitive. It's an involved sport and expensive to venture into....most people that do it are pretty serious and also "pretty good". But still, I'm doing this "for my health", but not "only" for my health.

Thinking back, one thing that is disappointing to me is that I did not execute the mental part of the gameplan well at all. I recently read an article by Macca called "Embrace the Suck". Basically, he reviewed how to approach the race when things get tough. I read that article. I enjoyed it. But in thinking back, I didn't apply a single one of his suggestions. This is where I need to improve. I'm not a fast runner, but if I'm smart and execute, I know I can do better.
Post race
Warm down:

After the race I took in water, a generic cola and a few bites of some pizza. It took about 15 minutes for me to feel like doing much more than this.

Steve met me at the finish line and congratulated me. He introduced me to the race winner who I noticed seemed to be looking quite clean and fresh already. ha!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I thought I was better prepared for the run, but I wasn't. It cooked me today!

Event comments:

I noticed a few new things this year...it seems like they cut some costs. The t-shirt is was just a plain tee. Not a nicer quality tech tee like last year. Also, post race there was no sports drinks: only cans of cola and diet cola and a bunch of pizza. Last year they gave each participant an ice cold sponge as they crossed the finish line. Boy did I miss that!

I can't complain too much, all of those things are minor. Just luxuries. The announcer is annoying, but informative. The race is very organized and the bike course folks and the aid stations all seemed to have things under control.

This one is going to stick with me for a while and motivate me to improve.

One last thing...why is this course always advertised as 7 miles, when it's actually closer to 7.6-8 miles?


Profile Album


Last updated: 2013-04-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:28 | 1094 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 14/21
Overall: 0/214
Performance: Below average
Suit: sleeveless
Course: The course was a rectangle, with the turn buys on the left.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:47
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:58:27 | 19 miles | 19.33 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/21
Overall: 0/214
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Basically country road on chip seal. Kind of bumpy but well marked with no hazards that I saw. The course was NOT closed, but race officials and Police did a great job of keeping traffic at bay.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:11
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:17:19 | 07.8 miles | 09m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 18/21
Overall: 0/214
Performance: Bad
Course: Around Lake Shawnee. There is some shade and some decent hills, although nothing terrible. The back side of the course near the golf course is not a favorite part of mine.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4