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 Swim
Comments: Simple triangular course in a calm reservoir in 77° water, what could be sweeter? It might have been sweeter if they'd had separate waves for the men and women, as in previous years; but no, it was one mass start. True, that was only 103 swimmers, but it was my first experience with a real melee. I started to the outside edge, about the 3rd row back, but there was no avoiding it. I did get a good lungful early on, enough coughing that the kayakers were looking my way, but I did recover without a lot of to-do. I thought of my friend who panicked in the water at Keuka and resolved that wouldn't happen to me. I thought at least that with all those swimmers it would be easy to find someone to draft on but, not so much. Part of the time yes, but some of the people I tried were just breast stroking (hard to follow that frog kick) or they were too fast or too slow. After a few hundred yards I found myself getting short of breath--don't know if I was going too fast or if it was the early melee--so I started singing to myself awhile to calm myself. That's a good tresource to have in my toolkit. It was all in all a good swim, almost 3 minutes faster than 2 years ago in the same race; but it would've been faster if I could swim in a straight line. I was able to sight the buoys pretty well, since the water was so calm; but I could tell by my relation to other swimmers that I was wandering back and forth from side to side. My new toy (Garmin 920xt) says I swam 933 yards and I might have. My time put me 22nd of all 32 women, which is the 31st percentile. This is how I compare my performance race-to-race, and that's better than usual. What would you do differently?: I have to find out what I need to do to swim straight. Even in the pool, I have a hard time staying right over the black line. Some flaw in my stroke no doubt. Also, it would help if I had the confidence to really light a match as needed to find the right swimmer to latch onto.  Transition 1
Comments: 4th fastest among all women, but 6 seconds slower than last year. Downed a diluted gel(100 calories) from my little squeeze flask, but that doesn't take longer than 2 secs. This is really the fastest most efficient way to get some calories in. What would you do differently?: Move faster. My wetsuit leg did get stuck a little bit again on that new-style timing chip strap. I wonder what would happen if I wrapped it in shrink-wrap plastic under my wetsuit. I'll have to play with that concept in practice. (I'm a little bit obsessed with Transition efficiency, have you noticed?)  Bike
Comments: My power goal was an average of 95% ftp, a little less at first and a little more in the second half, but with all the up-and-down hills this just gave me a number to try to aim for. The result I think was that on the uphills I wasn't worried about trying to go harder than I needed to stay upright; and on the downhills I pedaled mightily.(Max speed 39.5mph!) The only places where my power really surged was when I was passing someone going uphill. The overall average was 93% ftp, and it felt like kind of a short, enjoyable ride. In one place I noticed a rider ahead changing a flat. When I glanced down I saw that I was riding through some big pieces of broken glass. Uh-oh. I guess it was my lucky day and her unlucky one. My place among all women was 21st, which for the first time ever was (1) not in the top half, and (2) worse than my place in the swim. This was a little disappointing, but it was still 1 minute 32 seconds faster than the same race 2 years ago, and it did set me up for a good run. What would you do differently?: I think on a route this short I could try to push the power up a wee bit. I'd like to nail that 95% or a little more.The distance is shorter than the website states. I had noted the location of the dismount, but not precisely enough. Coming in, I got confused because there were several bunches of spectators flanking the approach to transition and I couldn't tell who were the volunteers at the dismount line itself. I slowed way down probably 10 yards too soon. Next time, note PRECISELY where the dismount is. I had Heed in my water bottle but only drank about half of it. (~50 calories) Drink it all, Deb. Transition 2
Comments: My run shoes didn't slip on quite as fast as they usually do. Also, my sunglasses came askew when I pulled my helmet off. Time was 1 second slower than 2 years ago, and put me 12th among all women. What would you do differently?: Nothing really.  Run
Comments: I was not feeling bad after the bike, but it took me 1/2 mile to push myself so my HR went up to zone 4. I didn't have to stop & walk though, partly because I knew I would walk up the dam, which I did. Once up there, I started pushing myself hard. Here comes the part where it HURTS. I had my eye on a runner ahead who looked like she might have been in my AG, but I wasn't gaining and seemed unable to pick up any speed. So I decided to try an experiment: just before the turn-around I walked for 30 paces. 2 experiments really: my stomach was hurting a little but I decided anyway to squirt down the other diluted gel I had in my flask. Both were beneficial; I was able to go faster & harder (HR-wise) for the rest of the race, and oddly enough my stomach quit hurting. What would you do differently?: I think I did everything just about right. Post race
Warm down: Walked to the car & got my Recoverite drink & Recovery bar; took them down to the water. Lay right down in the lake; although it wasn't very cold, it still felt great. Ate a little watermelon. Then walked all the way to the dam because I wanted to take a picture. The youth race was going on by then, with the kids biking on the same path we had run on. I've never really watched a youth race before and it was a treat to see their intensity, plus I made friends with a couple membes of the Broome Tri Club. What limited your ability to perform faster: Need to improve swim technique & confidence; build more bike power. I can do those things. Event comments: This is a lovely race, perfect for new-comers to the sport or uncertain swimmers, or as a low-key tuneup race for anyone. It's an open water swim without the distractions of chop, motorboats, or cold water. The bike, although hilly, is unusually short; and the run, except for that dam thing, is pretty easy and nice. It's small, mostly local, & very friendly; and the well-supported kids' race is an important part of the day's attracations. Recommended. I was pretty happy with my race, which showed considerable improvement over 2 years ago. I was especially happy that my place in the entire group was nicely balanced among the 3 sports. The fact that my run was the best in this regard tells me that my pacing is improving. Profile Album Last updated: 2016-06-26 12:00 AM
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United States
Broome County Triathlon Club
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 18/32
Age Group = F 60-69
Age Group Rank = 2/4
Got up at 5. Oatmeal, yogurt, raisins, COFFEE, beet juice mix, some soaked chia seeds. (consumed some of this en route.) Left shortly after 6:00. My phone navigator sent me via the back roads--over the hills of the beautiful but curiously named Honeypot Rd (which I think I'll go bike on next week); through the little hamlet of Speedsville, where I have never been before but think I should move to. Odd, I had experienced no anxiety at all prior to this race, but with the race-day adrenaline kicking in it came walloping down on me like a ton of bricks. I felt like a person on the way to the dentist who really fears the dentist because she knows its going to HURT. Even the trip, although only an hour, seemed like a lot to undertake, what with all the young deer trying to jump in front of my car, and--oh wait! here's a guy whose car has just burst into flames! In the middle of nowhere, but no problem, he has a cell and is calling the FD. Carry on.
Got to the venue, set up etc. Had a little surprise in that there's no separate number for the bike. I didn't think I wanted to take extra time to put on a race belt in transition, so I consulted with some other athletes there about the durability of the race number if worn under the wetsuit and learned that works. Usually I eat half a Hammer bar a couple of hours before the race start, but I didn't because my stomach was a little upset. Had a caffeinated gel just before the swim warmup.
Rode my bike out just a little to check my shifting, brakes, & 510 gizmo. Noted the location of the dismount line.
Because of the time spent finding out about the durability of the race number, I was running short of time, so I just did an abbreviated run warmup with 5 minutes walking, 5 of easy run (again had to drop to a walk because heart wanted to run away a little); then only two 30-sec accelerations and more walk.
Jumped into my wetsuit and had enough time to swim 100 yards or so--just to remind myself I do know how to swim. Sort of, anyway.
I had already decided that, since we had to get out of the water after the warm-up, that's when I would do my dynamic stretches. I stopped about halfway through them, though, because I felt my heart revving up and thought I needed to do a little belly-breathing and backwards-counting to calm myself.