Pleasant Prairie Triathlon - International Race - TriathlonOlympic


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Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
United States
JMC Partners
65F / 18C
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 19m 33s
Overall Rank = 36/497
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 9/84
Pre-race routine:

"The race that almost never was!"
Woke up to thunder and lightning. Went to check the radar on the computer and it looked like heavy storms throughout the day. Not good. I was staying at one of my buddies house and we decided to head up in the storms anyway. It was pouring and lightning out the whole drive up. It never let up.

Met up with a bunch of the BTers. The race director thought they would either cancel it or shorten it to a duathlon. Race was suppose to start at 6:30. We had the option to go get our bikes and go home. Some of the BTers were starting to leave. Some said they weren't going to do it. However, HL was doing it no matter what, and a bunch of others decided to make a go of it. They delayed the start by 45 minutes, but we did get to swim and do the whole race, albeit in drizzle and wetness. It was in the upper 50's, too. Wet, cold rain....not my cup of tea.

Well, peer pressure is a wonderful thing. And BTers have a way to get the best out of you. Jsmitchicago told me if I was going to race, to be careful. I told her I would, and that I would not be looking for a PR (more on that later). I looked at HL, and he was in. Dumpster said what the hay? And he has an IM in a month, so no way I was leaving this event. We were given 15' to set up our transition.


Event warmup:

See above. With only 15 minutes to set up your transiton, and it being wet, that left NO time for a warmup. I put my T2 stuff in a bag to keep it dry. Put on my wetsuit and got a 100m warmup in before we were pulled out of the water....that was it.
Swim
  • 22m 26s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 30s / 100 meters
Comments:

Great swim. I seeded myself towards the front. Swam out front and hard for the first 200m. Then tried to find some feet. I had some issues finding feet again. And when I found a good set, they never swam straight enough for my liking. All my OWS has resulted in some pretty straight swimming...which ultimately has helped my time...maybe even more than drafting..since I didn't do much of that.

2006: 25:30
2007: 22.26
What would you do differently?:

I had a goggle issue with a faulty dive at the beginning. Had to breast stroke to fix it, but stuff happens. Really, nothing. A great swim and a PR for me at this distance.
Transition 1
  • 01m 13s
Comments:

Very good T1. Actually, 2nd in AG, so I have to be happy with that. I ran a little faster than normal jog. Otherwise this was as quick as I can be with that large of a transition area.
What would you do differently?:

Not much.
Bike
  • 1h 09m 26s
  • 25 miles
  • 21.60 mile/hr
Comments:

The Bike was OK. I get pretty agressive, and I really had to talk myself into slowing down on the corners. It wasn't that hard to do, since on my first turn, the back tire skidded a bit, and scared me, so I took the next few turns much easier. I have a short memory, b/c I did get a little more aggressive on the second half.

All in all, it was tough to ride fast out there today with the rain and water and puddles. I have been taking a little off the bike to set up a better run, so this was OK for me. Happy with this time.

2006: 1:12:22
2007: 1:09:26
What would you do differently?:

I took a few bad lines once the sprinters got on the course. It was crowded and it ended up slowing me down.
Transition 2
  • 01m 16s
Comments:

Not bad. Definitely could have done this sub 1 on a regular day. I had put all my things in a grocery bag to keep them dry. I had a towel in there and a jacket (that I thought I might wear b/c of weather) and some extra things. It really slowed me down, but if it would have rained as hard as it was at 6am, it would have been nice to have everything dry.
What would you do differently?:

Be able to forecast the weather...thus knowing I wouldn't have needed the bag to keep stuff dry.
Run
  • 45m 12s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

Pretty good run. I was planning to run totally by HR the first 3 miles and then kick it in. I was in Z3 for the 1st 3 miles and it felt good. Hard, but not too taxing. I wanted to get halfway done and then really kick it in...leave it all on the table kind of thinking. Well, I didn't feel great at mile 3, so I waited until the mile 4 sign. Then I started to get above the LTHR. It hurt, and the last 1.2 miles really hurt. But I knew Dumpster was having a great race, and I knew it would take everything I had to stay with him. Its great to have a friendly BT competition like that. We were only missing Jowisc in this battle.

Stuck to the plan and really negative split the thing. Its tough to balance the run for me. Not sure how much gas I have left and if I will explode or not. One thing for sure, though, is 6.2 miles isn't as long as it was last year. And I attribute that to training.

The splits were below. Pretty happy with the pacing and negative split.

1m: 7:25, 152 ahr
2m: 7:26, 153 ahr
3m: 7:23, 154 ahr
4m: 7:22, 157 ahr
5m: 7:07, 160 ahr
6m: 7:01, 163 ahr
  • 2m: 7:00, 167 ahr

  • 2006: 52:12 (8:24m/m)
    2007: 45:12 (7:17m/m)

    1:07 per mile...wow. I had to look back at last year's RR to get the times, and this really makes me feel good. In that report, I could tell I was upset with the run, and I vowed to get faster in the off season. Nice to see hard work pay off. Now, I need to get even faster (love this sport).
    What would you do differently?:

    Not much. Maybe stick with plan and kick hard after mile 3? Not sure if I could have kept going at that pace, though.
    Post race
    Warm down:

    Holly and my two oldest ones were at the finish. I went across the line with my son. It was cool to slow down a bit, knowing I was sub 2:20. I talked with Holly, Coredump and one of my buds that did the sprint. We waited for all the other BTers to finish. Went inside and checked results and hung around for the raffle. I didn't win the bike, though.

    What limited your ability to perform faster:

    Well, as bad as the weather was, it didn't effect the swim or run. Since it only got up to about 65 degrees, it may even have helped the run. The weather did effect my transitions and mainly the bike. I wiped out at this course last year in good conditions, so I was definitely less aggressive on the bike. The roads were very wet, but raceable. Other than that, I can't think of much.

    And all though there isn't a section for what helped you to go faster, I will add it here. Having Holly and the kids at all my races is so Awesome!! Not only do they cheer very hard, they actually look like they enjoy it...even in crappy weather like today. It really, really helps me go faster knowing that they might be around any corner and there is NO way I am dogging it with that crew around. She really picked it up this morning, too, with the late night she had last night. I love them so much, and am very blessed to have them.

    Its also nice to have so many BTers in these races. Again, its hard to dog it when they can be anywhere on the course. And they always have encouraging words.

    Event comments:

    Pleasant Prairie is a great triathlon. The fact that they could make this thing happen on a day like today is crazy. The volunteers that stuck around in that mess have to be commended. Great event.

    They could use better food in the after party.


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    Last updated: 2007-02-06 12:00 AM
    Swimming
    00:22:26 | 1500 meters | 01m 30s / 100meters
    Age Group: 4/84
    Overall: 29/497
    Performance: Good
    Suit: Yes
    Course: Love Triangle...well just a triangle. The love came when I PR'd the thing...thus the name.
    Start type: Run Plus: Waves
    Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Low
    200M Perf. Good Remainder:
    Breathing: Drafting:
    Waves: Navigation:
    Rounding:
    T1
    Time: 01:13
    Performance: Good
    Cap removal: Helmet on/
    Suit off:
    Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
    Jump on bike:
    Getting up to speed:
    Biking
    01:09:26 | 25 miles | 21.60 mile/hr
    Age Group: 13/84
    Overall: 57/497
    Performance: Good
    Only had avg. HR, which was 147.
    Wind:
    Course: Course was longer than 24.85, probably even longer than 25, but I will go with this. Very wet. Some very smooth roads and a couple of bumpy ones.
    Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
    Turns: Cornering:
    Gear changes: Hills:
    Race pace: Drinks:
    T2
    Time: 01:16
    Overall: Good
    Riding w/ feet on shoes
    Jumping off bike
    Running with bike
    Racking bike
    Shoe and helmet removal
    Running
    00:45:12 | 06.21 miles | 07m 17s  min/mile
    Age Group: 20/84
    Overall: 84/497
    Performance: Good
    See below.
    Course: Pretty flat. Garmin said 600 ft of ascent, which might be generous. It was kind of crazy how it loops around, but its cool b/c you see so many of the other racers/BTers.
    Keeping cool Drinking Just right
    Post race
    Weight change: %
    Overall:
    Mental exertion [1-5]
    Physical exertion [1-5]
    Good race?
    Evaluation
    Course challenge Just right
    Organized? Yes
    Events on-time?
    Lots of volunteers?
    Plenty of drinks?
    Post race activities:
    Race evaluation [1-5]