Deer Creek Triathlon - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic


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Mt. Sterling, Ohio
United States
HFP Racing
Total Time = 2h 52m 47s
Overall Rank = 112/159
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 11/17
Pre-race routine:

Up at 5, on the road at 5.30. Didn't get to the race site until 7:30, and got through the packet pick-up (and the can, ooooooooooh that's good) by 7:45. That was a bit of a crunch to get the TA set up and out to the beach by the start of the first sprint wave at 8, not leaving me a lot of time to check over my equipment including my chip strap, WHICH MIGHT PROVE TO BE A PROBLEM LATER (this is called, amongst the literati, foreshadowing).

Drive to the race site was a bit slow due to the absolutely torrential downpour on the way -- waves of stunning rain, and the occasional dry patch. I'd make some jokes about the rain, you know, a couple of Noah references, but it turns out that I ALREADY DID THAT for a race last year.
Event warmup:

5 minute swim; that's all I had time for before the sprint triathletes came out.


Swim
  • 38m 18s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 20s / 100 yards
Comments:

Well, what the heck was THAT about?

I thought that this was an okay swim, but it turned out to be surprisingly slow; it seems to me that this is where I really dropped out of contention with the place I wanted to be (solid MOP). What's surprising to me is that except for two small to middling problems, this swim felt fine -- nice and smooth, no panics, plenty of juice to finish the second lap, arms were appropriately tired. But by the time I got out, my AG had left me behind. So WTF? Did I swim into some "Dr. Who" time warp? Did I accidentally swim three laps? (The RD often jokes: "You MUST swim two laps. Anything over that is your choice.")

You know how they say that you can't win the race in the swim, but you can lose it? Well, this is where I lost it.

Two things that did legitimately slow me down:

1. AND HERE'S WHERE THE FORESHADOWING COMES TO FRUITION! Wait, was that subtle enough? Very early on -- like the first turn of the first lap -- one end of my timing chip came loose from the neoprene band on my ankle. Believe me, it freaked me out; I thought I was going to come out of the water with nothing on my ankle at all. Gave me a sudden feeling of nudity, right in the middle of a lake surrounded by men my age in black rubber suits. Disturbing. After futzing with it real quick in the water, I figured that one end of the chip was still attached, and I just kept swimming. Still, I did try not to kick as much and as hard -- perhaps this slowed me down?

2. My damn velcro watch band comes loose. I still need to replace this -- but the only place that carries the replacement is out of stock. Anyone have a solution? http://www.voguestrap.com/tx65e901.html

A third thing that also may have slowed me down, but I can't legitimately claim as an excuse, because it's just whining: I don't own a wetsuit.

And finally, the real reason I was slow: I FORGOT TO SWIM FAST! DAMMIT!

By the time I got out of the water, I was actually BEHIND phoenix -- which isn't too bad, because she's a good swimmer, but is still pretty bad, because she had to have started at least 90 seconds behind me, or maybe more like 3 minutes behind me. What the hell?

At any rate, I found phoenix's lost goggles for her, and asked her to fix my chip strap in exchange.
What would you do differently?:

Drive faster, so that I could get to the site faster, so I could check my chip band, so I could swim faster?
Get a wetsuit?
Just swim faster? This last thing might be the best choice. I've been swimming the "endurance" workouts in my "Swim Workouts in a Binder" -- but the distance on this race didn't really feel like a problem. Maybe I should concentrate on speed for a bit.
Transition 1
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

put on socks, which took some time, but I'm dealing with some blisters so it's a trade-off
Bike
  • 1h 17m 25s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 19.26 mile/hr
Comments:

I looooooooove my bike, and this felt good. I think I passed as many people as passed me, but at any rate I felt good, competitive, and occasionally fast. I was working on a 20mph average but just missed it.

I want some race wheels, though. When you get right down to it, I want a lot of things.

Nutrition was one espresso hammer gel 15 minutes into the bike, a few fig newtons at the half way mark, and one chocolate gel 20 minutes before the end. I kept my water intake fairly low -- it was a cool and overcast day, and I didn't want to get to sloshy before the run. So I emptied one of my three water bottles overboard immediately after getting on the bike -- no reason to pack around too much etra weight, I've got enough chubby love to go around as it is -- and probably only drank a bottle and a half total. Yes, I know, I'm getting rid of the aqua rack and replacing it with an aero drink. I've enven bought the aero drink, I just haven't installed it yet, and wasn't going to do it for race day.

What would you do differently?:

Ummmmm . . . nothing. This was, I think, a respectable ride. But I sure felt out of it having sandbagged the swim.
Transition 2
  • 01m 53s
Comments:

Changed to dry socks. Yes, it ate time. See blister comment above.
What would you do differently?:

learn shoes-on bike trick?
Run
  • 53m 45s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, overall this seemed to be a fine run segment. I started out hustling pretty good, slowed down a bit in later miles, but picked it up and finished strong. I didn't feel overly stressed; I wasn't dying out there, even though the sun had finally come out. It was still a cool and mostly overcast day; I was running without a hat or sunglasses, which I normally have. You know, for the ladies.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty good as I started out. I started out running with the phenomenally buff guy that I'm running behind in the pictures below, and I was feeling pretty pleased with the fact that I was running with him, and even passed him for a bit. See, cuz I was feeling good about myself, that's when God turns on the irony: It turns out that he had just done the Triple-T the previous weekend. Yes; he had run three (or more) consecutive sprint triathlons the previous weekend. This international-distance race was his "active recovery". Ye gods.

Whatever. I kept running, and talking to people, to keep my spirits up. Saw Phoenix on the way back. Crossed the dam feeling strong, even though I had gone to splash water on my face at the aid station before the dam AND MISSED MY OWN FACE. Oh well.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate stuff. Found water. Waited for Phoenix.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Hmmm, well, that's a good one. I don't know how I got out of the running on this one -- or indeed, if I was really in the MOP where I wanted to be -- but it sure felt like I was out on the course a long time. This is one of the problems of racing oly distance at a spring/oly: Once you finally make it in, all the sprinters have long packed up and eaten everything and moved on. So it feels like a ghost town when you finally make it back, even if it's not. I guess I need to get used to that.

I think that, when it comes right down to it, I forgot to GO FAST. I mean, I had everything else: the gear was all set up, I've been training pretty steady, I know what's going on in the race, I got to the race on time. But then, after the siren blew, I forgot to GO FAST!

I should remember that next time: When the siren sounds, GO FAST!

Event comments:

I *still* like HFP. Reliable, experienced. They're the Toyota Corolla's of racing.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-06-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:38:18 | 1640 yards | 02m 20s / 100yards
Age Group: 14/17
Overall: 132/159
Performance: Below average
Suit: tri shorts
Course: Open rectangle, close in to shore -- the inside leg, you could actually stand up on the sand if you wanted to.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:27
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:17:25 | 24.85 miles | 19.26 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/17
Overall: 112/159
Performance: Good
averaging 18.8 over 24.45
Wind: Little
Course: Smooth, occasionally rough, lonely country roads. Only a couple of hills.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:53
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:53:45 | 06.21 miles | 08m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/17
Overall: 106/159
Performance: Average
mile 1 -- 6:53 mile 2 -- 8:45 mile 3 -- 8:45 mile 4 -- 12:17 mile 5 -- 6:07 mile 6 -- 10:42
Course: Out-and-back over the dam and out onto a country road. Flat.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
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: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3