Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Benton Harbor, Michigan
United States
CAPRI Events
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 33m 51s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 29 under
Age Group Rank = 67/92
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at about 4:00 to get a sandwich and some tea down. We wanted to leave around 5am to catch the busses to transition and get set up without being rushed. Then there was the 1.2 mile walk to the swim start. Start time was 7am, and I was wave 5. About a quarter mile from the swim start I hear them that wave 5 should be in the corral. Crap!! So i take off running to get there, HR was already at 160 by the time I get there. So THAT was my prerace routine. Cut it close just a little!
Swim
  • 41m 58s
  • 2310 yards
  • 01m 49s / 100 yards
Comments:

So back to me running to the corral. That meant I had to drop my bodyglide in the sand, and jump in the back of the group and run on in because not 1 min after I got in corral we were off! So starting my race with 160 HR was swell. But no biggie, I figured Id calm down in the water. So we took off, but I didnt have a chance to seed myself at all, so I got hit and kicked alot for the first 100m to try and get past a few people. Other then that the swim wasnt super eventful besides occasionally running into som eof the waves in front of us. I got in a groove fairly quickly and didnt get out too much until i would run up on someone and get kicked. I did run into a girl that was in the group in front of us that was actually completely sitting there in the water, in the path. She just looked stunned. I went to ask if she was ok, but she wasnt even looking at anyone. Interesting. So anyway, I continued on, and came in feeling good and like I could keep swimming. And my HR did calm donw to 140. haha.
What would you do differently?:

Not too much. I still dont pay attention to form. I hope to for next year, might help out alot
Transition 1
  • 05m 49s
Comments:

I was a little out of sorts in transition. First I realized that I had cut my big toe on my left foot. No clue how. So I got the skin off so I could get my foot in the shoe without it rubbing and washed it out with some of my water. Ok no biggie, doesnt hurt. Then I made it almost out and realized I forgot my sunglasses, ran back in and then just kind of took my time. I wasnt in a rush so I didnt forget anything. Should have been much fast though!
What would you do differently?:

Get it together already. I seem to be fine in T2, out of sorts in T1. Ah well
Bike
  • 3h 08m 24s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.83 mile/hr
Comments:

I am really happy with my bike time. I wanted to average between 16-17 mph and ended up at almost 18 mph. Actually my bike computer reads more like 18.3 for average speed, but I think thats because I stopped to give a guy a CO2 cartridge with about 10 miles left. I thought it was a guy in my tri group, but Im glad I stopped anyways since Id want someone to stop for me. The bike was mostly rolling hills, got up to 34 mph once without pushing much but thats it really. the rest was rolling. I found it easy to get in a groove and to pass people. Being wave 5 out of 16 though I got passed ALOT at the same time. My training partner was wave 6, so she caught me at about mile 20ish and we rode the rest out by each other. The course was nice. My only problem, peeing. I tend to have to pee on the bike. Well i was keeping a average of about 18.5 up until halfway, but then I couldnt wait anymore, nor did I see any port o jons, so I decided to try it on the bike. It worked, but Im not a fan. Haha. I had to do that a couple of times which slowed me a little, but I had plenty of water from the aid stations so it was easy to water myself down at the same time. Still not a fan though :) So I was aiming for 3:20ish here, and I beat that by alot, so Im happy!!
Transition 2
  • 06m 14s
Comments:

Well this T, I lost alot of time. I should have been out in 2 minutes tops. I was ready to go, but wanted to wait for my training partner. She wanted to run together and were about the same pace, so I figured we trained together for this we might as well finish it together. So as Im waiting for her, a girl comes up to me and is all cut up and bandaged and bleeding and tells me that shes broken her fingers (all I can notice is the blood on her hands and face) and that she cant rack her bike or anything. So I help her get set in transition because she wants to finish. No biggie, I was glad to do it, but I did lose a couple more minutes. Then I stretched a little while waiting more, then finally we were off!!
Run
  • 2h 31m 28s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

This run was fairly hard for me. The first mile or so was fairly hard, a little uphill, and since I had pushed a little harder on my bike, my legs were feeling it. So we stopped at the first aid station, used the bathroom, filled up fuel belt, and stretched. The next few miles were fairly good, getting lots of water and sponges at aid stations, taking my enduralytes, and gels. Then after the turn around at about mile 8 or so the legs were really feeling it and I wasnt sure if i wanted more to drink or if i should take more gel or what. So the walks at the aid stations got a little slower, and a little harder to get moving! With about 10 down, the knees were just sore, which I expected with all the problems this year. Mentally I was ready to be done. But I figure, only a 5k left right! So we plugged on. With a mile left, I felt a little sick ( I grabbed gatorade because I was just so thirsty and I dont do well with it) but I was so ready to be done! Then we made the turn to the beach and I sped up, I was just happy by this point!
What would you do differently?:

Work on speed
Post race
Warm down:

Went in the lake!! Oh and having PA's as friends is nice, we got IV's after the race and that helped alot. Especially since we wanted to celebrate :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think sore knees and knee trouble through all of the training wasnt helpful. I knew Id still have to deal with it on race day, but what can you do.

Event comments:

This was a good race, the course was nice, not too hard, and it was organized well. There was a lot of people, but it was actually fairly nice to be surrounded by people all the time. I did push harder than I planned on the bike, but I think it ended up helping my overall time. I was about 10-15 min ahead of schedule on the bike, but about 5-10 min behind where I wanted on the run. So overall, pushing on the bike gained me about 5 or so minutes Id say. Id do the race again. Or double in LP I guess.. hah


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-08-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:41:58 | 2310 yards | 01m 49s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/92
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: sleeveless
Course: Point to point
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 05:49
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:08:24 | 56 miles | 17.83 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/92
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course: Out and Back
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 06:14
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:31:28 | 13.1 miles | 11m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/92
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course: 2 loop course
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
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? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4