Morden Triathlon - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Morden, Manitoba
Canada
Winnipeg IronCops
11C / 52F
Precipitation
Total Time = 7h 09m
Overall Rank = 42/81
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 11/19
Pre-race routine:

I was very confident about this race. It was a "B" race so I had no expectations, but coming out of Chinook three weeks ago, I was pretty sure that I would do at least better than I did last year.

I didn't plan for the 52k/hr winds gusting to 70k/hr!

Had some French Toast and Yoghurt and a cup of coffee at the hotel. Then rode the bike down to the transition.
Didn't set up for the longest time because I was pretty sure the race would be cancelled.
One guy with a disk wheel racked his bike and five minutes later is had moved all the way down the rack.
I had to rack my bike by the aerobars/brakes to keep it from blowing away.
Everything was kept in its' place in my RocketScience Transition bag. I didn't lay anything out because I was worried it would blow away.
Went to the bathroom several times.
Had a Powerbar.
Listened to the Race Director and was disgusted that he didn't even mention the dangerous wind conditions.
I'm sure that more than 30 people never even started the race or did the half distance. (appleman).
Didn't do any really warm up other than some swimming.
It was too frenetic...to much negative energy. I was just trying to find my balance and focus.
It was like we were going to war!
Put on my wet suit for warmth...it was that cold in the wind. I went down to the water when I started to get cold in the wetsuit.
Event warmup:

About 100 metres in the water...The water was pleasant - albeit a little choppy in the far end.
Swim
  • 44m 29s
  • 1900 meters
  • 02m 20s / 100 meters
Comments:

Best part of the day. Didn't get lazy and kept pushing.
Speed increased on second lap. Came out of the water to round the shore buoy at 22 minutes - right on schedule.
Drafted better than ever before. Sighted very well, except on the stretch parallel to the beach. There was heavy chop and I kept going in towards the shore. Must have lost about a minute on several course corrections. Nothing too serious though. Lots of water in the mouth at this part - but I never panicked and just took every opportunity to breath when they came up! I used this chance to just swim harder.
Heading into shore I really picked up the pace and must have passed 20 people...lots of kicking, but as soon as I stood up, I got a major cramp in my hamstring! I yelled "shit" and then covered my mouth - fully expecting a DQ or some discipline. It never happened. Leg returned to normal and I ran uphill to the windy transition.
Wearing Nick's Orca Wetsuit. Nick wasn't in it at the time!
What would you do differently?:

Maybe start further forward in the pack. There was no reason, this time to be so far back. I think my swimming has improved, or at least my confidence has, to such an extent that I can now start to push myself even more!
Transition 1
  • 04m 10s
Comments:

I took my time. My stuff was left in my back - good thing a whole bunch of others' stuff had blown away.
Took my time drying my feet and getting comfortable. I knew the bikeride was going to be a challenge. This was a "b" race, so why stress.
I still had a pretty fast transition, considering nothing was out.
I'm pretty happy with this. Didn't doddle at all. Everything was deliberate.
What would you do differently?:

Not race in 52k/hr winds.
Bike
  • 3h 59m 40s
  • 90 kms
  • 22.53 km/hr
Comments:

Okay. Worst conditions I've ever ridden in. I wouldn't go driving in a car, let alone do a training ride in this. But I had a great ride. I play in the wind here, so I had a secret confidence. I stopped counting people I passed because I had such a consistent ride. I was still crappy on the hills, but was never passed on them. I stopped to pee twice (peed on myself in the wind!) and was passed by five people, but I passed them back.

I was great on the cross winds. They were hard. Unbelievably hard! But I stayed steady and didn't ever oversteer or ride too close to the shoulder.
I had trouble eating. I couldn't take my hands of the bars.

Nutrition: I had a powerbar but that was too much of an effort. I switched to gels, ripping them off my frame where they were electrical taped...I planned for this!!
Had a bottle and a half of Glyco...Never came close to that bonk feeling! So nutrition was perfect. Had about 8 eload pills. One aerobottle of water and one refill from the aid station - most of which spilled on my peed-on legs and very little of which I actually drank.

Learned a new trick!
Snot rockets without using my hands...Just do a sabrina the witch thing with my nose, narrow my eyes and snort! Works great when you can't let go of the bars...although I don't think I would do it if the wind wasn't gale force!

This was the best ride of my life in the worst possible conditions I've ever ridden in. My time was not great - but no one's was. I passed a lot of riders who normally would have been way ahead of me.
The downside is I wore myself out AGAIN and had very little left in me for the run....But this was a "b" race...I was not that interested in doing fantastic, just wanted to learn. I learned what I can do on my bike!

I did lay it off a bit in the last K, so when I got off the bike I felt great. No cramping no pain issues. All good.
What would you do differently?:

Climb even better.

Reconsider ever riding Morden again.
Do any race that Highwaydog and his IronCops are involved as volunteers at - it was great to see their smiling faces!
Transition 2
  • 02m 19s
Comments:

Took my time here again, but had a very efficient transition. This was quite fast. Took a little extra time to cover my bag with my wetsuit (it was raining) took my gel flask. Fixed my hair that was all over my face during the ride. Grabbed my e-load and advil and lube and was gone.
Didn't pee in transition...potties were in a stupid place. Pee'd one Km into the run.
What would you do differently?:

Not have my stuff in a bag, but it couldn't be helped...The wind...The wind!
Everything else went exactly how I planned it. I didn't rush...I was meticulous.
Run
  • 2h 25m 14s
  • 21.1 kms
  • 06m 53s  min/km
Comments:

I had slightly higher expectations going into the race, but I knew after that ride that I would crash...I never really crashed, but I didn't have a lot of juice either.
I started off pretty strong and I'm guessing the first 10.5k I must have done in about an hour. I didn't walk at all (except the hill) in the first half.
Second half I walked a little more...my knees were getting sore. I took an Advil and gave one to Jason, who I passed and was having a hard time.

I only walked at aid stations and didn't stop at all of them like last year.
I'm not sorry about this run. I just wasn't doing much better than this time, so I am happy. I know I had a great race and in terrible conditions and that's cool!

Nutrition:
One flask with three Powergels and water (no food on course!!!!)
4 e-load pills.
Water at ever 3rd aid station. Gatorade in the last half hour - two stops.


What would you do differently?:

I probably should have stretched out my stride a little at places to break up the monotony.
I could have pushed a little harder.
Not ridden so hard.
I had a good run.
Post race
Warm down:

shivered.
Had some chips and avoided the burnt burgers.
Terrible, terrible, terrible food situation.
Nothing going on other than other racers coming in.
Watched them congratulated and blanketed them (mark's blanket - no such thing from race) Waited for Nick and Jason. After a while, I couldn't stop shivering. Rode the bikes back to the hotel.
Went into the hot tub and warmed up....stretched then.
Beer and food and fun with the Regina RMC racers afterwards!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Doh!
The weather.
Had the wind not been that bad, I'm sure I would have gone under 6...as would many others.

Event comments:

As said above. I don't think it was just the weather. The Race Director just did not have stuff (like food on course, toilets) organized. He is new.

That combined with the crappy road surface makes me think I'm not going to do this race again...although I really like the hotel proximity and all the good friends that were there.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-03-31 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:44:29 | 1900 meters | 02m 20s / 100meters
Age Group: 8/19
Overall: 43/81
Performance: Good
Swim was the most pleasant part of the day. Two laps triangular course in a sheltered lake.
Suit: Orca (Nick's borrowed)
Course: Lovely, fun swim. I really relaxed. Did some decent drafting. Passed scads of people. Had some trouble sighting on one side because of the chop that kept pushing water into my mouth. As usual they gave everyone yellow swim caps. What colour were the buoys? Doh! Yellow!
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 21F / -6C Current: High
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:10
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:59:40 | 90 kms | 22.53 km/hr
Age Group: 5/19
Overall: 29/81
Performance: Good
Bike computer has it at 3:52. Transition is added. 52k/hr winds with 70 k/hr gusts. Need I say more? Head wind out. Cross winds on hilly part. Tail wind back. I just don't want to talk about it. Oh and it started to rain in the last hour!
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Most of the course has no shoulder, but traffic was light. Just as well. I average 20k/hr going out. The head wind was demoralizing, but not as unbelievable as the cross wind on the hilly section. If you didn't pay attention you would be blown across the road. I managed to stay aero 90 percent of the time. I had to! The way back had a killer tail wind. Hit 72k/hr and ran out of gears - 120 cadence! But the road was so bad, that I was worried I would break my forks hitting the cracks every millisecond...Ka chunk ka chunk Ka clunkschuck! was the sound I heard and felt for 20 minutes on the last part of the course. Terrible course!
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:19
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:25:14 | 21.1 kms | 06m 53s  min/km
Age Group: 15/19
Overall: 66/81
Performance: Good
Two laps. One public toilet. Water/gatorade every 1k!!!! No food whatsoever on course. Volunteers quit all over the place Lots of unbearably windy places and kind of hilly!
Course: Through golf course, then into residential, one big hill and residential is uphill/downhill, then through park and town...beautiful course...not this time. It was just gross. Trees broken all over the place. no one was out watching. Volunteers looked unhappy. They got mad when I refused water/gatorade (too many aid stations!) Good Police/fire presence to stop traffic. Great town. Good people.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 2