Seattle Escape from the Rock Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Mean HR = 170 bpm

Haven't trained for this for a couple weeks, but it was my last tri so I couldn't hold back. I normally bilaterally breathe, but I spent probably half of this swim breathing only to one side, because I was working so hard.

This race used self-seeded waves. If you think you're fast, go in the first wave. Otherwise go in a later wave. Waves were about 100 people. They must have a genius for a race director, because this made an awful lot of sense and kept me from running into early waves like in other races (SEAFAIR!).

So, I was in the first wave. The trip from the start to the first buoy was bit rough, but it was because of just one person. I wanted to point right for the buoy, but the person to my right wanted to point more toward the left. So he kept creepin' up on me and dunked me once when his arm went on my head (why do people continue their stroke when they hit someone's head?!). I'm just glad I avoided his elbows. I had someone to my left too, so I was in a tricky spot. Waves were coming in roughly toward our front too, which also made things interesting.

When we hit the first buoy, it was totally congested and people had to come to a dead stop and breaststroke around it. Fortunately it was brief and things thinned out quickly. I took the inside track to the next buoy, and that was a pretty lonely spot (but that's not a bad thing in the swim!). I drafted off of one person for most of the time before the second buoy. At this point the waves were coming from the left side, so I breathed to my right. Man I'm slick.

Rounding the 2nd buoy wasn't too bad, and then it was time to shoot for the shore. People had grouped up again, and now the waves were coming from behind so we were going a little faster. I picked out the spot I wanted on the shore, and pointed toward it, but once again I had someone on my right who wanted to push me off course. My head was near his feet too so I knew if I disagreed with his direction I would get kicked in the head. So, I did a little spin move, over onto my back and then on my stomach again, landing on his right side. I think it was the smartest thing I have ever done in a swim and I wonder why I never tried in before. It took about zero seconds, and I was clear of this guy, and I also got to take a peak behind me to see what was going on. No one was behind me. Now I was clear for a smooth finish without having to worry about what people around me were doing.

I think I should start on the very inside edge of the pack, instead of more toward the middle. Every time someone runs into me, it's always from my right, so either I veer toward my right or lots of people veer toward the left. If I move to the edge I would avoid some of the trouble.

There was a long run from the water to the T1 corral--250 yards, maybe. So, they timed that run part separately. The run took me 1:33, and then T1 took me 1:01.

I was really happy with my transition, because I was super clever and didn't run to T1 in my wetsuit. Instead I popped out of the water, took off my goggles and top half of the wetsuit while I ran, and then at that point I stopped and took off my wetsuit. That's why my run was a bit long. But, see, the wetsuit dries off quickly after exiting the water, and it becomes harder to remove after drying a little. So taking it off right away probably saved me a little time overall. No one else was as slick as me, and they had to take off their nasty DRY wetsuit in T1, probably getting them stuck on their heels and stuff.

Nothing.

Mean power = 230 W (my FTP is 228 W)
Mean cadence = 81 rpm
Mean HR = 169 bpm

The time (and distance) includes two 100-yard runs with my bike, because the mount line was far from the transition zone. On-the-bike time and speed were ~31 minutes and 21.9 mph.

I stopped training for triathlons about 2 weeks ago, on account of becoming homeless. I also did an 18-mile run on Thursday, so my legs were not quite fresh for this ride. But, it was my last tri of the season, so I tried to push as hard as I could, ignoring the fact that there was a run coming up next.

My quads were in a lot of pain for the whole ride. If I believed in "burning matches," I would say that I burned all of mine on the first couple of miles, because I hammered up all the hills. Just 5 minutes into the ride I was already rocking my hips on the saddle to get power. Fortunately my competitive spirit kept me pushing throughout the ride. If I saw someone ahead of me, I pushed really hard to bridge up to them. Once I passed them I certainly wasn't going to let them catch me again--that would be embarrassing--so I pushed hard to leave them behind. I am also eternally suspicious of people drafting off of me when I pass them, so I surged on every pass to prevent it. I caught maybe 6 or 8 people over the course of the ride, and one guy passed me during the beginning few miles.

The last 5 minutes were the toughest, because at that point I was riding into the wind and also uphill. People behind me were trying to creep up, so I gave it all I could to hold them off. My cyclocomputer read 13 mph for a good part of this, but it also read 250 W, so I guess I should be content. I was able to hold off all but one guy. He passed me real quick on the last downhill, and then proceeded to coast while he removed his feet from his shoes. I was thoroughly offended that someone would coast after passing, so I hammered through a turn at the bottom of the hill to pass him again. It was a little risky, but I was all incredible hulk so I couldn't help it. I took my feet out just before the mount line, and we finished the ride pretty much simultaneously. In hindsight, he had the better finishing strategy, so I'll have to remember that.

Push the bike harder. Why not.

Pretty standard T2. I ran in and threw my shoes on and off I went. The guy that finished the bike near me was far behind me out of T2, so my incredible hulkness dissipated.

I accidentally went to the wrong rack first, because the numbers were ascending and I thought they were descending. No big deal though.

Mile 1 = 5:42 - 181 bpm
Mile 2 = 5:43 - 184 bpm
Last 0.5 = 2:10 - 189 bpm

I think I had the fastest run of the day. Even though my legs were dying on the bike, that didn't carry over to the run and my legs felt fine. I have to remember that for next time.

My strategy was to just pick people off, one by one, and that's what I did. I was in 10th place overall after a mile, and the 9th place guy was about 30 feet in front of me. It took me another full mile to catch him. It was an out-and-back course, and I noticed I had closed in on him on the hills at the beginning. But the middle mile was flat and he was able to hold me off there. So, I decided to surge when we got back to the hills to get by him. The strategy worked, and once I was past him other people were in sight and I decided I could catch them.

So, with about 1/2 mile to go, I started my kick (I did that last 1/2 mile in 4:20/mile pace). I passed some jerk that cut the course to try to hold me off, then I passed another guy, and another guy, and one more guy with 200 yards to go. So between 1/2 mile and 200 yards from the finish, I moved from 10th place to 5th. 100 yards from the finish I looked over my shoulder, and everyone I passed had gathered into a big pack right behind me. The finish was an all-out group sprint, and I'll admit I was running scared, but I held my ground and finished up front. Here's how close the finish was.

#5 59:19.3 - Me
#6 59:19.8
#7 59:20.2 - 2nd person in my age group
#8 59:20.6
#9 59.27.6 - 3rd person in my age group

I decided I owe my victory to my slickness in taking off my wetsuit in T1 :)

Nothing.

I jogged a little and stretched eventually. I didn't jump in the water, but I should have.

I wasn't really sore after the race, and I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go run 5 miles while waiting for the awards ceremony. I opted to wait until the evening (although by then I was too sleepy to do it).


Poor preparation in the last week or so before the race. It's okay though. I wanted to keep racing until it started to not go so well. The amount of pain my legs were in during the bike leads me to believe that this was a good race to end my season on.


Very good race with good food at the end. They did lots of smart things like having self-seeded waves and not writing your number on the swim cap (the number will come off onto other things...like your sink). The run from the water was long, so they even put an extra timing mat in so you could take into account that run.

I would have liked it if this was the standard sprint distance, so I could compare my time to other races. Other than that, it was good.