The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Washington, Washington, D.C.
United States
TNT productions
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 27m 26s
Overall Rank = 336/3933
Age Group = M45-49
Age Group Rank = 20/290
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:00 (earlier than I needed to) Made a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee at the hotel. Checked the results of Patriots Half to see how friends of mine that raced it the day before did. Did a last minute gear bag inventory, filled my bottles with Gatorade and caught a cab down to transition area.

Once there I set up my transition area. I felt my tires as I had topped them off the night before when racking the bike, the back one felt fine, the front one felt a tad softer. I decided it wasnt bad enough not to ride it, but if someone nearby had a pump I would top it off. About 6:20 a guy arrived on our rack with a pump, I asked him to borrow it and proceeded to lossen the presta valve. It was still pretty dark, but I have done this a million times so wasnt worried. As I lossened it I felt a little air seep out which was strange as usually without pressing down on the valve no air comes out. Suddenly the entire top of the presta valve shot out of my fingers with a blast of air, and then the tire went completely flat. Now I had extra tubes on my bike and in my bag but with transition closing in about 15 minutes the last thing I wanted to do was rush through a tube change in the dark. I felt around in the grass for the valve, an unbelievably I found it. It turned out the the whole valve core (almost like an extension) had come loose instead of just the presta valve itself. That was probably why I was leaking air out of that tire. I got the valve back together, put 125 lbs in and did a last minute check on my transition layout.
Event warmup:

Besides the heart rate raising experience with my front tire, we were not starting for over an hour so went to the swim pen and stood around. After hitting the porta john for the last time I did some jogging to get the HR back up a little. One downside of these big races is there really isnt any opportunity for warmups as the logistics to getting everybody in the water at their designated times prevents it.
Swim
  • 30m 5s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 50s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swimming has not been my strong suit. I decided to go out hard at the gun to get a little separation from the pack, which worked out well. I then settled into a steady stroke and got my heart rate back down. I really thought that I swam the course better than my time showed. I never checked up during the swim, I did go to a more of a 'Tarzan' style of swimming when rounding the bouys as it got very crowded and with people doing the breast stroke, I didnt want to get kicked in the face.
What would you do differently?:

I just need to keep working on my swimming speed. I finally have the endurance part down, I can swim all day, I just need to do it faster!
Transition 1
  • 01m 54s
Comments:

Transition was HUGE, so most of that time was spent running through it. Got my wetsuit off without problems, grabbed my helmet and glasses as I had my shoes on my bike. Ran with the bike to the mount line on the street jumped on bike with feet on top of shoes and took off. My left shoe had come loose from the rubberband holding it up and was a little tougher to get my foot directly on it, but I reached down and grabbed it and put my foot in. My right one went on with out a hitch.
What would you do differently?:

The loop on the back of my left shoe broke off this week so I dont have a good place to rubber band it when on the bike. Time for new shoes :(
Bike
  • 1h 05m 36s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 22.73 mile/hr
Comments:

I was worried about the bike leg of this race. I have really been working on my cycling and have had some great races this year on my tri bike. Unfortunately when I took it into my LBS for a pre race tune up, I was informed that the frame was cracked and unrideable. So I put aerobars on my older road bike and was going to make do. I decided to not make excuses though and kept the line from the title of Lance Armstrong's book in my head..."It's not about the bike" I think I probably pushed harder then I would have on my tri bike, but was very pleased with the result.
What would you do differently?:

New tri bike :)
Transition 2
  • 01m 51s
Comments:

Again, just a really big transition area. Didnt realize the first curb was there and really bounced the back tire of my bike on it, but nothing fell off (except my chain) Fumbled a little bit getting into my running shoes as I had forgotten to lossen the elastic laces all of the way.
What would you do differently?:

Lossen the laces on my shoes.
Run
  • 48m 2s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

I went out a little hard, and then pulled back some during the middle as I wanted to be able to finish strong. I knew I had to put in a sub 51 minute to hit my goal of breaking 2:30 for the race, so I knew that I needed to really push it. I have been logging longer distance runs lately for my ironman training, and have not been doing speed work, so I was a little concerned about blowing up during the run. I felt good after mile 4 and 5 and knew that I had it.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. My PR on a 10k is 45:30, so a 48:02 after really pushing on the bike is more than acceptable to me.
Post race
Warm down:

Had some Powerade and water, walked a little bit. Got my dry clothes and stood in line for transition. Loaded my gear in my backpack and rode back to my hotel. Chilled out for a little while as I had a late check out, showered and went out for some killer Vietnamese food before driving back to Richmond.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This race kind of fell in the middle of my IMFL training plan, so I had no taper and havent really been working on speed for this distance.

Event comments:

This is my third year racing this event. Two years ago, it was completely different, they moved it to the new transition area and course last year. The course is good, the streets could use a little repaving in spots. Even though the long walk between finish and transition last year was a negative to some, I really preferred finishing on Pennsylvania Ave with the Capitol Building in the background. The walk back to transition was a nice cool down and recovery time.




Last updated: 2009-05-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:30:05 | 1640 yards | 01m 50s / 100yards
Age Group: 61/290
Overall: 913/3933
Performance: Average
Suit: Full
Course: We swam up the Potomac under the Memorial Bridge turned left swam across river for a short ways then anther left turn and went back under the bridge and swam down river. Passing the starting area and rounding two more bouys to finish on the backside of the swim ramp where we started.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:54
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:05:36 | 24.85 miles | 22.73 mile/hr
Age Group: 17/290
Overall: 193/3933
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course:
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:51
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:48:02 | 06.21 miles | 07m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 44/290
Overall: 705/3933
Performance: Good
Mile Splits: 1-7:34 2-7:40 3-8:16 4-7:53 5-7:48 6-7:30
Course: Flat with two turn around spots
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? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4