Rangely Romp - TriathlonOther


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Rangely, Maine
United States
Tri-Maine
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 43m 34s
Overall Rank = 45/62
Age Group = 45-50
Age Group Rank = 4/5
Pre-race routine:

We camped out at Ranglely State Park. I didn't sleep well - I kept waking up and worrying about oversleeping and whether I had the start time right. I drove my husband nuts with the morning rush to get there. He was grumbling over why I had to arrive 2 hours early.

I had a PB&J sandwich for breakfast. We set up transition areas, and then got some coffee. He left to return to take care of kids who were with our friends at the campsite

Last year, I had panicked in the swim, so I spent a lot of time worrying about the swim. It was a good decision to swim in the lake little the day before the race. Last year, the color of the water freaked me out - sort of a diarreah green/brown color. This year, I kept telling myself it is olive green, olive green, olive green.

Event warmup:

Biked around a bit, practiced bike mounts and dismounts in a bank parking lot. Got my wetsuit on, and went out and swam 100 yards. I forgot how much a wetsuit constricts the breathing . Chatted with a lot of people.
Swim
  • 22m 10s
  • 900 yards
  • 02m 28s / 100 yards
Comments:

My big goal was to not panic and swim the whole course as crawl. I was guessing that if I met those two goals, I would drop a minute from last years' time. I was right on. After a few bad choices, I finally found a good person to follow. I stayed right on his feet except for the one time as we were passing someone in the first wave when I got a little messed up and lost him for about a minute. This guy was the right pace (maybe I could have gone a tad faster) and he did a decent job of navigating so I didn't have to sight the buoys as often. His turn at the first buoy was too wide and I tried to leave him to take it closer but that didn't get me anything so I just stayed with him for the rest. There was a short little chop that caught me a few times, but other than that I was very happy and relieved with my swim.
What would you do differently?:

nothing. It was a good swim for me even though I know that it is a poor swim overall.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

T1 is counted in swim time so I have no idea how I did. I think I did OK, I didn't do a good job at getting my shoes on and had to redo the velcro as I got on the bike.
Bike
  • 1h 25m 24s
  • 21 miles
  • 14.75 mile/hr
Comments:

My goal was to drop a minute off of last year's time. I dropped 5! I loved this ride. I loved reeling in people, but it was a bummer when a woman reeled me in. I stepped it up after that and re-passed her but she got me again on the final hill. On one hill, the drummers were there again this year. I had been going back and forth with a young guy. He knew these people so they gave an especially energetic drumming for us. That was inspirational! I dropped him after that.


cadence avg was 77 to Dallas Hill Rd, and 80 after that.
speed avg = 14.8 to Dallas Hill
speed avg = 13.9 after Dallas Hill

What would you do differently?:

Not much, I upped my bike training (at the expense of run training), and I dropped a few pounds. A really fun ride.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

T2 is counted in run time but I felt I did well with this. I think I picked up a little time on the people directly in front of me.
What would you do differently?:

nothing.
Run
  • 55m 58s
  • 4.8 miles
  • 11m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

I wanted to drop a minute from last year's run and I did not achieve that. My strategy was to push hard on the downhills and flats and do the same on the hills. I found a woman with a similar pace to run the first 2 miles but once the hills started, she faded. Perhaps I would have gone a little faster without her, but she was no nice that I don't regret running with her.

I passed quite a few people on the run and was only passed by men. I caught quite a bit of distance on the women ahead of me but couldn't catch them. The last slog is long, and I could see a woman in my age category ahead of me about half way up and walking as I just started the hill. My run was three minutes faster than hers, and I think I caught at least 1 or 2 minutes of it on the last hill. I ran all of that hill.

I was a little confused on the route because the mileage markers were for kilometers rather than miles. Last year, they were miles, so my memorized splits did me no good on the course, 'tho they did help me pass the time converting them.

1 k = 4:57 (7:57 m/mile converted pace)
2 k = 5:46 (9:16 m/mile converted pace)
3 k = 6:29 (10:26 m/mile converted pace)
4 k = 7:31 (12:05 m/mile converted pace)
5 k = 6:49 (10:58 m/mile converted pace)
6 k = 8:54 (14:19 m/mile converted pace)
finish = 13:51 (22:17 m/mile converted pace)
What would you do differently?:

There is one particularly steep hill which I walked a portion of last year. This year, I turned to walking earlier and I think that cost me my minute. I should have pushed to the first switchback before walking.
Post race
Warm down:

water, change clothes as I was chafing under my left armpit. My face was bright red at the finish. Hang around and chat and wait for my family to show up.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

3 weeks ago, I should have been working on running hills and speed but it was too hot and muggy, so I focused on biking. My swim and bike were improved at a cost of running. Hey,that is triathlon!

Note for next year:
Swim the day before the race. Swim with wetsuit in the lake on the morning of race

Carry 20 oz. bottle of gatorade-water mix on the bike.

Carry 6 oz. bottle of water on run to help with downing gu/shot blox

Ate endurlyte 15 minutes before race start
Ate shot block 10 minutes before race start.

Ate one Gu during bike ride
One gulp of gatorade in T2
Alternate between Heed and water at stations on run.
Eat one half shot block at about mile 2, and other half of shot block at about mile 4.

Event comments:

Tons of happy smiling volunteers, the roads were swept so there was no glass anywhere.




Last updated: 2009-08-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:22:10 | 900 yards | 02m 28s / 100yards
Age Group: 4/5
Overall: 50/62
Performance: Good
Suit: old kayaking wetsuit
Course: rectangle/triangle. Last year, the leaders and laggers were colliding on the swim, so this year, they added a few buoys in closer to the finish line which swimmers had to keep to their right. That helped the traffic a lot.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Good
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:25:24 | 21 miles | 14.75 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/5
Overall: 42/62
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: A very hilly course, the first part is out and back with the headwind on the way out. After returning to town, you start the big hill up to Saddleback mtn
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:55:58 | 04.8 miles | 11m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/5
Overall: 42/62
Performance: Average
Course: Trail run from XC ski lodge to Alpine lodge. The last 1.5 miles have a grade of 12%
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5