Kinetic Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Spotsylvania, Virginia
United States
Set-Up, Inc
71F / 22C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 59m 53s
Overall Rank = 246/416
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 45/67
Pre-race routine:

Wake up at Lake Anna Lodge; hard cooked egg, peanut butter and jelly, Gatorade. Left at 5.40 for race and ate a Cliff bar in car. Arrived, parked and got right in line for packet. Missed packet pickup on Friday by ten minutes after 3.5 hour drive from Alexandria.
Sign in, body mark, transition, chip, sneak into women's bathroom to use stall, wetsuit then start. It was all rushed because of packet pickup.
Event warmup:

About 50 yards of swim and some stretching of back and shoulders.
Swim
  • 23m 9s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 05s / 100 yards
Comments:

Hard time sighting on the third leg due to sun glare -- wore mirrored goggles.
Was in wave 3. Caught second wave just before first turn. Was in total thick of two waves at the halfway point. Got clear at the start with one other guy. Picked up pace with about 3-4 minutes left.
What would you do differently?:

Should have picked up pace at halfway point. Stayed calm and easy didn't have trouble with the chop and should have taken advantage of high clearance of arm swing. Instead, I just swam through it trying to conserve.
Transition 1
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

Passed two people running with bike to start line. No problem getting wetsuit off -- bucket big help. Put left foot in shoe and took off only to drop the chain off of front rings about 3 minutes in...this cost about :45 seconds.
What would you do differently?:

Better test that the bike is properly geared for uphill start.
182 ranking
Bike
  • 3h 07m 26s
  • 55 miles
  • 17.61 mile/hr
Comments:

Kept my head focused on cadence, cadence and cadence. At 2 Shot Blox every 20 minutes for two hours and had one Gu. Then skipped food and stayed liquid for the rest of the way. Started with 1/4 Gatorade and 3/4 water in one bottle. Took Heed at bottle #1, water at #2 and #3.
Started to pick up the perceived effort on lap two. The second half of the lap has the longer climbs and I suffered but tried to stand up out of the saddle to keep momentum.
At mile 49, nearly fell off the back of the bike. Saddle was busted -- hardware went on the road. Luckily, people in line behind me reacted and moved around. I only stayed on because of the pedal clips -- I think I may have skidded my ass on the tire. Put a small cut in my left ass cheek. Figured out how to ride standing up or sitting on busted seatpost/dangling saddle. This shredded my quads and I felt like they were on fire after the first couple minutes. Nonetheless, I didn't want the day to be ended because of a stupid mechanical issue. Mechanic at race site said one of the bolts sheared off -- probably over torqued.
Nonetheless, this was my best bike split at this distance on this course. Went 2:50 at White Lake in '06.
What would you do differently?:

No mechanical breakdowns.
Push harder earlier on lap two. Lap one was about the right level of pressure/reserve.
Transition 2
  • 02m 31s
Comments:

No problems except I forgot to take off cycling shorts. I remembered at about mile 1.
Not sure what to do to get faster here. I ran to/from rack. I did not rest or waste time getting shoes and hat. Still, my ranking was only 264.
What would you do differently?:

Do every step just a little faster. Try to get out of T2 faster and "get organized" during mile 1 instead of at my rack.
Run
  • 2h 24m 30s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

Ran for 30 minutes before first "break". Took water over head at every station and drank something at nearly every station. Took one Shot Blox every 20-30 minutes throughout (total of six). It was hot even though there was a refreshing breeze. Put ice down shirt at mile 2 and mile 10-11. Met up with Philip at mile 12 when I was at a low point but just after I had resolved to finish well. He was on lap one...we ran/talked for about ten minutes.
Kept heartrate where I wanted and pace was a bit slow but reasonable. The breakdown was mental. I was 5.5 hours in and didn't have the mental focus to keep it all together. This is much better than past efforts but still 30 minutes short of the goal.
What would you do differently?:

This is my best half marathon ever -- as a split or otherwise. About six minutes better than at White Lake in '06 when there were negligible hills. Nonetheless, need to continue to work on even pacing throughout the whole race not just for the first 80%.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate pasta, changed clothes, looked for Philip's wife Ellen and then got out of town.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Seat post breakdown, mental breakdown for 15 minutes on last segment of run and while I have been training...not training enough or consistently enough.

Event comments:

Beautiful countryside and although it is brutal to run past the finish line twice and up a big hill immediately after, the whole run course is safe. The biggest difficulty is getting there through traffic on Friday. Good help from police, EMS and volunteers. Well marked asphalt with mile markers. Water handoffs on bike went well.




Last updated: 2009-12-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:23:09 | 2112 yards | 01m 05s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/67
Overall: 16/416
Performance: Good
Ave heartrate was 159.
Suit: Ironman Instinct -- No sleaves.
Course: One lap -- triangle with right hand turns. Lots of commentary that the course was short.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 71F / 22C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:18
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: Bad
Biking
03:07:26 | 55 miles | 17.61 mile/hr
Age Group: 47/67
Overall: 266/416
Performance: Average
hr 148 and 2:42.10 for first 49+ miles hr 138 and 25:27 for last 7 miles 134 and 2:01 for a break at mile 49 to examine broken seat
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Two laps. Good roads for about 90% of course. Hilly.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 75+
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:31
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:24:30 | 13.1 miles | 11m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 48/67
Overall: 288/416
Performance: Good
1-2 161/19:04 (9:32 splits) 3 162/10:10 4 157/10:18 5 157/11:22 6 153/11:14 7 153/11:08 8 148/11:40 (5:00.54 split -- this is where I figured out that a PR was possible with 11:30 pace) 9 153/11:45 10 153/11:11 11 142/12:43 (this is where I bonked and nearly fell entirely apart) 12 140/13:49 13.1 154/10:01
Course: 3 laps; hills. Mile 1 is uphill the whole way. Last 3/4 mile is through woods and downhill.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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] 5