White Lake Half II - Triathlon


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White Lake, North Carolina
United States
Set-Up, Inc.
93F / 34C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 47m 3s
Overall Rank = 71/372
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 12/54
Pre-race routine:

Rankings are for men only. I got up and dad and I went to the race site. As usual I muddled along, forgot my race number for chip pickup, but got it all sorted out. Ran into Andrew and Mike, so nice chatting to them. The race was not wetsuit legal so I was curious how that would go. Drank 24Oz Accelerade, 1 cliff bar and one kids cliff bar. Put on LOTS of sunblock. Looking at pics of me later, I was walking around with a white face from all the sunblock. Its a good look!
Event warmup:

Nothing...just scampering around. BS'ing with the other guys at the start line.
Swim
  • 39m 11s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 52s / 100 yards
Comments:

Nice swim but I went waaaay off course at one point. For about 5 mins I couldn't sight at all- the sun was right into my eyes. So I picked up a guide bouy that ended out being one of the ones on the second part of the triangle, so a kayak yelled "go that way" and I had to swim about 50 yards back. My calves started to cramp too. Still, nice water temp and a nice swim, but it felt really long. No way my pace was this slow if I really swam that distance. Swim was 6 mins slower than last year (wetsuit vs no wetsuit) but my AG position moved from 8 to 6!
What would you do differently?:

Sight better!
Transition 1
  • 02m 13s
Comments:

Swam without my tri shirt on so struggled a little to get that on. Otherwise an OK transition.
What would you do differently?:

Move quicker. OK transition.
Bike
  • 2h 51m 4s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.55 mile/hr
Comments:

Windy. I took it easy on the bike trying to save myself for the run. But then 6 miles in my accelerade flew off after being jiggled by the bumpy road and I lost about 40Oz of it! I had to loop back to get the aerodrink and it was full of sand. I was so mad. I hurried to reconnect it but didnt do a good job so had to stop again. Then I got really worried because I really just had to make it from water station to water station and had waaaay less nutrition than I would normally take in. Talk about making a mess of a nice nutrition plan. I had packed one extra GU, just in case and at least that was better than nothing. It sucked. Fortunately I had put an extra GU on my bike so that was something! Other than that I just kinda took it easy and didn't get annoyed at the wind. I am really disappointed in my pace though. I have worked hard to get my long ride speed up and averaged 20.8 in my last 60mile training ride so this was worse than that, and worse than last year. Anyway, the rest of the ride was OK- butt got a little sore at times and my back was stiff but I just stood and stretched it out a little. I didn't push on this ride. The wind was pretty bad throughout the whole ride (except the first 10 miles or so). Last year it was good for 25 miles and back for 25; this year was bad for most of the time. Anyway, my bike average was slower than last year, which is disappointing because I have been much faster in training but I was not worried given that I was trying to make it through on less nutrition and saving something for the run. I was mentally not into it at this point either- had a real low at about mile 40, wondering why on earth I was doing such as long race because I was dreading the run in the heat. Last year I was so motivated for this race and really didnt know what was coming; this year I was miffed at the crap weather, was tired from 2 nights of very little sleep and was running low on nutrition. Just not a good place. Anyway, I started to sing random songs and that cheered me up! When the bike was over I was glad to be done with it though!
5 Mile splits: 14:12 (21.1 mph; 144 bpm)
13:32(22.2 mph; 141 bpm)
14:02 (21.4 mph; 136 bpm)
15:19 (19.6 mph; 133 bpm)
15:19 (19.6 mph; 132 bpm)
16:53 (17.8 mph; 135 bpm)
16:06 (18.6 mph; 138 bpm)
15:46 (19.0 mph; 132 bpm)
15:41 (19.1 mph; 135 bpm)
15:17 (19.6 mph; 134 bpm)
15:11 (19.7 mph; 133 bpm)
Time: 2:50:16; 19.7 mph average, 135bpm
What would you do differently?:

Contingency plan- take 6 GUs just in case. Secure Aerodrink better so it doesnt fall off.
Transition 2
  • 01m 11s
Comments:

Actually missed my shoe with my foot! I tried to put it on and I just missed! I guess I was a little out of it :-) Anwyay, apparently I had a very quick T2 and got outa dodge quickly. Maybe I should have taken a nap though? :-)
What would you do differently?:

Don't run in the wrong direction once I get my shoes on (thankfully the spectatos yelled "other way").
Run
  • 2h 13m 26s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

This was truly miserable, just like last year. Mentally very tough to get going. I really wanted to stop at mile 2. Just turn around and give it up. But I kept going and I am glad. I wasn't glad at the time but I am now! I just didn't see the point in pushing myself to the brink so backed off and worked on getting through it. I started out and my HR was over 160, which is high for me on a run, so I slowed the pace to get it into the 150s, which felt better. But after a few miles the heat was just so incredibly draining that it didn't matter. I was having some cramping issues so I made sure to drink a lot of HEED at every water stop. Losing those electrolytes on the bike hurt in that regard. I think the loss of the 500 or so calories on the bike made this all a little harder mentally- just didn't have energy or motivation. Anyway, saw Andrew at about mile 6, then Maria at about mile 9. She was looking great and it was so nice to see a big bright smiling face at that point. Lakshmi chatted with me for a few mins. She was doing a relay and was looking solid. Normally I run much quicker than she does but not today :-) I cannot believe I did a 1:35 open half 6 weeks ago, and scraped a 2:10 or so this time! Ouch! those last few miles were very hot again this year but I ran into the finish shoot with what I thought was a smile on my face. Not sure if I succeeded with that though! Nice spectator support at the finish- lots of cheers!
Mile splits:
8:25 (155 bpm)
8:57 (147 bpm)
9:10 (156 bpm)
10:26 (154 bpm)
9:38 (151 bpm)
10:26 (151 bpm)
12:10 (142 bpm)
10:10 (150 bpm)
10:43 (147 bpm)
11:37 (141 bpm)
10:43 (151bpm)
11:18 (145bpm)
Average HR: 149
What would you do differently?:

Not do this race again! :-) Losing the accelerade hurt but I still think the run would have sucked. Overall fitness and motivation were probably lacking too. I felt well trained but not for these conditions.
Post race
Warm down:

Soaked in the lake and played with the boys. That was nice but I really also just wanted to lie down.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat and losing my nutrition so early on the bike!

Event comments:

Overall, 6th in AG in swim, 19th on bike and 15th on the run for a 12th/54. Last year I was 8th/64 I think but this is a comparable performance. I am pretty disappointed because I was hoping for a good race, rather than being slower in every event (OK, conditions were worse but it is still disappointing). And then killing my bike on the garage roof when I got home really made it into an unpleasant day.

Plan for the rest of the season is to just do sprints and maybe an OLY. I enjoy the training and racing, but didn't enjoy this race or being away from the family on many sunday mornings. I'll try do shorter, faster stuff for now and re-evaluate as I move forward. What to do about my bike though!!




Last updated: 2010-01-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:11 | 2112 yards | 01m 52s / 100yards
Age Group: 6/54
Overall: 54/372
Performance: Average
Wow, this is really slow for me. A 2K timetrial 2 weeks ago put my pace at under 1:30/100. The water was REALLY choppy but the temp was great. I took it easy and came in 6th in my age group, so that is better than last year even though I was 6 mins slower on the swim (wetsuit related?).
Suit: None
Course: Triangle
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 79F / 26C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:13
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:51:04 | 56 miles | 19.55 mile/hr
Age Group: 19/54
Overall: 124/372
Performance: Below average
Will get this from Garmin later.
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Round. Windy. Hot. Bad road surface in spots.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:11
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:13:26 | 13.1 miles | 10m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 15/54
Overall: 87/372
Performance: Bad
Will get this from GArmin later but first 3 were in around 9 mins/mile. Then it got worse!
Course: Out and back loop through hell. As Harold says, the surface of the sun is called "White Lake".
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
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