Patriot Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Freetown, Massachusetts
United States
Sun Sport Events
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 59m 24s
Overall Rank = 180/417
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 1/3
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4:30 a.m. Potato bread, nutella, banana and orange juice for breakfast then headed to the race site.
Event warmup:

Set up transition and Shaun stretched out my legs. Waded into the water for a little bit but no actually swimming. Race started. Shaun and I waited an hour for our wave, which was the last one. Need to get an actual swim warm up in, but I'm not sure how well it'll work with the lag time between race start and wave start.
Swim
  • 40m 39s
  • 2500 yards
  • 01m 38s / 100 yards
Comments:

Slow start. It seems to take me forever to warm up lately. Shaun was well ahead of me until the final 800 yards or so when I passed him and pulled away. Swam up into people from three waves in front of me (so picked up about 9 minutes on some people). The last 500 yards was a traffic jam with people from four different waves swimming to the same end point.
What would you do differently?:

Get in a real swim warm up. Probably need at least 500 yards and maybe a short bike/run as well. Its nice to negative split, but I should have been able to swim the whole length faster.
Transition 1
  • 02m 16s
Comments:

Time inside transition area was wicked fast.

Took 1 GU and a mouthful of Vitalyte. Pulled off the bottle towels and got out as quick as possible. Saw Shaun on my way out and he promised to catch up with me.

There was a decent little run over wet surfaces between transition and the bike mount line. Moved about as quickly as I could have.


What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Bike
  • 2h 58m 11s
  • 58 miles
  • 19.53 mile/hr
Comments:

Best. Bike. Ever.

Shaun and I practiced this the weekend before and the practice paid off. Held an even pace of between 19 and 20 throughout. Shaun stayed about 25 meters in front of me throughout so I could use him as a pace bunny.

The only slow down was the number of people that needed to be passed during the first loop. By the second loop we foun a group of riders going about the same speed and held together as a group for the remainder of the ride.

Had a little trouble with nutrition. It was warm out and my bottle warmed up, which made keeping the Infinit down a little hard. Drank every 15 minutes and finished almost three bottles. A few times it came back up but I seemed to keep enough fluids and calories in me.
What would you do differently?:

More bike volume. All the riding has paid off, I just need to keep the bike volume high, be consistent and get my key workouts in. I want to be able to consistently average about 20 mph.
Transition 2
  • 03m 13s
Comments:

Long-ish run from the timing mat back to the rack. Took extra time to put on socks and make sure I had everything for the run.
What would you do differently?:

Move quicker. Work on running sock-less.
Run
  • 2h 15m 3s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Headed out strong and help high 9s initially. Took a GU at mile 1 and then asked for water and ice at each rest stop. Took a second GU at mile 5 and more water and ice. By mile 6 or so, I started to develop a nasty side stitch. Ended up doing some walking between miles 6 and 8 so at that point started taking coke with ice, which helped. Decided to forgo the GU at mile 9 and continue with the coke and ice routine. Began to pick up the pace again. Shaun met me at mile 11 and ran in with me. Overall I wanted to be faster but the heat and the side stitch prevented that.
What would you do differently?:

Be able to suffer more and keep up pace. I need to realize that while it hurts, I can keep going. Seriously picked up the pace over the last three miles, but I had enough coming into the finish that I know I could have gone faster out on the course.
Post race
Warm down:

Drank a bottle of water and went back to wait for Erica to finish. While waiting Shaun stretched out my legs and got me some fruit punch and a clif bar. Saw Erica finish, grabbed the bikes and then drank R4. Post-awards ceremony (I got and award AND won a raffle prize) went to Friendly's -- southwest chicken salad and shared an ice cream with Shaun.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Body Mass. I need to loose 40 lbs to get down to a real racing weight. No excuses.

Run training. The ankle sprain / achilles tendonitis limited my run training over the last month. I think more consistency in training would have helped out today.

Event comments:

Good race. Came in first for Athena but was 90 minutes ahead of the 2nd place Athena. Its no fun to win when you're clubbing baby seals. Would have placed 4/26 if I raced AG (30-34). Think that if I want to "race" I made need to register as AG but its a hard call because I like tchotchkies.




Last updated: 2010-04-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:39 | 2500 yards | 01m 38s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 172/417
Performance: Average
Suit: Blue Seventy Sleeveless Helix
Course: Rectangular course. Long side out, short side over, long side back. Course was long. Consensus was that it was 1.4 rather than 1.2, which makes sense because my swim pacing is pretty consistent.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:16
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:58:11 | 58 miles | 19.53 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 168/417
Performance: Good
Avg HR = 157
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Double loop course with rolling terrain. About 1200 feet of climbing for the entire course so nothing serious. Lots of lakes and some open areas with rather nasty cross and head winds.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:13
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:15:03 | 13.1 miles | 10m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 233/417
Performance: Average
Avg HR = 155
Course: Winding loop with constant rolling hills. Nothing super steep but very little flat. At mid day there was only limited shade on the course. Well stocked aid stations at every mile.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4