7th Annual Quad Cities Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Davenport, Iowa
United States
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 23m 2s
Overall Rank = 122/541
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 6/29
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4 am, 1/3 c. Grape Nuts, banana. Downed 4 Advil, my multivitamin and a bottle of water.
Event warmup:

Short bike ride, about 1.5 miles. Stretching.
Swim
  • 11m 24s
  • 656 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

The course looked long from shore but turned out to be accurate. The first buoy looked a long way off but came up surprisingly fast. Felt OK on the swim, but wasn't able to establish a decent rhythm until after first buoy due to crowding. Got slightly off course on third leg, but nothng major. Surprised that I swam about 10 seconds slower/100 this year than last, but that would turn out to be the story of the day.
Transition 1
  • 01m 15s
Comments:

T1 felt like at least two minutes, so I was pleased to see it was 1:15. Still, should have been under 1 minute. My rack was as far from the Bike Out as one could be, so that added some seconds.
Bike
  • 45m 36s
  • 15 miles
  • 19.74 mile/hr
Comments:

Felt good on the bike and on the hills, which were long and steep in a couple of cases. Darn good breeze blowing which allowed me to hold 32 mph+ on one long stretch, but once we hit the turnaround it was a grind to hold 14-16 at a very high cadence. Fortunately, I've done a lot of hill and wind riding these last 3 years, so while it was a grind, the hills and wind didn't wear on me psychologically. Again, 3 minutes slower than last year. See the pattern here?
Transition 2
  • 00m 53s
Comments:

T2 went very well, and again, since my rack was the last one back, I had to run the full length of the transition area.
Run
  • 23m 56s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 07m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

I was worried about the run because I haven't done any distance or speed work in so long due to hamstring injury. Thankfully I had no pain, but my aerobic conditioning is poor. I've accepted that this season is what it is due to lack of running and I'm OK with it for now. I'm encouraged that I had no pain, leading me to believe that a renewed running schedule is just around the corner. There was plenty of water and even ice cold sponges on the course.
What would you do differently?:

Get my running game back.
Post race
Warm down:

Water, oranges, pretzels and beer! (Hey, it was noon somewhere!)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Loss of aerobic conditioning due to laying off on the run.

Event comments:

This race has a reputation for being well organized and on time. It was chosen by USAT as one of their Grand Prix Circuit races this year, so we had mui marshalls on motorcycles watching for violations. My only rant: I will say that I've heard of cheaters on the bike course before, but never have I witnessed it or been a victim of it before Saturday. One guy in my wave, I'll call him Disc Man, came by me on a downhill. I passed him at the flat at the top and then pulled away and stayed ahead of him past the turnaround. Suddenly, on the headwind leg when all honorable racers were struggling into the gusts, a bike passes me and on his rear wheel is Disc Man, drafting through traffic like he's in a crit! I was angry and would have reported him if I had gotten his number. I wanted to yell out "Pass or drop back," but by the time I established he was in fact drafting and not just stuck behind a slower biker, they were gone.
Anyway, it didn't ruin an otherwise fabulous day!




Last updated: 2006-03-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:24 | 656 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 133/541
Performance: Average
Suit: Xterra Vortex
Course: Triangle
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:15
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:45:36 | 15 miles | 19.74 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 118/541
Performance:
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Out and back
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:53
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
00:23:56 | 03.1 miles | 07m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 171/541
Performance: Average
Course: First 3/4 mile is on a wooded trail, over a dam to a campground road of blacktop. It's a challenging 3/4 of a mile because it's a little hilly and you need to keep an eye on your footing, so it can be some work to get your breathing in a rhythm.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4