The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Cancelled due to flood water, debris etc.
This was very disappointing and exactly the right decision.

I did alright here. I didn't "win" my wave but was in the top third of it...once I arrived at the bike rack it was a mess. I just needed my bike...others were strewn all over the aisle and such and by the time I grabbed my bike the next wave of people where entering the rack/aisles.

I pushed as hard as I could as soon as possible. I had to sit in probably three times for between 10-15 seconds and didn't have the drafting problems that other people talked about. Saw lots of poor judgment in the middle and right hand side of the lane. On the left, faster people were generally patient and very vocal about positions/intentions. Would have liked much less traffic on the bike.

I went with really big gears and was still turning 100+ cadence for a good portion of the ride. I could have kept going up until cadence dropped to 90-95 but I didn't want to burn out for the run. Could have pushed second and third biggest gear a little longer on some portions, although, in fairness the return trip on Clara Barton when this was possible is also when the road was most crowded.

Muddy. A guy hit the tarmac about 20 seconds ahead of me at the dismount line and caused a mild panic/back up. The transition is huge and yet everyone in my age group was in the same 6-7 rows of bikes thus a bit of an unnecessary cluster.

Run faster come out of transition; learn to run 10k without socks.

I went out moderate by feel and didn't catch my first split until mile three. As soon as I got onto Independence about ten guys passed me in the first minute. I consciously let them go...to run within myself. By mile three I had brought back six of them and the other four were never seen again. I ate one gel at mile two and drank Gatorade at mile four. Otherwise, I drank water.
I had trouble "picking up the pace" for the last 1 to 1.5 miles. I think that from about mile four on I was right at the bubble of what I could handle. As a result, all I could do was hang on to the same pace...there was nothing left. I did overtake someone in the last 50 meters but the sixth mile split was on par with all the others.

Nothing. This is the best run I've ever done. Could have finished stronger from the FDR to the line, but I didn't fade. Simply, didn't have another gear when I wanted one.
My run split was slower than all 35 guys ahead of me in my age group. Note to self: This is where to focus attention for improvement.

I made a bee line for the massage tent and only had to wait about ten minutes. The stretching of my lower back and calves felt great. The lady taught me a new hip flexor stretch too.
Food, splits and then wandered around until I found Dan. Then I got home as soon as possible.


Traffic on the bike course and inability to kick at the end of the run -- I ran down my reserves.


Additional race report comments at http://radicalimmersion.wordpress.com/as well as other posts as I prepare for IMLP 2012.

RE: Nation's 2011. Each year I get more and more worried about the number of bikes on the course. It is really a madhouse and there are a lot of people who simply don't ride their lines or who will ride the middle of the road even when the right hand side of the lane is available.
I don't know what to suggest that would not close the roads to traffic all day...other than limiting the number of entrants or allowing people who have proven certain finish times to start up closer to the elites and pros regardless of age.
Overall data from watch:
57:34 in zone 3
106/155/176 heartrates
2,085 calories
140/1:46 from start to when I started watch on bike
152/1:00:13 for the bike split -- this is high by 10-15 bpm
145/2:07 for T2
156/22:33 for first three miles (7:31 per mile pace)
158/7:38 for mile 4
161/7:37 for mile 5
161/7:34 for mile 6