Lake in the Hills Triathlon 2011 - TriathlonOther


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lake in the hills, Illinois
United States
LITH Parks and Recreation
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 44m 53s
Overall Rank = 152/317
Age Group = 50 - 54
Age Group Rank = 13/18
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 4PM made coffee ( 2 cups ) and ate a bowl of oatmeal. Had pretty much all my race gear ready from the night before so all I had to do was go over it one more time. To my surprise I found that I had a seam come undone in my Orca race bib and had to find another tech shirt to wear for the event. That made me mad as I had just brought the shirt 2 months ago for this years races. Was able to use the bathroom, thanks to the coffee and packed my car.
Event warmup:

Since the event is staged at two transition area's and the parking for participants is about 1 mile away, it's actually great that you get to ride your bike from costco to the 2nd transition area and then ride about another mile to the start of the swim. That loosens up your legs and gets some pre-race jitters out of the way. Once I got to the swim area I stretched and decided to wear my wet suit as it had rained for several days before and really cooled off the lake. My wife arrived about 20 mins before the start of the first wave and we had some laughs listening to the announcer over the PA system, it took away some of my pre-race jitters.
Swim
  • 14m 30s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 39s / 100 yards
Comments:

had a great swim per my standards, started off on the outside of the wave and didn't go out to strong and picked up the pace after the first 200 yards or so. Felt really strong going around the last bouy and manage to past quite a few people ahead of me from earlier waves.
What would you do differently?:

Learn to swim straight.
Transition 1
  • 03m 4s
Comments:

As it wasn't a bad transition it wasn't good either, I don't practice taking the wet suit off and probably could save some time if I did.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe wear some lube
Bike
  • 49m 54s
  • 15.5 miles
  • 18.64 mile/hr
Comments:

Lost my wind early in the bike and couldn't get it back. I was more disappointed in my ride then any other aspect as I really thought I would do better. It seemed like the first hill took it out of me and I was fighting to get it back. But it was still 1 mph better then last year so at least I'm moving in the right direction.
What would you do differently?:

I need to ride more outside rides on my bike but find it hard to do working around my work schedule.
Transition 2
  • 00m 43s
Comments:

My bike rack was at the end of the staging area off on the grass and had to tilt my bike up to get it under the bar. I ride with power strips so already had my shoes on and didn't have to deal with that.
Run
  • 36m 43s
  • 4 miles
  • 09m 11s  min/mile
Comments:

I don't run very well, but am really happy that this is the first Tri that I actually ran the whole race with out stopping or getting back spasm's after getting off the bike. Taking 3 Advil before the race probably had more to do with it but what ever it's a step in the right direction. Like most I don't practice bricks and my legs felt like rubber chicken legs at the start of the run for about the first 3/4 of a mile. I actually had a much stronger second half of the race then the beginning and was happy with that. But now feel like I can push it a little further in my next race.
What would you do differently?:

Need to work on some speed and brick workouts
Post race
Warm down:

Ate banana's, fruit and drank some water. Talked to some friends from the running club and waited to get my times. Went home and took a nap which was much needed.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Me

Event comments:

The only disappointment I had was with the chip timing. Thankfully I had timed my race on my polar because they had me in the computer going off in the 2nd wave (all women)and not the 6th wave. Once they corrected my wave then they placed me as a 37 year old which would be great but I'm 54. I'm really happy with the overall time as it was over 12 minutes faster then last year which happened to be my first out door tri slso. I have another race in two weeks (big foot) and I'm excited about racing it. My competition is within my self and I feel that this was a good race for me overall.




Last updated: 2011-02-22 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:30 | 880 yards | 01m 39s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/18
Overall: 77/317
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless wetsuit
Course: Set up as a tri-angle with two left turns. The course was very well marked along the way. but I managed to veer out to the right and added about 50 years to my swim before the first bouy. Did the same thing last year. Where are the lane lines I need to keep me in line?
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 69F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:04
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
00:49:54 | 15.5 miles | 18.64 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/18
Overall: 146/317
Performance: Below average
Wind: Little
Course: Mostly flat with about 4 or 5 nice hills to navigate. Traffic is allowed on the course but wasn't a problem for me as the police and volunteers did a great job with traffic.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:43
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:36:43 | 04 miles | 09m 11s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/18
Overall: 236/317
Performance: Average
Course: Side streets and a nice bike path. Two long hills one at the first mile and in the middle of the race.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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] 4