Stamford KIC IT Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Stamford, Connecticut
United States
Hartford Marathon Foundation
83F / 28C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 56m 41s
Overall Rank = 248/374
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 43/60
Pre-race routine:

Getting there:

We drove down the afternoon before and checked out the water and T1. Both of us realized we had forgotten to print out the course maps and the packet pickup information. We grabbed dinner way too late and went back to grab some sleep. The hotel had a wedding with loud music and a beat you could feel in bed. Sleep wasn’t good.

Pre-Race:

Up at 4AM. Loaded the truck up and headed for T1 to pickup our race packets and drop off the bikes and swim stuff. Then we were going to drive back to T2 and drop off the sneakers and water bottles. We got there and were told there was no packing at the beach and that we had to grab packets at T2 and then bike back to T1, !@@##$@@!!!!!

So we do so and it’s a zoo back there. We get the packets and dump the sneakers and water. Go to the truck and pack up the other stuff into our backpacks and figure we’ll do the tattoos at T1. At this point I take a caffeine pill. I did so to avoid coffee so it didn’t dehydrate me and make me have to pee so much. HUGE mistake!!!! It made me wired. I was so hyped up and the stress of running late coupled with this I was so stressed out. So we start riding and are looking in the packets at the same time and realize there’s no timing chips in our bags, !!@@#$$$!!!!!! So we turn around and ask and those are at T1.

Don’t be an idiot like me everybody. Read the informative emails they send that spelled all this stuff out. Having the separate transitions was cool in the long run but stressful this morning. So we get there and none of my tattoos will stick right so I end up going and using marker anyway. Stress, stress, stress….


Event warmup:

Finally I do some stuff right. I layout T1 perfectly including my Garmin setup. Get the wetsuit on and do a nice warm-up. Temp was 73 and very humid. 6:30 comes and the elite men leave, 6:31 men 18-34, 6:35 we are off. First major kudos to the event and staff. They manicured the beach with equipment and everything was set up perfectly.
Swim
  • 25m 29s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 33s / 100 yards
Comments:

Edge of the water start. In is different than out. Buoys are huge and the two turn buoys are different than all the rest. The water is a perfect 68 degrees. I’m amped to go. I had a great swim and my pacing was very similar to Ashland and I never felt out of control or overexerted. Great drafting, great work around the buoys. When I got out of the water however I instantly knew my heart rate was higher than Ashland. Not dramatically but enough to notice. I was kicking myself for screwing around with the caffeine tablet without trying it out prior to race day.
What would you do differently?:

Not do caffeine
Transition 1
  • 03m 21s
Comments:

About as good as I could hope for.
What would you do differently?:

I know I can get faster but that's pretty good for me at this stage.
Bike
  • 1h 24m 34s
  • 24.8 miles
  • 17.60 mile/hr
Comments:

The first three miles of the bike is a lot of uphill and a lot of turns. I felt good and then suddenly realized I was running too hot and checked my heart rate and I was at 175, damn it. I hit the downhill at the right time and got it quickly back in the 150’s and monitored it more. Mile 3-9 went through downtown and were pretty uneventful. I was in a great groove. Police did an awesome job controlling the roads.

Miles 9-18 sucked. I was told this wasn’t a hilly course. Lies. This was so much worse than Ashland. In Ashland my front gear never left the big ring even on the worst hills. Miles 9-18 I was not only on the small ring but I was on the smallest gear on the back quite a few times. Ashland was long hills with some big grade for small spots. This was steep but not as long and then steep again, then semi flat and then super steep again and then you would lose all that altitude in one big hill. All three of these laps, I do 3 mile increments on auto-lap, I hit over 36MPH for a max speed and yet averaged 14.2, 16.1 and 16.0 mph. According to my Garmin this had 35 more feet of ascent and just about all of that came in these 9 miles.

Also the down hills generally had major corners. One guy lost it and tore up his entire back but still finished after a trip to the ambulance to get fixed up. This section of road was also not in the best condition. On one of the worst hills there was a pack of 12-15 of us who were so close and going so slow you could hear the others panting desperately for air as I was. Two hills I really thought about quitting.

Miles 18-24.8 were much easier after all the climbing. I averaged 21.0 and 19.1 coming back in and also got my heart rate back down. So I get to the edge of T2 and I go to dismount and as my calf hits the ground it cramps beyond belief and I quickly pull it up and then replant it heel first and then reach down and grab my toes to stretch it out. Still sore I walk it out on my way to the rack. My quads are also pretty sore.
What would you do differently?:

Train more steep hills in advance. At some point you just have to climb.
Transition 2
  • 02m 36s
Comments:

T2 my stuff was out of place a bit from others knocking it around in their transition. Other than that it went well.
What would you do differently?:

Put my drink in a cooler and my shoes in a container of some sort.
Run
  • 1h 00m 43s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 09m 47s  min/mile
Comments:

So I start my run and my legs feel pretty good. Calves smooth out quickly and my quads feel fine which I’m surprised at because they were killing me at this point in Ashland. I run with my endurance drink but grab water and dump it over my head at each station to cool off. The temps are now in the low to mid 80’s and it’s very humid. The bike was mostly in the shade which was lucky especially given the exertion. The first loop of the run is also in the shade as the sun is still just low enough that I can stay in the shade behind the buildings downtown. I do mile one in 8:49 and 2 and 3 both in 9:19. Heart rate is an identical 165 for all three miles. Two and three are simply more hilly but still not bad thus the pace change. I start the second loop and I’m feeling fine. I’m thinking to myself ok if I can duplicate that first loop I’ll be pretty happy with this performance and I’m thinking I can improve on it.

I come around the buildings and all the shade is gone. I go about a half mile before I get to the water station and I can tell the heat is starting to get to me. I dump two full cups of water over my head and it’s like a wonder drug. I instantly feel better and resume my pace for about a quarter of a mile and then the heat starts hitting me again. The funny thing is my heart rate is still locked in at 165 and my quads although starting to ache a bit are in much better shape than two week ago. I struggle to keep pace to the next water station and I’m starting to feel really sick to my stomach. I reach it and dose myself with 3 full cups of water. Again the wonder drug effect and I’m fine. This time the effects don’t last nearly as long however I hit mile 4.2 and I literally am going to toss my cookies. Heart rate is still 165 and my legs don’t feel bad. I slow my pace to see if that will offset this feeling and it does. So I pick the pace up again. The rest of the race goes exactly like this. I slowdown and cool off, feel better, pickup the pace, feel like I’m going to puke and repeat.

Being heat sick literally cost me 6 minutes. If I could have found a way to stay cool I was otherwise fine to continue the pace I was at. When I crossed the finish line I was just thinking don’t puke in front of all these people after trying to at least maintain the pace for the last quarter of a mile. A young boy of about 11 came over and handed me a large ice cube and I was so grateful. I immediately applied it to the back of my neck and within seconds I felt fine. I felt like I could easily continue running. I was so pissed.
What would you do differently?:

Keep my drink cold and bring a towel with some ice in it.
Post race
Warm down:

We gathered up all our stuff and participated in the post race activities which were awesome. Tons of fresh fruit, bagels, sandwiches with great meat and fresh bread, lots of vendors with different drinks I hadn’t tried before. They also did a great job transporting everything from T1 to T2 in bags we were given. Security at the transitions and getting the bags was superior.

So we go back to the hotel and seek out the hot tub which felt great on the sore body. I normally can camp out in one for 20 minutes with no issues. Five minutes in my stomach starts going nuts and I had to get out. Stuck my feet in the pool and all was well again almost instantly. I’ve done two a day football workouts and played two hours of up and down indoor lacrosse with no line changes and gotten dehydrated. I know what that feels like and this wasn’t it. I’ve also experience severe fatigue from lack of conditioning and it wasn’t that either. I can only imagine I had a low grade case of heat stroke which is weird because it was hot and humid but still only in the mid 80’s. The other weird thing is how quickly I would feel better the second I got cool plus there were no lingering effects. Every time I wasn’t instantly fine again. On the run not only did I feel hydrated but I felt like if I drank more I’d get that swishy feeling. I drank plenty of liquids.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat.

Event comments:

I would definitely do the race again. It pushed my limits and I wish I knew why the heat bothered me so much but they put on a great race.




Last updated: 2011-02-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:25:29 | 1640 yards | 01m 33s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/60
Overall: 105/374
Performance: Good
Suit: 2XU westsuit
Course: Triangle with right hand turns. HUGE buoys and different ones than the rest for the turns.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:21
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:24:34 | 24.8 miles | 17.60 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/60
Overall: 220/374
Performance: Below average
A
Wind: None
Course: Miles 1-9 had lots of turns but hills were gentle. Miles 9-18 were brutally hard and some of the downhills had areas where you had to come out of aero because of the way the roads turned. 18-25 were a downhill shot to T2.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 80
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:36
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:00:43 | 06.2 miles | 09m 47s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/60
Overall: 309/374
Performance: Bad
First half was great at 165 each mile, after that all over the place with the heat.
Course: Mostly flat through the downtown. Some rolling hills but nothing awful.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %1
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
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] 5