Lowell Mill City (sprint) - TriathlonSprint


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Lowell, Massachusetts
United States
Double C Racing
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 24m 19s
Overall Rank = 15/60
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 2/5
Pre-race routine:

Up a 4:45am to make the one hour drive up to Lowell from the south shore. Had a cup of coffee, some light breakfast, hydrated.
Event warmup:

Set-up transition, did a 10 minute light jog and some stretching. Went to beach area and swam out to buoy and back, then did a couple of quick pickups.
Swim
  • 12m 23s
  • 540 yards
  • 02m 17s / 100 yards
Comments:

Mighty Merrimack river was hard to see more than a foot or two below water surface. Could have done swim without wetsuit, water temps were nice. Utilized wetsuit anyways. Headed directly towards turn-around buoy, sighting often making sure not to get off-course. Almost had a couple of head on collisions with and earlier wave starting swimmer; seem to be alittle off course.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a little harder on the swim.
Transition 1
  • 02m
Comments:

Transitioned well. Jogged/ran from swim exit to bike, and out of T1. Helmet, sunglasses,race belt on. Had shoes clipped into pedals, started out of T1 and waited about 1/4 mile up the road to slip into shoes. Left T1 and had 4 or 5 persons, immediately stop to mount bike right away, so I literally ran with bike up another 20 feet and mounted here. Less hectic.
Bike
  • 38m 37s
  • 13 miles
  • 20.20 mile/hr
Comments:

Felt like I was dodging more holes, choppy road conditions, than I was use to. Had a few issues with my gearing a couple of times; running a 10 speed, but only had what felt like 8. Rear derailler needs a tuneup/adjustment. Knew I hadn't ran much/if any in last 3 months; saved a little for the run segment.
Transition 2
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

Had my right leg cramp up a little as I bent over to put on running shoes. Spent a moment to stretch that out real quickly.
Run
  • 33m 20s
  • 4 miles
  • 08m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

Had a right tibial stress fracture since April, so besides one other 3 mile run during a tri last month, and another 1 mile jog a couple of weeks ago, I have ran a total of 4 miles since April in training! Spent all winter working on my run; figured this season to average a sub 7-min mile pace on run segments. But my early spring injury had stopped that progress. Run felt ok; had to stop a couple of times to tighten up my calf compression brace straps. Had to stop twice due to a side stich! Haven't had to deal with side stiches running in months; don't know where they came from. Got fluids at each water station; quick drink then the rest to body to keep cool. Sun was blazing this am. Felt good, but made the run pretty warm. Still ran a 8 min 30sec pace considering I had to stop and walk a couple of time for a few seconds.
What would you do differently?:

Get back my running speed. Early spring injury had limited most if not all run training this summer. Hoping to get back my run speed; heal previous injury completely.
Post race
Warm down:

Fluids, fruit, and a sugary donut! Relaxed, stretched, hydrated. Changed cloths and waited for awards ceremony.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

No run training over last 3 to 4 months! Tibial stress fracture from early spring has dramatically slowed down my run speed.

Event comments:

Smaller race as far as participants. Nicely organized event. Awards included metals and for the top finishes a nicely hand painted awards plate. Something different,nice touch. Road conditions for bike segment sort of rough, but nothing orgnizers can do about that. Only negative thing about this event.....the bike racks in transition were terrible! I personally saw 3 racks get toppled over and I was told by my transition neighbor that the rack I was on also, fell right after I left T2. Saw a few very expensive bikes go falling to the ground. Too bad. Each time you racked your bike or anyone else did on the same rack the whole thing moved and swayed. Improvements definately needed here.
Otherwise, very fun event. Weather was great, nicely organized! Special thanks to Lowell Police Dept. for providing a safe crossing of all necessary busy intersections and crossing! They were very supportive of all athletes! Would probably do this event next year.




Last updated: 2011-07-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:12:23 | 540 yards | 02m 17s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/5
Overall: 0/60
Performance: Good
Suit: full
Course: Straight out to buoy up river, turn back to beach area.
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:00
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: Good
Biking
00:38:37 | 13 miles | 20.20 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/5
Overall: 0/60
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: 13 loop through residential area. Only a couple of small very minor climbs. A few nice rollers and a couple of nice downhill stretches. A good portion of the course had roads that were pretty beat-up.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:30
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:33:20 | 04 miles | 08m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/5
Overall: 0/60
Performance: Below average
Course: Out of T2 down road to 2 mile marker, turn around/cross road, head back. Last mile was confusing-do you run on the road, thru the park pathways? Need more cones, volunteers, signs, something to better specific run course thru this portion.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4