Rochesterfest Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic


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Rochester, Minnesota
United States
Final Stretch
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 13m 39s
Overall Rank = 9/126
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 1/15
Pre-race routine:

Packed car Saturday night. Got up Sunday at 5:30, put on race clothing, ate breakfast, last minute stuff, and head out about 6:05. Realized on the way there I forgot a transition mat (I always lay down a towel). Got pulled over about a mile from race venue, let off with a warning and a "good luck at the race" (cool). Used a floor mat from my car for a transition mat which worked great.
Event warmup:

Road bike for about a minute just to make sure its working right and then left it in the gear I want to start in, racked it. Jogged about a 1/2 mile to make sure I was working right. Got in water about 10 minutes prior to 1st wave (I was in wave 2) and swam about 200 yds then stayed in water to aclimate.
Swim
  • 29m 3s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 46s / 100 yards
Comments:

Equipment: Blue Seventy wetsuit. Goal time: 26m 30sec. Had a good start and did corkscrew turns at every corner. Couldn't get in with anyone to draft with though. First lap was 13:17 so I thought I was doing ok and could get the next lap in under 14 and get close to goal. Out of the water at about 28:30. That sucked. I was going off to the left a few times during lap 2 so that may have added additional distance/time, but I thought I was doing good. Guess not. Don't get me wrong, I'm slow, but veering off made it worse. Official swim time includes running uphill on the beach and grass area as they didn't have the timing mat at waters edge like previous years.
What would you do differently?:

Swim more. I was following my plan pretty good for the first 20 weeks or so--swimming 3x per week. However, the last 5-6 weeks I skipped some swims and got in 2 a week, a couple weeks only once. I paid for it.
Transition 1
  • 01m 36s
Comments:

I thought this went ok.
What would you do differently?:

Position bike in a better spot (see "What Would You Do Differently" in the T2 section).
Bike
  • 1h 03m 29s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 23.49 mile/hr
Comments:

Equipment: QR Kilo w/ HED 3's, Giro Advantage Helmet.
Goal time of 1h 2 min.
First off, I didn't go hard enough on the bike. I always hold back a little on the bike due to the run, but still had a decent bike time. I usually go by perceived exertion and monitor HR. I didn't feel like I was working that hard and my HR was in line with that. HR was pretty low with an average of 163. Should have been in the 165 to 170 range. However, would I have ran the same had I worked harder on the bike...? I originally needed 1:02:00 on the bike to reach overall goal, but now needed around 1:00:00 to meet goal. I went 1:03:29 and now needed a run so fast that I PR my solo 10k by a couple minutes. Not gonna happen, not gonna try that either. This was a faster bike time than last year, but not faster than 2010 bike time--but that was on an altogether different bike course. Nutrition note: I was able to take in 5 CLIF Bloks, drink my entire aerobottle, and then dip into the diluted Zuko (think gatorade) so I was well hydrated and had some calories in me which I think helped during the run.
What would you do differently?:

To improve my time, I think I might just have to take my chances next time and push a little harder.
Transition 2
  • 00m 58s
Comments:

This went pretty good except for the where I had my bike. Had the barracade been moved, my T2 time, and others that faced the same issue, would have been 5-10 seconds faster. Didn't affect my end placing so no big deal.
What would you do differently?:

Position bike in a better location. I had my bike at the end of an aisle near the perimeter of the Trans zone. However, they never opened up one of the barracades just on the inside of the BIKE IN area of the T zone which made people run with their bikes from the BIKE IN to the middle aisle then up which ever aisle their bike was in. I think they forgot to move the barracade as it looked more like and access control check when the T zone was open prior to the race.
Run
  • 38m 35s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 06m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

Equipment: Saucony A4's. Goal time: 38m 50 sec. Getting out on the run course I knew I would not meet my overall time goal so I threw that out and figured I just have to run smart (around 6:15’s), not go for overall time, focus on my original run time goal of 38:50, and pick off as many guys as I could. I was probably in the top 15 off the bike to enter the run course and started catching guys at a half mile in. I was surprised to see as many in my AG out there in front of me because I caught quite a few on the bike (but then….my swim was so bad). The run is a loop with an out-n-back that’s about 1/2 mile long(.25 out/back). As I am turning on to it, some guy is finishing it and moving on to the rest of the loop putting him about a 1/2 mile up on me--he looks about my age. I take a mental snapshot of jersey. I hit the 3 mile marker at 18:23 during the outnback section so I’m at 6:08 pace. With under 3 miles to go I figured I’ll never see that jersey I noted, but I’ll stay on pace and maybe he’s slowing. On the straight stretches I can see that I’m gaining on him a little, but he’s still catching people (relays that started with elites, fast swim-bikers that are slower runners age 35+?) and figure it’s going to be close if I can time it right and catch him near the end. He started fading pretty bad around 4.5 miles and I caught him with just under a mile to go. I hovered behind him trying read his age off his calf. I couldn’t tell if his calf said “41” or “47” - the top of the second digit is smudged off. I got next to him because I know how annoying it is to have someone right on your tail. I slowed a bit to his pace as we ran side by side, but he started picking up his pace a little. I think he needed someone to keep him focused and moving fast. I ran next to him, not getting ahead as I didn’t want him to see the age on my calf. Mentally I told myself I was getting a break from my pace and would be able out sprint him if and when it came to that. A million things were going thru my head though--he’s taller and more muscular, but a little heavier, so he may not be as quick, but he looks more fit than me, maybe he can sprint pretty goodp; then again he's tty gassed already, seemed to be hitting the wall just a few minutes ago, etc, etc. We stayed side by side along the shoulder of 37th St toward the last section of the course. We turned left off of 37th St and on to the road that goes to the park. We’re about .2 two from the finish line at that corner, a little long for a sprint-off, but I went for it. I could hear his feet speed up behind me, but in the lot where we turn to face the finish banner I looked back and he’s a good 30-40 yards behind. I got him by 6 seconds. I talked to him after he finished and asked him his age: 41. I won my AG, but was well short of my overall goal time. I don’t think I have it in me to go sub 2:10 at Rochesterfest. Maybe an Olympic course with a flatter bike and run and not a such a long run to T1, but not at Rochester. It was a oly run course PR, and an overall PR for "this" Rochesterfest Tri course as the 2008-2010 course had a completely different bike course than 2011 & 2012.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really...
Post race
Warm down:

Nothing. Walked, talked, ate, etc.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Poor swim.

Event comments:

Great race venue!




Last updated: 2012-01-08 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:03 | 1640 yards | 01m 46s / 100yards
Age Group: 6/15
Overall: 57/126
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: Two lap swim, mostly rectangular, exit water after first lap, run across beach, then re-entering for 2nd lap.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:36
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:03:29 | 24.85 miles | 23.49 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/15
Overall: 5/126
Performance: Average
163 AHR
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:58
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:38:35 | 06.21 miles | 06m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/15
Overall: 7/126
Performance: Good
Mile 1= 163 AHR (6:02 pace per mile) Miles 2 thru 3= 168 AHR (6:10.5 pace per mile/12:21 for two miles) Miles 4 thru 6.2= 173 AHR (6:18 pace per mile)
Course: Large mostly paved (bike path) loop with an out-n-back section near the end of mile 3 and tracing back over the same 1.5 miles that the course started on. During the second half of loop just after the the outnback section you hit a stretch of hard packed dirt trail/grass next to river. One short (30 foot?) gravel/dirt run-up climb at end of dirt trail. Paved continues to end of run finishing on the same 1.5 mile stretch that the run started on.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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] 4