Ann Arbor Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Pinckney, Michigan
United States
eliteendeavors.com
39F / 4C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 44m 46s
Overall Rank = 154/560
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 16/51
Pre-race routine:

4:40. Dammit, that's early. Tooled around for a half hour getting crap loaded into the car and took off, alien in the co-pilot seat. It was friggin COLD (39F), and I managed to leave without any warm tri-clothes. Dammit #2. But the alien was all geeked to see trixie's alien, so I was nervous for them both.

Me and the alien scored a DP and some McBreakfast at about 6. Got to the race venue, saw Trixie immediately, along with Trish Liddiard and Jedediah. Fielded a couple phone calls, but with no reception, cut off the folks on the other end of the phone. Cingular apparently doesn't see the value in a tower in the middle of Sticksville. Dammit #3.

Strolled over to get race numbers / packets, then over to the chip pickup - chips weren't there yet. Dammit #4. Gotta come back for those. Ogled the steam rising off the lake, then back to the car, we got the aliens together for a quick ride on the TrixieVelo, then off to rack the bikes and set up transition. I managed to walk my bike into an open car door. Whoops, my bad. :) DOH number 1.

Set up transition, my rack was SIDEHILL, and the run area to my spot was sandy and full of sharp sticks. Fun coming up for the feet!!! Met up with Jean and Jedediah, and we all wandered down a big-ass hill to the water. Didn't have time to get my rear derailleur adjusted; it was skipping gears like no-one's business. Oh, well, I'm winging it now.

Cringed as some lady pre-empted the national anthem by standing on the timing mat, hand on her heart, with the timing equipment BEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPing away. We lost out on from "the twilight's last gleaming" through about "bursting in air". Jean thought the whole mess could have been avoided by singing O, Canada. :)
Event warmup:

Watched 3 or 4 waves of folks take off - I was in the *LAST* wave. That was a first. 5 min before my wave, I swam about 200m just to get the blood flowing.
Swim
  • 14m 11s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 37s / 100 yards
Comments:

Started about 40 wide in neck-deep water. I got out of the gate fast enough that I was cruising in open water for the first third of the swim. Navigation was spot-on.

Rounding the 2nd buoy (coming back in) there was a big glare, and we started to catch the wave in front of us...so it was a little tricky. Unknowingly swam over the top of someone - my bad, coming through. Or move over, buoy. Just kidding. Other than that, it was a standard swim, felt good.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 1
  • 03m 28s
Comments:

First concern...getting out of the water, HR was at 159. That's top of Z3 for me. It didn't feel like I swam that hard, and my time sure didn't show it.

THEN - we had to sprint up a long, steep hill to T1. Feet got uber-sandy, HR got to 170 - Z4. I was racked at the far end of T1, right next to bike exit...so I navigated the million sharp sticks and slanted terrain without too much issue.

During T1 I had to hose off my feet, and chose to put on socks and my race number, so it took a while. I STILL struggled to get out of my wetsuit, even with chopped-down legs.

Bottom line: I gave up almost a minute to my competitors in T1. I've concluded that I was using it to rest.
What would you do differently?:

More bricks in training. I will not rest in transition again. Period.
Bike
  • 40m 24s
  • 14 miles
  • 20.79 mile/hr
Comments:

My legs just had no pop. Got rolling, and I was passing people the entire time. Worked hard, maybe a little too hard.

* Saw Jedidiah at mile 13 RUNNING his bike in. Whaddup with that? He flatted....
* There were NO flat spots. Either uphill or downhill the entire time.
* Got passed by a VERY PROMINENT triathlete who was drafting his ass off.
* Saw Greg on the way out AND the way in. Thanks for coming out, Greg :)

Bottom line - great ride for me. PR for speed in a race. I wish my legs had some more pop, but what can ya do?
What would you do differently?:

Get my rear derailleur adjusted PRE-RACE as opposed to post race so shifting was easier AND so the bike didn't sound like a chainsaw hitting a metal spike in a tree when shifting.

And more bricks.
Transition 2
  • 01m 39s
Comments:

Racked bike the wrong way, had to re-rack. The dude racked behind me had shoved his stuff into my stuff, so I had to untangle it. No YANKZ, so I was tying shoes. Had to sit to get running shoes on.

Lost 30 seconds to almost every triathlete in my AG. Sitting felt GREAT, though.
What would you do differently?:

YANKZ. Rack bike the right way, first time.

Practice transitions, or race more (having the same effect).
Run
  • 45m 6s
  • 5 miles
  • 09m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Walked 1 minute right out of transition. My legs were COOKED. Then fell in behind someone prolly running 8:30's. As with any single track run, we were queued up behind the slower runners...

Starting last, I was weaving my way through most of the AG women, the older men, and the clydes...plus the slower men AG'ers and duathletes, as they all started before me. So I spent time running slower, picking my spots to pass, and trying not to break an ankle.

*That trail is TOUGH* Roots, fallen trees, loose rocks, uneven footing of every imaginable kind, bridges with no rails, mud, you name it, it was there.

An older man was about to pass me, and he was right up my tail - couldn't see the terrain because I was right in front of him. I jump over a fallen 5" log across the trail, he can't react quickly enough - OOOOOFFFFFFF. He accelerated his head into the dirt. Resounding WHUMP. We all thought he was dead, that was a violent impact. We stopped to help him...he stayed down for about 20 seconds, got up, shook it off, and disappeared into the distance. Reminds me of a deer getting hit by a car...and sometime later, just shaking it off and running into the woods. Ugh.

Also got to play leapfrog with another dude on the trail. I pass him, he passes me, then I pass him and he says 'are we gonna play leapfrog all day", he passes me, I pass him and yell "LEAP" in his ear - almost blowing him off the trail, then he passes me and bellows "LEAP". This went on til we got to the last road. Heh.

Anyway, walked prolly 2 additional minutes during the run...mostly the uphills. While I was moving, I was prolly going at 8's. But throw in 3 minutes of walking, and 2 minutes of slow down or stop for other sundry reasons, and I'm 5 minutes over goal time.
What would you do differently?:

Bricks. Lots of 'em. And more run training.
Post race
Warm down:

Finished, got an icee-pop, then found trix, Dana, Greg. Hung out and saw results, got pizza and cookies and superman cans of diet pepsi. Watched Trix get hardware. LisaZapato joined us midway through the festivities. :)

Then the aliens and me and Jean and Trix got extra credit with some more lake swim. :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not enough runnning training, not enough bricks. Poor transitions.

Event comments:

Great race overall, for a number of reasons:
* Fantastic volunteer support from AA tri club and bikesport
* Competitive race - lots of tri clubs and elite athletes
* Great venue - perfect lake, decent transition, great trails
* Awesome BT Peeps - Lisa, Dana, Greg, Trix, Jean, Jedidiah
* Alien hookups

What more could a young man want? I'll be back next year. Maybe I'll be in shape, and maybe there'll be cell phone coverage. Or both. :)




Last updated: 2006-05-10 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:11 | 880 yards | 01m 37s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/51
Overall: 77/560
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless Wetsuit
Course: 3 sides of a rectangle....out 3 buoys, 90 degree turn right, swim 1 buoy, 90 degree turn right again, back 3 buoys. Flat water, not really clear but comfortable, the return leg was in the sun's glare - but the RD attempted to solve this by flying a blimp. 10 feet off the ground. It didn't realy help.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 03:28
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:40:24 | 14 miles | 20.79 mile/hr
Age Group: 11/51
Overall: 97/560
Performance:
Wind: Little
Course: Rolling hills. NEVER a flat spot.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Bad Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:39
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Bad
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:45:06 | 05 miles | 09m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 33/51
Overall: 292/560
Performance: Below average
Course: Uphill out of transition, onto 2.5mi of hilly single-track trails, onto a hilly dirt road for 1/2 mile, then another mile of trails, hilly dirt road and pavement home.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4