Milton Sprint - TriathlonSprint


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Milton, Ontario
Canada
Trisport Canada
18C / 64F
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 50m 42s
Overall Rank = 253/600
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 33/75
Pre-race routine:

Up at 6:30. Bagel & PB, 2 bananas, 2 x boost, Gatorade, lots of water. Due to the ~3h gap between breakfast and race I tried to eat as many calories as possible (as much as my stomach would tolerate). This worked well- my stomach settled once I got to the race with all the distractions, preparations, etc.
I arrived ~8:00; sat in some slow moving traffic, but there was plenty of time to register and get ready (although I go a lousy rack spot). Set my watch to remind me to eat another granola bar at 9:00.

Event warmup:

Some stretching, but I did not run at all this time. I did about 100m swimming pre-race. I think swimming-only is a good warm-up, but I should have put in a bit more time in the water. A bit more structure to the warm-up might be beneficial i.e. pick a buoy or kyaker to swim around for warm-up.
Swim
  • 15m 2s
  • 750 meters
  • 02m / 100 meters
Comments:

The start was a bit rougher than usual. Since I tend to veer to the right I started on the far left. This worked great to the first buoy, but I found myself too far inside after that (as usual) and needed to correct my line a few times.
I never really found a groove, but my time was pretty good. I was a bit wild, but this was the first time I swam full-speed for an entire swim without worrying about running out of gas. This was a higher RPE than any past pool swim or tri, but it had no effect on the rest of the race.

Overall: Improvement of 1:14 from last year. Key focal points were:
-eyes forward & breathing forward: good
-swim tall: OK, forgot a few times
-steady kick: not great-realized several times I was not kicking at all
-anchor right arm straight during breath- not great, and I veered right because of it
-arm cadence- good, but a bit wild

What would you do differently?:

I would probably start a bit farther left: it looks from shore like this adds a lot of distance, but it’s probably not a significant difference. I was a bit flustered for much of the swim- now that I know I can hold this cadence I hope to relax a bit more.
Transition 1
  • 01m 10s
Comments:

This was a great transition- 1:00 faster than last year. Kept the shoes on the bike and rode without socks. The suit came off very well (liberal use of Bodyglide helped?). Couldn’t run very fast because there were lots of stones and broken pavement, but this transition couldn’t have been much better.


What would you do differently?:

Forgot to grab my gels- no biggie, as I wouldn’t have used them anyway.

Bike
  • 54m 33s
  • 30 kms
  • 33.00 km/hr
Comments:

I rode big/15 into the start of the climb and flipped to the small ring about ½ way up the first part. I dropped to small/13 for the rest of the climb; I stood up about 20m from the semi-flat section in the middle, sat for ~30sec and then stood up and attacked the second part of the climb (which is a bit steeper than the first part). The execution was great- I was half way up the first climb before I knew it. Felt fine at the top and immediately went up 2 gears to get moving. The rest of the ride was OK- I stayed in the small ring for most of the 6th line, but went big after turning onto #20 and stayed big the rest of the way. Hit the last big dip on #20 in the right gear with a lot of speed and passed several guys I’d been with most of the way. On the 6th line hill descent I stayed on the aerobars for the first half, but the traffic got a bit tight so I went to the bullhorns about ½ way down. Can’t remember the max- it was either 75.8 or 78.5kmph. I felt great on the ride and thought I was performing well, but I was only 0:20 better than last year.
What would you do differently?:

Race execution seemed very good. Results, however mediocre. Something to address by training perhaps.
Transition 2
  • 00m 59s
Comments:

Not much to report from T2.
Run
  • 38m 59s
  • 7.5 kms
  • 05m 12s  min/km
Comments:

My quads started screaming on the first ridiculous hill. I felt good otherwise, but the first 3km were a big struggle to keep going. My quads (esp. the vastus medialis I think) got worse with each bloody hill, but I didn’t have to stop (except for my planned walk through aid station 2/5). I was passed by too many runners to count (some with pretty big numbers on their calf!). After the first hill in the conservation area, I started feeling better and picked up the pace a bit- I felt pretty good for the next ~2km and thought I could make a go of 1:50, but the underpass and last hill leading back into Kelso sapped my strength, so I just maintained pace. A big 10min improvement from last year’s debacle on this course, but overall still a poor run.


What would you do differently?:

I’ve had the same quad-cramping problem on this course 2 years in a row. I’ll have to look at why, and see what I can do in training to deal with this. Side cramps were non-existent: I walked through aid stations 2 and 5 to take full drink. Seemed to work!

Post race
Warm down:

A few stretches- felt pretty good after the race. No hands-on-the-knees gasping for breath. Interesting- perhaps endurance is not a limiter anymore.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Seemed like muscular strength the run limiter. Not sure about the ride, and the swim would have been better with a bit more control.

Event comments:

This is probably tought than any of the OLYs I will do all year. Damn tough course- I love this race.




Last updated: 2006-06-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:15:02 | 750 meters | 02m / 100meters
Age Group: 27/75
Overall: 262/600
Performance: Good
Suit: Yes
Course: Triangular-ish, ~5 buoys. No significant current. Start was bit different this year: the start line was about 20m off-shore, so we had to tread water to start. You could probably stand and dive in farther right, but I was on the left side and it was too rocky to get a running start. Sighting by buoys on-course was easy, and there were racks of white kayaks on shore that were easy to see after the final buoy (~150m to go).
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:10
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:54:33 | 30 kms | 33.00 km/hr
Age Group: 31/75
Overall: 220/600
Performance:
Wind: Little
Course: The first 3km of the ride is pretty uneventful. Next comes a ~30sec rolling hill with a quick descent into a sharp turn onto 6th line. You can take a fair bit of speed from this hill (although the turn can be pretty crowded and had to brake due to the traffic) and a big dip before the big climb. The hill is comprised of a climb of ~800m, a semi-flat 100m section in the middle, and a steeper 400m climb at the end for a total climb of about 1.5 km. The whole thing takes 4-5 minutes. I think the rest of the 6th line section (about 8km) is net uphill, with a few hills where I might stand up for a few seconds. Once you turn onto 20th sideroad you can go big ring for the rest of the ride- it’s rolling across the back and then rolling net downhill and fast for the rest of the ride. Then you have the descent of the 6th line hill- speed usually gets >75kmph. It flattens out at the bottom and you might not need to brake to make the turn onto #5, but usually I find myself in a group and someone hits the brakes- there’s no place to bail out so it’s best to stay on the brakes on the way in. Not much of note for the rest of the ride- there’s a gradual uphill about 500m after turning into the park which is kind of annoying, so have shoes open and drinking done soon after turning into the park before hitting this incline. It’s a bit too tight to worry about shoes after the turn to the final 100m to transition.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: >90
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:59
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:38:59 | 07.5 kms | 05m 12s  min/km
Age Group: 55/75
Overall: 357/600
Performance: Below average
Course: The run starts with a stupid little steep hill right out of transition. The next 3km seem to be uphill, some through Kelso, some on the road. Once you enter Hilton Falls, the hills resume- there’s a steep 50m or so on dirt son after you enter the woods. It flattens out for a bit, and the course loops (so you can’t see the runners coming the other way) for about 1km. There’s another hill near the midway point, and then the rest is mostly downhill and pretty fast. The one exception is an underpass and a few hills just before you turn back into Kelso.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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