Liberty Triathlon - Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Rockford, Minnesota
United States
The Final Stretch
63F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 06m 21s
Overall Rank = 75/273
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Joel, Randy and I left SC for Rockford on Friday AM to get to the campsite and get everything set up. Went to the packet picku up then to dinner at Macaronni Grill. Lights out at about 9:00 AM. Slept in a tent on an air mattress and probably got about 4 hours of sleep, off and on. Couldn't sleep. I was comfortable, just couldn't shut my eyes. Up at 4:00 AM to get to transition by 5:00. Transition spots were first come first serve and we wanted to get on racks close to to the Bike In and Bike Out location. I found an end spot and was set up with waaaay too much time to wait for the race. Ate a PB sandwhich, Cliff Bar, Greek Yogurt, Banana, drank Powerade throughout the morning.
Event warmup:

Dynamic stretches. Ran about a mile on the trail. Got in the water and did 20 X 20 hard strokes. The water felt cold at first but after being in it for a couple of minutes it felt really good. My wave was going off at 7:31 so at 7:10 I was in the bathroom and and at 7:15 took one last gu packet for a burst of energy.
Swim
  • 32m 16s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 32s / 100 yards
Comments:

Solid swim. The time included about a 1/4 mile run from the beach to T1. I was in a constant battle with another guy from my age group. We were on the same line and very close in ability. Constant bumping and crossing over each other. My main issue in the swim was veering off to the left when I would go for 5 - 6 strokes without sighting. Other than that I felt very good. Took off kind of hard to get some separation and I caught quite a few of the "Elites" right away. Got into a good smooth groove in the water for the rest of the race until the final 100-200 yards. Then I started to kick a little harder to get the legs ready to go verticle.
What would you do differently?:

Better / more often sighting. Other than that, I was very happy with my swim.. I actually got out of the water, looked at my watch and it said I was done in just under 31 minutes. Very acceptable if you ask me.

Transition 1
  • 01m 32s
Comments:

Suit got stuck on my Garmin wrist and both heels. Had to pry it off. May experiment with cutting the wetsuit up my legs a few inches to see if that will help. Also, got out of Transition very well. On my bike very well. First foot was okay. Couldn't get second foot in my preclipped shoes at all. Actually had to stop, get off my bike and put my shoes on. Easily wasted 3 minutes jacking around with this.

When I first came into T1, I noticed someone had jammed their bike in between mine and the person next tom me. He did not move my stuff, just my bike but made a mess of the other person's organization. This kind of bull shit really pisses me off but in Transition, all you can do is just forget about it. He must have been an olympic racer since they were allowed to stay in transition after the Half participants went to the beach.
What would you do differently?:

Practice getting into shoes and up to speed. I don't want to give up on the pre clipped bike shoes just yet.
Bike
  • 2h 29m 52s
  • 56 miles
  • 22.48 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike is not my strongest leg of a triathlon but I felt like I performed very well. I started with my aerobottle full of water with an Elixer tablet and a second bottle full of Powerade. Picked up 3 bottles through the course bottle exchange and drank all of them (2 water and 1 with Heed). I had 4 gu packs that I took every 10-12 miles with the last one at mile 50. Took one potassium tablet at about mile 30.

The hills were no problem at all. In fact, I was riding with some strong bikers and my ability to gear up the hills would send me sailing past them up the hill and they would eventually catch me on the next flat stretch. Mainly because I wanted to keep my HR in the low 140s and my speed (on the flats) in the 21 mph range. I did drop one bottle at the bottle exchange and stopped to go get it. I did not want to run low on water, just in case the heat turned up.

I do think the bike course was short a mile or so. My garmin and my bike computer were both reading 54.5 miles. If that is the case then my average speed of 21.8 mph is still very acceptable to me. I really thought that my bike performanace was much better than could be expected considering the lack of long rides that I have been able to get in.

Jeremy passed me at mile 29 (he was top 5 bike at 26 mph) and Nick did not catch me until mile 49 (I expected that to happen around mile 35 or so).
What would you do differently?:

Be better at bottle exchange and get a rear mounted bottle cage for the longer races. If it would have been a very hot day, I might not have been able to stay hydrated.

Also, focus on getting the long ride workouts in. Need to have more miles on my bike, even if it's back on the trainer due to all of the rain and cold weather we have been seeing.
Transition 2
  • 01m 24s
Comments:

The guy who jammed his bike in next to mine was still out on the bike course when I got back so I did not have many issues getting my bike re-racked. Got my helmet off easily, socks on, shoes on, grabbed my hat, bandana, race belt, gu bottle and took off. Very easy T2.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. I am not going to run without socks, especially in this distance, so I went about as fast as I could.
Run
  • 2h 01m 19s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

This is my second HIM and I could have almost copied the run report from the previous HIM and posted it here. The run started off good. I kept track of my HR and pace and did not want to go out too hard. First mile was around 8:20, then 8:30, then 8:30 again and I was happy with this. I could have run harder but I wanted to make sure I did not cramp up....... WHAM, quad cramp at 3.5 miles. For the rest of the race I was dealing with my quads cramping up. I had a bag of potassium tablets that I would suck on and it seemed to help, but I know that whatever was causing the cramps was not going to be fixed. I walked the water stations, loaded up, filled my gu bottle so I had a squirt of something in between stops and kept moving forward. The cramps would still come in when I was walking so I told myself, just keep running. If I was going to be in pain whether I was walking or running, at least with running it would be over faster. I was very frustrated with the leg cramps because I felt like I could have pushed harder on the run and kept my HR and breathing under control.

I truly think that I can get my HIM run down to about 1:40 once I figure out the nutririon compnent and increase my fitness level on my bike.
What would you do differently?:

I was not extrememly unhappy with my run, just very disappointed. I felt I was looking at a sub 5 hour HIM at the start of the run and if I could have held event an 8:30 pace, I would have been there. I just need to train more, or reduce my expectations.


Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the finish line and saw a bunch of my Sux Tri Club teammates waiting for me. The Olympic course participants were all done and Jeremy, Chad, and Nick were already partaking in the post race food. I stretched once I felt my quads were ready to do so. Relaxed, packed up my stuff, and waited by the finish line for the rest of my teammates.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I assume it was my lack of fitness level on the bike. Probably cooked my legs at a 21.8-22.4 mph pace, but it felt great out there.

Event comments:

This was a well run event. The post race meal was okay. Hot dogs, chips, fruit, cookies and Muscle Milk. I did get a chance to try a new flavor (Banana Cream Pie) and that was good. I would rather have seen a big pot of spaghetti or burgers, but I do like a hot dog from time to time.

I do think the distance was short. I think the bike was only 54.5 miles and the run was 12.5 miles (according to my Garmin). The race officials need to make sure the course is accurately set up next year. Not sure why the run would have been short though. I understand that the bike ended up getting changed due to some construction.

No matter what happened, I was still happy with this race and will be excited to do it again in the future.





Last updated: 2012-12-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:32:16 | 2112 yards | 01m 32s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 16/273
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vector Pro full sleeved
Course: Out and back. Buoys were on my right side which worked well since I'm a right side breather. Very smooth water. No waves at all.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:32
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: Bad
Biking
02:29:52 | 56 miles | 22.48 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 36/273
Performance: Good
Average HR 141 was perfect. Max at 154 was probably on a hill. HR felt under control nearly the entire race.
Wind: Some
Course: Rolling hills. Some flat and fast areas. Some crappy roads. We had to go through a neighborhood that was really tight and not supported very well. Traffic and stop signs were somewhat dangerous.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 81
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:24
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:01:19 | 13.1 miles | 09m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 133/273
Performance: Below average
Average of 145 with a max of 158. I wanted to keep my HR under control which was really easy to do since I ended up stopping and walking some of the race, especially through the water stations.
Course: State park trails. Mostly black top with some gravel / dirt roads. Much more hilly than I expected it to be. Some of the hills were really steep and intimidating. Most of them were short though. Lots of trees covering the trail so whatever wind that was out there was blocked and the sun was not an issue.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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