HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Marble Falls, Texas
United States
HITS Triathlon Series
25C / 77F
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 44m 27s
Overall Rank = 38/340
Age Group = 40 - 44
Age Group Rank = 6/22
Pre-race routine:

Recon bike course by car
Biked only the first 2km of the run (since it follows the bike course)
and it was open to traffic the day before.
30min bike overall doing laps in empty side streets. 9min run.
Dinner around 5pm: grilled chicken breast, fries and potatoes
Managed to go to bed & fall asleep around 9pm - earlier than previous races (check mark)
Breakfast: banana, yogurt, the usual except no oatmeal this time.

Event warmup:

No running WU.
GU gel 20 min before gun time.
Got in the water about 10min before gun time to warm up and claim a spot.
Swim
  • 37m 32s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

I did a new Personal Record in this lake - 2m 03s less than previous PR which was in salt water / more buoyant. Actual time in the water was 36:48 on garmin. Timing chip gate was further up the hill so I think I improved by 2:45 hehe
This was my first mass start (300+ people) and it went well. I was in the fray. The open water group practices I did paid off.
Race plan was to focus on doing more bilateral breathing which I typically don't do in a race out of bad habit.
Sighting went well but buoys were far apart. Often I could only see other swimmers.
What would you do differently?:

Continue open water group practices.
Get a sleeved wetsuit
Transition 1
  • 03m 46s
Comments:

They had peelers volunteers but couldn't confirm it the day before.
No disorientation coming out of the water. I remembered exiting the water to run easy uphill until peelers.
Bike
  • 2h 50m 19s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.73 mile/hr
Comments:

I rode hard but was careful not to burn up on the bike - I believe my issues on the run came from the run.
Concentrated on keeping the cadence high despite the hills.

Grabbed water at aid station at a good speed but it dropped out a minute later during the turnaround (squishy bottle fit in down tube but wasn't gripped). I ran out of water about when I reached Aid #2 so np.

What would you do differently?:

I do hills in my training but I should do a hills-repeat only session once a month.

better wheels than my stock aksium
Transition 2
  • 02m 53s
Comments:

Ran with bike as practiced.
HITS has nice individual set up
T1 is same as T2
What would you do differently?:

Go Faster
Run
  • 2h 09m 56s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

Steep hills + Hot & humid = Brutal
This half-marathon was a great mental will challenge to keep pushing.
Heat is clearly one of my limiters. PR prior was 1:55 in a HIM (flat & hot) and 1:40 HM (rolling hills & cold). I did 15m slower & above 2h. I felt better about it when race winner told me his run was 30min slower than his PR.

Bridge was under construction which wasn't too bad for racers but the local traffic jam was bad. Running alongside idling cars for 2/3 of the run wasn't great either.

Last couple of aid station started running out of water. I used ice then to hydrate. I don't like Heed drink and apparently I wasn't the only one.

I fast walked steepest hills per my race plan instead of jogging them,since I noticed the difference pace-wise is not that big compared to the toll it takes. It worked ok. I saw lots walking even the flats.
Last leg was downhill but by then it was tough to pick up the pace to take advantage of it. Managed to speed up by 1min/km in last 1km.
What would you do differently?:

I should have done as per my previous race report : practice the heat.
Living near Dallas I do that for long enough normally but Dallas has had a relatively cold spring so far. Since I race in warmer places that's the lesson.

Find a flat, cold, not windy race near the north pole?
Post race
Warm down:

stretched for few minutes
jumped in the lake - what a feeling!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat
Heat & hills

Event comments:

I liked the town, ambience, number of participants, nice Transition areas with enough space for everyone. Good service & friendly.
Great place to have your first tri of any distance.
T-shirt size is wrong. I'm 6' 177lbs and would have preferred a small.

I'm fine with hilly bike ride. I didn't like the run. If run needs to stay that steep then it should be earlier in the year.
This race would be perfect with a flat run alongside the river in the shade of the trees. Hopefully they can make this modification. Race director talked about trying to do that next year.

Interestingly the race was close in my AG: 5 1/2 minutes faster and I would have placed 2nd. Of course, there are 3 other guys thinking the same.

My wife loves the wild flowers in the area and went on a pictures taking frenzy during my race so we both had a great trip.




Last updated: 2013-05-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:37:32 | 2112 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/22
Overall: 82/340
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless
Course: rectangle mass start calm water need more buoys
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 65F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:46
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:50:19 | 56 miles | 19.73 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/22
Overall: 27/340
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Quite hilly but that was expected. Lots of wild flowers in bloom all along so it was a gorgeous ride. Several steep downhill. Glad I practiced being comfortable > 50kph.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 84
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:53
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:09:56 | 13.1 miles | 09m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/22
Overall: 56/340
Performance: Average
Course: Hilly Hot & humid Brutal
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Not enough
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? No
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4