The Nation's Triathlon - Triathlon


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Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C.
United States
The Nation's Triathlon
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 11m 30s
Overall Rank = 1890/2862
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 253/316
Pre-race routine:

Breakfast of Peanut Butter and Bread, Chobani Yogurt, Banana and Gatorade. Because of the racking of the bike the day prior I was able to get there only about 30 minutes prior to transition closing and that seemed to be enough time to get everything done.
Event warmup:

None
Swim
  • 41m 10s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 44s / 100 meters
Comments:

The water temps were comfortable and the river was calm. The sighting was pretty easy due to the markers. My intent was to go out relatively calm and restrained to save more for the bike/run. I may have overdone it a bit due to my low comparative placement.
What would you do differently?:

Definitely need to work on my swim time. I dropped several minutes off of my Naylor's Beach swim time and that was in much more challenging conditions. The swim is definitely an area that I need to work on. There is probably 5-7 minutes of potential time savings with a moderate amount of work.
Transition 1
  • 03m 31s
Comments:

Ranked 1226 overall for transition time. No wet suit to deal with this time and had a tri top for the first time and that seemed to make things a lot easier. Everything went pretty smoothly except the getting the gloves on which seemed to take an excessive amount of time.
What would you do differently?:

In the future I think I will try putting my race belt/number on during T-1. It caused problems latter and at the speeds that I bike I don't think there is much of a negative drag effect.
Bike
  • 1h 16m 32s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 19.48 mile/hr
Comments:

Very happy with the ride. The course is relatively flat with mostly minor rolling sections. I tried to keep a reasonable pace with only pushing my HR to the low 150s or high 140s in some sections. I was also much more disciplined about Gatorade intake and my two Gu's and Shot Blocks package.
What would you do differently?:

I am not sure I would change that much, I was pretty happy with my time considering I was not trying to drop the hammer on the ride. This seemed to work out ok since the run went much better than on my last two Olympic distance Tri's.
Transition 2
  • 02m 3s
Comments:

Took it fairly easy coming into T2 in an effort to bring down my HR. Everything went pretty smooth except for forgetting my race belt until I was out on the run. Going back for the belt added about 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile and definitely added what I would guess was about 3 minutes to my total run time. It also used up a fair amount of energy since I was running faster than I should have been at that point.
What would you do differently?:

Put the race belt on during T1
Run
  • 1h 07m 59s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 10m 57s  min/mile
Comments:

A much stronger effort than any previous attempt. The whole Race Belt issue really sabotaged what would have been a much better effort. Still not able to run the whole thing without walking but the discipline of the fueling on the bike seemed to pay off.
What would you do differently?:

Pay better attention to what I was doing in T1 and not forget my Fuel Belt.
Post race
Warm down:

Minimal.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The race belt issue in T2 cost me at least 3 minutes and about 20 places in my division. While the swim was done at a comfortable pace I clearly have lost some swim fitness since Naylors Beach Tri. I should have been able to go about 5 minutes faster. Overall though I can't complain too much since I did drop 10 minutes off of previous fully Olympic Distance Tri. With a good off season, a sub 3: 00 hour Oly Tri should be well within reach.

Event comments:

The race is pretty well organized for an event of its size. The big issue on this course was the new bike course which I did not mind at all but a lot of people did not like it at all. The one thing that I heard of that is just inexcusable was that they ran out of finishers medals., I don't even know how that is even remotely possible. It is not like the number of entries is a mystery.

Overall though I liked the race and would do it again.




Last updated: 2013-05-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:41:10 | 1500 meters | 02m 44s / 100meters
Age Group: 272/316
Overall: 2301/2862
Performance: Average
Suit: DC Tri Top and Botom
Course: Single lap with the first half being up river and then back down river to the exit point.
Start type: Dive Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 79F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Below average Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:31
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:16:32 | 24.85 miles | 19.48 mile/hr
Age Group: 178/316
Overall: 1189/2862
Performance: Good
Tried to keep heart rate in the low 150s
Wind: None
Course: 2 lap course around DC with a few 180 degree turns that were very controversial with many of the athletes. It also had a couple no-pass areas on I-395 that caused some problems as well.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:03
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:07:59 | 06.21 miles | 10m 57s  min/mile
Age Group: 276/316
Overall: 2172/2862
Performance: Average
Course: Looping course around Hains Point. It closely mimics what the Cherry Blossom Race does except it is run in the opposite direction.
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