Interlochen Music Festival Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Interlochen, Michigan
United States
3 Disciplines
95F / 35C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 02m 28s
Overall Rank = 115/140
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 15/15
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Traverse City on Saturday. Stopped at the state park to pick up my packet and chip. They already had the swim course marked so I decided to take a look. Unlike my last race, I was not intimidated at all. I actually thought we would have to do two laps of the course. Brandy and I walked part of the run course (stopped before we got to "the hill"), and drove most of the bike course.

Sunday morning, got up around 5:45 (it was nice not having to get up at 4:00am for a race). Had a cliff bar and a cup of coffee on the way to race, and another cliff bar and a bunch of water once I got transition area setup.
Event warmup:

Went for a two mile test ride to make sure the bike was in working order. Swam around one buoy and did some light stretching before the pre-race meeting. Took a gel right before they had us get in for the wade start.
Swim
  • 35m 3s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 08s / 100 yards
Comments:

Wanted to keep people from swimming over top of me, so went straight to breast stroke with a frog kick at the start--worked very well, as I never got mugged. Once things opened up a bit, switched to freestyle. Found my groove right away, felt very smooth and relaxed. At the start, I was switching to breast stroke and sighting every 20 strokes; found this was not enough as I kept drifting WAY to right. In order to stay on track I had to switch to breast stroke and sight every 8 strokes. This slowed me down quite a bit, but I figured it was the most efficient way to go. About half way through, the next wave started to catch me. Found a group that looked like they were swimming close to my freestyle pace (and swimming straight). I manged to get mixed in with them, and was able to switch back to sighting every 20 strokes. Rounded the last buoy and switched to all breast stroke for the last 200 meters. Started to run when the water was chest high. All in all this was a great swim, my pace was better than my last sprint tri.
What would you do differently?:

Should have kept swimming a little bit longer, running through that much water caused my heart rate to spike. Need to learn to sight while freestyling.
Transition 1
  • 03m 2s
Comments:

When I got out of the water I noticed my heart rate was way too high so I did not push it on the run up to transition (about 150 yards). Helmet, socks, shoes, and race belt all went on without a problem. When I setup in the morning, I did not notice that the mount line was on a slight incline, so my bike was in too high of a gear to start with. Made the first few strokes a little difficult but nothing I could not handle.
What would you do differently?:

Leave the bike in a lower gear to start off with.
Bike
  • 1h 19m 19s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 18.80 mile/hr
Comments:

Since this was my first Olympic distance triathlon, I did not want to push too hard on the bike. My goal on the bike was 1:20:00, which is a very comfortable pace for me. It was hard to watch people fly by me when I knew I was capable of keeping up with them, but I wanted to stick to the plan. Took in bottle of gatorade on the way out and a bottle of water and a gel on the way in. There was A LOT of blocking going on in this ride; on four different occasions I saw people riding three wide taking up the entire lane (course was open to traffic).
What would you do differently?:

In retrospect I should have pushed harder on the bike. I think the run course would have punished me no matter how fresh my legs were.
Transition 2
  • 01m 3s
Comments:

Smooth transition, just like in practice.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, I don't think I could have done this any faster.
Run
  • 1h 04m 3s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 10m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt great coming out of transition. Did the first mile in 9:20, grabbed two waters at the aid station, poured one on me a drank the other one. Did the second mile in 9:30, took in another gel and water at this aid station. Shortly after aid station two, we began what the local athletes referred to as "the hill". Being a flatlander, I was in no way prepared for this. I slowed my pace way down, but half way up the hill my heart rate was over 200. In order to keep the heart rate in check, I had no choice but to walk/jog/shuffle the rest of the way up. Once I made it to the top, I tried to compose myself before heading back down: took in a glass of gatorade and poured a glass of water over me. On the way down, I thought I was going to be all right, heart rate was coming down and I was feeling reasonably well. When I got back to aid station two (mile four), I hit the wall, I just couldn't bring myself to run anymore (my legs were fine, but my cardiovascular system was rejecting me). Ended up walking a good chunk of this mile. A little after mile five, some locals setup a cheering section, they sprayed me with their hose and I actually started feeling better. Started running again and was able to run the rest of the way in.
What would you do differently?:

Obviously need to find a way to do some training on hills. A caffinated gel (or some other quick energy) might have helped me to get passed the wall faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my medal and towel and eventually found my wife. Wanted nothing more than to lie down and take a nap. Brandy convinced me that this was probably a bad idea. After a bit of walking around, felt like some food and began devouring everything in sight.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of run training on hills and lack of training in the heat. I think I could have handled one or the other, but not both. All in all though I was very happy with the way things went. I only missed my goal time by three minutes which is not too shabby.

Event comments:

This was an amazing race. The bike course passed Interlochen Music Camp and the students were out playing songs. Part of the run was through the state park campground, the campers cheered us on and the kids shot us with their squirt guns. There were a bunch of cherring sections outside of the campground as well.




Last updated: 2006-07-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:35:03 | 1640 yards | 02m 08s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/15
Overall: 85/140
Performance: Good
Suit: Tri-Suit
Course: One loop around a wine glass shaped course.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:02
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:19:19 | 24.85 miles | 18.80 mile/hr
Age Group: 14/15
Overall: 98/140
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: Out and back course. Mostly flat with a few rollers.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:03
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:04:03 | 06.21 miles | 10m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 15/15
Overall: 121/140
Performance: Below average
Course: Out and back course with a large climb between mile two and three.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
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? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5