Full Vineman Triathlon - Triathlon


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Windsor, California
United States
Vineman, Inc.
91F / 33C
Sunny
Total Time = 13h 06m 23s
Overall Rank = 117/700
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 3/17
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 3 am to get nutrition in. Has 3 Boost drinks, a bagel with peanut butter and a banana. All bags were packed so into the car at 4:15 and off to the race arriving just as the T1 opened. T1 and T2 are separated by about 13 miles, so had set up T2 the previous day.
Event warmup:

It was a wave start on a 3:00 interval, so not much time for warmup. Got into the water just downstream (Swim was in a dammed up portion of the Russian river) of the start area and swam for about 3 minutes. Then it was up to the starting gate for my wave. Just as the announcer says, "OK, blue caps into the water!" I realized that I had taken my timing chip off to put on the wetsuit and had NOT put it back on. So it was a sprint to T1, get the chip on, sprint back to the start and into the water as he was saying 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. So I guess my warmup was also a bit of a run.
Swim
  • 1h 15m 6s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

I think the course may have been longer than 2.4 as the average per 100 for me posted on the timing site was 1:57 which is on the high side by a fair amount. Using correct course length put me at 1:46 which was a bit slower than I expected but I did get caught up behind clumps of swimmers multiple times and that may have slowed me.
What would you do differently?:

Put the timing chip on in advance!
Transition 1
  • 07m
Comments:

Had strippers so that went really fast. I got to the rack and the ground there is fine soil that was damp, so had a good layer of mud on my feet. Had to take a fair amount of time to clean that off, but that doesn't account for the long transition time.
Bike
  • 6h 12m 35s
  • 112 miles
  • 18.04 mile/hr
Comments:

Executed to plan in terms of pace, hydration and nutrition. Emptied my aerobottle just before each aid station and refilled with a 24 ounce cold one. This means that I took in 192 oz of water along with 48 oz of liquid nutrition (Infinit). Had to pee at the halfway point and finish. In addition to the Infinit ate a Payday bar and two Honey Stinger Waffles for a total calorie intake of about 2200 calories.
What would you do differently?:

Pretty happy with this ride, so think I'd go with the same plan
Transition 2
  • 09m 7s
Comments:

Run in was LONG and narrow for the most part and I was trapped behind 3 other bikes who were walking, Took at least twice as long to get to the rack as a running as a result. Decided I was going to change out of the tri shorts and cycling top into a loose fitting pair of running shorts and singlet to try and stay cooler. On the way out of T2 visited the portapotty to get ride of some of the ride hydration.
What would you do differently?:

Perhaps be more vocal during the run in to get the guys ahead of me to move or somehow let me by.
Run
  • 5h 22m 35s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

By the time I got off the bike the temp had made it into the 90's and I knew it was going to be tough, but holy crap. At each aid station I filled my carry bottle with ice and water, dumped a cup of ice down the front and back of my singlet (had a race belt on that trapped it), ice under the hat occasionally, and a cup or two of water down the gullet. I've never been in a race where I've seen pretty much everyone walking the hills and many the flats, but that was the case. I came over one hill and felt like I was in a zombie movie. I had at least 20 people shuffling up the hill, open-mouthed, glassy-eyed toward me, all breathing heavily. There were two over on the side, bent over puking, at the bottom of the hill were the paramedics tending to a guy laying off the side of the road. During my first lap at about the halfway point a guy on a bike comes up behind me and says, "just to let you know, there's a runner coming up." I'm thinking, "Dude there are runners everywhere here, what's the big deal?" Well as it turns out it was the race leader on his last lap. It took him at least 5 minutes to catch up with me and he was running just slightly faster than my pace, and he was hurting badly. He got about 25 yards ahead of me and stopped, bent over hands on knees and stayed that way until after I passed him. He passed me again about 5 minutes later, made the turnaround and headed back. I caught up with him about 4 miles later as he had pulled himself from the race with only 2 miles to go. It was brutal out there. First lap was the hardest but once I got it done I felt I understood what was going to be requires. Lap 2 was still a run/walk combo for more than I would have liked, but it was necessary. Lap 3 I ended up running most of, even some of the uphills, albeit at a slower pace.
What would you do differently?:

Dig deeper earlier than I did to get back to a more consistent run
Post race
Warm down:

Walked for about 10 minutes

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat and unfiltered sun.

Event comments:

This is a great race at a great venue. If it had been held the week before, temps would have been in the upper 70's/low 80's. This was my first IM distance Tri and I made the podium so feel pretty good about it, especially with the challenging conditions.




Last updated: 2013-11-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:15:06 | 4224 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/17
Overall: 145/700
Performance: Average
Suit: Full Blue Seventy Reaction
Course: Swim was in the Russian River. At this time of year water flow is so weak that they have to put up a summer dam to create an area to swim. Course is a beautiful 2 laps up the river and back (no current) under 2 bridges with towering redwoods on either side of the river. An interesting aspect of this swim is that water depths range from about 6 feet down to 18 inches, so you have to stay close to the centerline or you'll have to walk. Even so, at the turnaround point it was so shallow almost everyone was walking it.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 07:00
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
06:12:35 | 112 miles | 18.04 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/17
Overall: 125/700
Performance: Good
The day was going to be > 90 degrees so decided to back off on the bike a bit. HR was an average of z2.2.
Wind: Little
Course: Two loops, non-stop rolling hills and two larger hills.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 09:07
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
05:22:35 | 26.2 miles | 12m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/17
Overall: 173/700
Performance: Bad
Goal was to stay in z2 for the run. Started out nudging z3 and getting into it on the uphills of the rolling hill course. That pattern continued until about 1 hour 25 minutes in when my HR dropped into z1 and stayed there. The heat had taken it's toll by then and it was a struggle to push hard enough to get it back into z2.
Course: 3 laps, Rolling hills
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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