Buffalo Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon


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Buffalo, Minnesota
United States
Buffalo Triathlon
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 58m 52s
Overall Rank = 191/253
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 28/30
Pre-race routine:

It was raining almost right up to the start of the swim. So everything was wet and it looked like it may be a miserable day. Fortunately it stopped in time for the swim warmup.

I had coffee and a clif bar on the drive to the site and munched on some more carbie goodness up to the start of the race. Got all setup in transition. Tried to find a place that wasn't in the middle of a puddle. After that, I hung out in the pavilion to stay out of the rain.
Event warmup:

I did a little swimming prior to the start of the race. This was my first olympic distance (and only my 2nd tri). I had been woefully undertraining due to life getting in the way and I wasn't sure of my ability to finish without keeling over. So my plan for the race was to just take it easy, be smart, and try to avoid having to walk on the run portion. I figured I'd come in around 3:10 if I could avoid walking based on recent training speeds and adding in some slow-down factor for doing all 3 disciplines in succession.
Swim
  • 33m 25s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 14s / 100 meters
Comments:

This ended up being my strongest leg overall compared to the field. I started at the back of my wave to hopefully avoid significant contact. Then I just went for a leisurely swim. I didn't have to deal with much contact and the congestion wasn't too bad.

The water was fairly calm. It got slightly wavy further out. But not bad overall. Navigating wasn't too bad. I tended to be on the outside of the pack. But got fairly close to the buoys.

I ended up pretty close to the pace that I was hoping to make.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. I need more fitness and open water practice. But I was pleased with how it went for my first OWS of that distance.
Transition 1
  • 03m 3s
Comments:

There was a decent walk from the shore to my bike. I didn't run, but instead walked purposefully. I wasn't significantly concerned with time (at this point at least), so I just wanted to not waste energy and also wasn't sure how I'd adapt to being upright after 30+ minutes in the water.

Once I got to my bike, I finished stripping my wetsuit and got my bike gear on. Again, I wasn't rushing as fast as I could. Rather I was just moving with purpose.
What would you do differently?:

Probably could have sped this up a bit. But I didn't make any mistakes, which was my main goal.
Bike
  • 1h 23m 37s
  • 40 kms
  • 28.70 km/hr
Comments:

I had a duathlon 3 weeks prior where the bike totally killed my run afterwards. In my defense, it did have some nasty hills. But I wanted to avoid that in this race. So my plan was to just take it easy and be sure to take in good nutrition.

Fortunately, the rain held off during the entire bike. And the roads weren't all that wet from the earlier rain. So that wasn't a factor.

This was the inaugural ride with my new xlab torpedo (BTA bottle) and that worked great. Prior to using this, I only had a single bottle on my seat tube. So I needed something more to stay hydrated. I did one bottle of perform and one bottle of water. I also had a bonk breaker that a took a big bite out of every 5 miles. So I took in about 450 calories on the bike (just over 300/hr).

I saw the result of one crash. Looks like maybe 2 people were involved. But there were already a couple of people helping out, and nobody looked too bad. So I kept on riding.

Evidently I was slow as molasses based on my AG ranking. But speed wasn't my goal. Finishing with enough in the tank for the run was the main goal and I achieved that.
What would you do differently?:

Other than more training, I was happy with how I did on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 02m 42s
Comments:

I walked my bike back to my rack and got switched over to my run gear. But I couldn't figure out where the run out was. Evidently I wasn't the only one as another person asked me the same thing. I had to head over to a volunteer and ask. So I burned 20 seconds or so just figuring out where to go.
What would you do differently?:

Don't assume there will be signage to tell me where to go and figure it out ahead of time.
Run
  • 56m 6s
  • 10 kms
  • 05m 37s  min/km
Comments:

This was what I had been focused on during the first 2 legs. Keep gas in the tank so I could run the entire time and hopefully stay fairly strong without feeling like I would collapse when I finished.

I started off and the legs felt good. I tried to settle into an easy pace, which has been upper 9 minute miles as of late. But my Garmin was saying I was closer to a 9 minute flat. So I tried to slow myself up just a little. I did the first half of the run averaging closer to a 9:30/mile. Once I hit the turn-around, I was still feeling good. I also was checking my overall time and saw that if I kicked it up a notch, I had a shot at breaking 3 hours. I didn't think I even had a shot at that at the beginning of the day. So I hadn't been paying very close attention. So I decided to go for it and did the next mile at 8:40. I figured I needed to average a 9 minute mile to make it happen.

After that mile, I was feeling it and decided to ease back to my previous pace. I did that for a short while. Then I checked my watch, did the math, and realized I had a little extra time than what I thought. I made the decision to just gut it out for the last 2 miles and see if I could make a sub 3 hour time happen. In the end, I finished with just over a minute to spare.

I know I was one of the slowest people in my AG but it was a great victory for me. I went faster than I thought that I could. I raced smart. And I finished strong with a negative split on the run. I also have hope on being able to survive my half iron race in a few months.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I was very happy with my performance.
Post race
Warm down:

Strolled over to the pavilion and chowed down on the buffet of snacks that was supplied. I felt pretty good overall and

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of training was the biggie.

Event comments:

Very good race overall. I'll definitely keep this as my first tri of the year if I stick with the Oly distance.




Last updated: 2014-02-22 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:33:25 | 1500 meters | 02m 14s / 100meters
Age Group: 22/30
Overall: 170/253
Performance: Good
Suit: zoot full sleeved
Course: The course was a counter-clockwise swim with 2 turns. It was more of a triangle with the largest leg being the one heading back to shore. With this being my first olympic, the buoys sure looked pretty far away.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 03:03
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:23:37 | 40 kms | 28.70 km/hr
Age Group: 29/30
Overall: 191/253
Performance: Average
Wind:
Course: The course had a fair amount of rolling hills. No horrible climbs. But often enough I was down in my lowest gear. The sprint course and olympic course overlapped for the first 8 miles or so. So there was a fair number of bikers during that period. Nothing that caused any real delay in passing. There were some bumpy areas. It was a little annoying for a bit. But most areas were fine.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:42
Overall: Bad
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:56:06 | 10 kms | 05m 37s  min/km
Age Group: 28/30
Overall: 191/253
Performance: Good
Course: This was an out and back course that followed the lake for the first part. The back half of the course had some elevation change. But it wasn't too bad.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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