Cazenovia Triathlon - Triathlon


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Cazenovia, New York
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 36m 52s
Overall Rank = 37/130
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 3/7
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:30 to get ready. Had a normal breakfast of coffee, banana and combination of grapenuts cereal and homemade granola. Decided to take a little more time at home because this race is pretty close ~20 miles away. I had my bike and the rest of things packed the night before.

When we (my wife, daughter #2 and me) arrived the close parking was taken so we had to park at a near-by highschool and walk in. There we're lots of volunteers so getting marked-up and my chip was quick. The transition area was getting full and i found most of the open rack spots were too low to get my bike into. They had pushed the rack lets too far into the ground. Good thing I'm short and have a small bike!

I realized during set up that I had left my garmin watch at home. (Looking back on this I'm glad I did not have it during the run!)
Event warmup:

Transition closed around 7:45 and I realized I did not know what to do with my glasses! I *should* have brought my prescription sunglasses but they were in the car. So I decided to leave my regular glasses in transition and walk around blind for the next 45 minutes or so. Fortunately I DO have prescription swim goggles so I periodically put them on to look around! (Yeah, I felt like a dork but oh well!)

My warm up was pretty minimal. I have always had calf-cramp "issues" so I spent most of my time needing my calfs and massaging my thighs.

It really was a spectacular morning in central New York! The wind was perfectly calm, temperatures were worming up and the humidity was low. Absolutely ideal!
Swim
  • 18m 18s
  • 800 meters
  • 02m 17s / 100 meters
Comments:

What can I say? This was my 1st tri and I survived the swim! I told myself that If/when I do this again I WILL get a wet suit!
What would you do differently?:

I really felt good about the swim. No major failures. (But I wish I was faster!)

:-p
Transition 1
  • 02m 43s
Comments:

The run out of the water to the transition area was probably 250 to 300 yards. I could not wait to get my googles off and my regular glasses on but I was fortunate that the goggles stayed fog-free throughout the swim and the run up to the bike. I ate one shot block and chugged a little water while doing this.

I was way more tired than I expected to be while getting on my bike stuff. Not having a wetsuit make this pretty easy. Getting out and up to the road was also pretty quick 'n easy.

I crossed the line and clipped in as well as I could have hoped for...
What would you do differently?:

I probably could have pushed it a little harder running up to the transition area, but like I said I was more tired than I had expected to be...
Bike
  • 45m 57s
  • 14 miles
  • 18.28 mile/hr
Comments:

I think lowering my seat a little bit helped me prevent calf cramps. I am also glad I ate one shot block in transition before the bike and then one more just before the 1/2 way point. I also heeded the advice of our coach to NOT drink or eat anything in the last 10 minutes of the ride. I really wanted to drink here but knew that it would just be sloshing around in my belly during the run!
What would you do differently?:

Again, no major failures. While I had biked this course twice before, I had never done it AFTER a swim. This really made it much harder. I had to push and ride smart to avoid calf issues.
Transition 2
  • 01m 42s
Comments:

No issues. Just more tired than I was expecting!
Run
  • 28m 12s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 09m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

It sucked. I really had hoped to be around 26 minutes but it simply was not in the cards for me. I was really, really tired. There's a hill just over 1/2 mile into the run. The elevation gain is about 100 feet in about 3/10 of mile. I had to downshift my run quite a bit but did not walk it at all. It was flat on top of this hill and since it was an out and back so I did get to go down the hill again. It was a "please get me through this Lord" type of run.

By this time the temperature was somewhere in the low 80s. I did get something at each waterstation but I mostly dumped the water over my head. I only took a few sips.

As run came back to park where it started we had a steep downhill going toward the lake with a 90-degree turn down the finishing lane. It was at this point I saw the time 2 hours 6 minutes... I was crushed... and stupid. I had forgotten my wave stared 30 minutes AFTER the clock started! DUHHH!
What would you do differently?:

Maybe I should have taken one more shot block somewhere during the event.
Post race
Warm down:

Water and walk around. They had some great food there for the competitors but I really could not eat. Stomach said NO!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The typical run was 5 miles. I never did any longer runs. This was a mistake. I should have included runs in 8-10 mile range.

Event comments:

It was fantastic to have my wife, daughter #2 and the Fleet Feet Syracuse Coaches there to cheer me on! Overall this was harder than I expected it to be. But I finished AND I got a 3rd place in my age group and 37th out of 130 overall in this sprint distance. I really don't think I could have asked for more for my 1st triathlon!

As I spoke with other people it really did seem like this is a well-respected race and draws a fairly competitive field. To place in this was a really, really good feeling!




Last updated: 2014-06-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:18 | 800 meters | 02m 17s / 100meters
Age Group: 3/7
Overall: 46/130
Performance: Average
Suit: tri suit only
Course: Well they had changed the course from how it was described on the web site. I was expecting it to be a rectangle but it ended up being an out and back (keeping buoys to my right). Being my 1st race I am SOOOO glad I signed up for a sprint distance. The olympic distance seemed to go on FOREVER when you look at it in a straight line! This is a pretty small race so the wave I started with was probably no more than 25 guys. We got in the water about 8:25 for an 8:30 start. I don't have a wetsuit so I was glad the water was decent (for central new york at least) I think it was about 72f or so. I was so glad to have read about spraying my googles with a combination of J&J Baby Shampoo and water. This worked AMAZINGLY well! Even standing around in the water waiting for the start, they did not fog at all! Anyway, the race started and I ended up toward the back and inside. The buoys were all connected with a rope so our instructions were clear - keep them to our right. Cross the line and you get disqualified. Sighting with these big, inflatable buoys was a piece-of-cake compared to all the small milk jugs and other small buoys that were used in our various practice sessions. I had aspired to maintain a 3-stroke then breathe system, but I really couldn't do it. I fell back to my right-side breath on every stroke. I seemed to get caught up with a few younger guys who were really strong, but poor swimmers. They were going between side strokes and back strokes and swerving all over the place. I passed them as we rounded the far buoy. Heading back to shore was better. Less traffic and decent sighting. I'm not fast but I had kept calm and controlled!
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:43
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:45:57 | 14 miles | 18.28 mile/hr
Age Group: 3/7
Overall: 33/130
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: I had biked this course twice during my training so I knew it well. It stared out with a nice .5 ,o;es before turning right and hitting some hills. We climbed for about 2.5 miles and gaining 260 in elevation and then had nice 4 mile stretch where we descended about 400 feet in elevation with the steepest hill being right before a hard left-hand turn. I hit about 43 mph here! The next 3 miles sucked. Back up more hills for about 350 feet elevation gain. The 1st one was a low-gear grind. In past training sessions calf craps had hit me around mile 9 or so. I avoided them this time fortunately! From about mile 10 to the end (mile 14) there were easy rollers. All throughout the bike portion I got passed by some amazing riders. I tried to cheer them on the best I could. I have to say that I did pass a few riders during this and never felt I got passed by anyone who I would have been competitive with.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 88
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:42
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:28:12 | 03.1 miles | 09m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 2/7
Overall: 48/130
Performance: Below average
Course: This was an out and back. Water station were positioned well.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %0
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5