Grand Rapids Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon


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Ada, Michigan
United States
Tris4Health
75F / 24C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 29m 3s
Overall Rank = 131/373
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 7/19
Pre-race routine:

I got up around 3:00. It was pouring rain, but not lightning. I had my normal breakfast of cereal and coffee and OJ. I got my gear ready and drove to the race site.
Event warmup:

I didn't do much warmup. It was still raining while I was setting up my transition. I had two hats and realized I left them both in the car almost a mile away. Not great with the rain.

It took some time to get my wetsuit on since I was already wet, but the new suit was definitely easier than the old suit. I swam a bit to loosen up, but when I got out of the water, I was extremely dizzy. I nearly fell over and was wondering if something was really wrong. My HR was up and I stood there for 30-60 seconds until my head cleared. I figured it might have been the cold water on my ears. Whatever it was, it went away.
Swim
  • 34m 58s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 40s / 100 yards
Comments:

I had a great swim. I did not push hard and felt comfortable the entire way. I loved my new wetsuit. With the new wetsuit, I was able to breath much easier. As i approached the finish, I felt like I could do the whole swim again without any problems,
What would you do differently?:

Probably not much. I might push a bit harder, but all in all, this was a good swim.
Transition 1
  • 03m 31s
Comments:

I took my time in transition. One nice thing was the wetsuit strippers. They did a good job getting my wetsuit off. I was annoyed that the guy next to me kind of messed up my area and I had to struggle a bit to get my bike out. Also, My new water bottle cage on my seat was a bit high and did not come off the rack cleanly. It was a long single file trek out of transition and I was blocked by a bunch of walkers - just like last year. this probably cost me 20-30 seconds.
What would you do differently?:

I did not transition practice. I probably could have shaved 30-60 seconds without too much trouble, but I was not worried about it for this race.
Bike
  • 2h 50m 41s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.69 mile/hr
Comments:

My goal was to stay comfortable during the bike segment and I pretty much did this. I was in zone 2 over 755 of the time and the rest in zone 3, mostly on uphills. In hindsight, I drank more than I should have and I should have had my Gatorade Endurance more dilute. About half way through the bike I started to feel a bit sick to my stomach and this progressed as i proceeded. I kept up my normal drinking routine, but it was raining and I took in more that I needed to. I relieved myself twice on the bike and once again in T2. I switched from Gatorade to mostly water for the second half and did take a Stinger gel. I can't complain too much since this was my PR time for the distance, but it would have been nice to have been feeling better.
What would you do differently?:

Refine my nutrition strategy. I think I should have lees concentrated drink and have water only for the first 30 minutes or so of the bike. I buddy of mine says he likes to take some solid nutrition about 30 minutes into the bike. I'm not sure if I want to do that or not.
Transition 2
  • 03m 36s
Comments:

I was bottlenecked in T2 like in T1 with people walking their bikes. I managed to finish behind several people, since the Olhy was now overlapping with the HIM. I wasn't too worried about it. It was still pouring rain and my transition area was a mess. Someone had shifted the plastic I had over my stuff and my shoes were soaked. I took my time and didn't worry about how much time I was taking.
What would you do differently?:

Practice this transition before the race.
Run
  • 1h 56m 15s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

My stomach got more unset the farther I got into the run. the first 6-7 miles or so weren't too bad, but things got progressively worse from there. I managed to keep a reasonable pace except for mile 11 that had a bit more uphill grades. For the last 3 miles my stomach was in real distress and my goal was to not walk. My HR stayed in zone 1 the entire way, and if it were not for my stomach, I could have maintained a much better pace. I carried my own Gatorade Endurance, but part way through I dumped it out and switched to sipping water, although I was not able to drink very much due to nausea. That being said, I did maintain an average pace better than my target pace.
What would you do differently?:

Get my nutrition figured out. It would be nice to have a race of this distance and not feel sick. I've had issues for all e of the HIMs I've done, although this one was bar far the best.
Post race
Warm down:

I was feeling very ill after the race, but i new I needed to get something in me. Since I didn't drink as much on the run and the rain stopped and the humidity was high, i was concerned with dehydration. I grabbed a Pepsi and sat down and drank it very slowly. when I finished it, I had a bottle of water and a couple slices of pizza, although I really was not hungry at all. I managed to keep things down.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think I drank too much on the bike and my Gatorade needed to be less concentrated. I was feeling pretty sick for the second half of the run but managed to keep running the entire distance.

Event comments:

When I got back to the lake place at lake Michigan, I took a shower, drank some water, and went to bed. I got up after a couple hours and had a headache and my stomach was still uneasy. I ordered a 14" pizza and ate 3/4 of is and the headache and nausea went away. I do not think I was too dehydrated.

This was my best raced by 18 minutes for a HIM, but I could have done quite a bit better. We'll see how the next one goes.




Last updated: 2015-03-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:34:58 | 2112 yards | 01m 40s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/19
Overall: 101/373
Performance: Good
Suit: Full
Course: One counter-clockwise loop
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:31
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:50:41 | 56 miles | 19.69 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/19
Overall: 173/373
Performance: Good
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed AHR MHR 1 14m 52s 5.00 miles 20.18 mph 142 150 2 14m 16s 5.00 miles 21.03 mph 140 144 3 15m 10s 5.00 miles 19.78 mph 137 144 4 17m 05s 5.00 miles 17.56 mph 141 145 5 16m 23s 5.00 miles 18.31 mph 139 142 6 15m 29s 5.00 miles 19.38 mph 138 143 7 14m 40s 5.00 miles 20.45 mph 138 144 8 14m 25s 5.00 miles 20.81 mph 137 143 9 14m 42s 5.00 miles 20.41 mph 136 143 10 15m 19s 5.00 miles 19.59 mph 135 139 11 15m 14s 5.00 miles 19.69 mph 137 141 12 01m 58s 0.59 miles 17.91 mph 142 144
Wind: Little
Course: This was a flat out and back with just a few turns. It was very flat with just minor inclines and no real hills.
Road: Potholes Wet Cadence: 88
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 03:36
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
01:56:15 | 13.1 miles | 08m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/19
Overall: 144/373
Performance: Average
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed AHR MHR 1 08m 35s 1.00 miles 08m 35s /mile 134 138 2 08m 59s 1.00 miles 08m 59s /mile 135 138 3 08m 28s 1.00 miles 08m 28s /mile 135 139 4 08m 57s 1.00 miles 08m 57s /mile 137 143 5 08m 55s 1.00 miles 08m 55s /mile 139 145 6 08m 38s 1.00 miles 08m 38s /mile 136 142 7 08m 55s 1.00 miles 08m 55s /mile 139 142 8 09m 01s 1.00 miles 09m 01s /mile 140 143 9 08m 45s 1.00 miles 08m 45s /mile 141 146 10 09m 06s 1.00 miles 09m 06s /mile 140 144 11 10m 05s 1.00 miles 10m 05s /mile 140 148 12 09m 16s 1.00 miles 09m 16s /mile 137 141 13 08m 36s 0.95 miles 09m 02s /mile 139 146
Course: A pretty much out and back course with some additional excursions off the main road to get the distance right. There were a few inclines but no real hills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %Dont'
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
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