Medford Lakes Colony Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon


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Medford Lakes, New Jersey
United States
DQ Events
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 42m 19s
Overall Rank = 191/291
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 9/14
Pre-race routine:

Have this down at this point. Up at 4:30, smoothie made of banana, peaches and Pom juice, coupled with half a bagel and almond butter. Sip water on drive to race site. Only change I made this time was drinking the beet juice and water about a half hour before the race.
Event warmup:

Got there a bit later than I wanted to. That, coupled with a larger race field than I remember in previous years, made the lines for packet pick-up and body marking longer than I'd anticipated. Resulted in a real quick transition set-up. If the race hadn't gotten off 10 minutes later than scheduled, I'd have been in trouble. But as it was, I was able to get in the water and do a little swimming around to acclimate.
Swim
  • 14m 10s
  • 440 yards
  • 03m 13s / 100 yards
Comments:

Pretty disappointed here. What with the swimming I've been doing lately (I'm already well in excess of what I did all last year) and my improved pool times, I expected better than this. Almost makes one think the extra swimming effort makes no difference, although I will say the extra time in the pool has had a positive mental aspect (which I'd hoped for): the swim, despite my poor time, didn't seem like anything more than just another workout. Even better, I was able to keep breathing generally under control. Cool moment: rolling to breathe and seeing a bird floating across the sky just above us.
What would you do differently?:

Honestly not sure. I got delayed and slowed by the crowd at the beginning, and again when the next wave came on just about halfway through, but I'd not think it would make this much difference (2:30 longer than my recent 400m pool time). I can only assume I'm weaving back and forth too much and, therefore, adding distance to my swim.
Transition 1
  • 02m 30s
Comments:

Average T1; wetsuit came off pretty easily. Everything else normal.
What would you do differently?:

Would love to figure out a way to cut 20-30 seconds off T1. I don't practice these anymore, but I'm not sure what I'd be able to do differently even if I did.
Bike
  • 54m 7s
  • 17.2 miles
  • 19.07 mile/hr
Comments:

I seem to have suddenly seen a change in cycling ability, with roughly similar efforts to last year resulting in faster times. This effort was almost two and a a half minutes faster than last year, which I did not expect, but am quite pleased by. I'm not sure what to attribute this improvement to, other than just ongoing training kicking in. This was a fun ride, but crowded. About halfway through the first loop I fell in with a pack of riders that couldn't really separate from each other, and I stuck with them through the entire second loop since they maintained a solid pace. I hit 30+mph on the big hill, which separated me from the rest of them (thank you to gravity at 205lbs), but as I loosened my shoes and pulled my feet out before the final turn, another gravity-assisted pack member passed me by.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, this was a solid ride for me.
Transition 2
  • 01m 56s
Comments:

I thought this was fairly quick but it was actually ranked lower than my T1. I jogged out with no walking and don't recall any other wasted movement. Always takes more time to get my running shoes on than I'd prefer, though.
What would you do differently?:

Look into running shoes and ways to get them on quicker.
Run
  • 29m 37s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 09m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Pleased with this run. My plan was to to run to the turnaround at a pace between between 9:40 and 9:50, which I was able to do without become overly tired. After that I wanted to run a couple of higher intensity "intervals"; I ran at around 9:00 for four minutes, jogged easy (including a water break during which i walked for 20 seconds), then did three minutes more at about the same pace. After that I played some fartliek games running from one cone to the next, with easy jogging in between, until I got close enough to the end to keep going. Finished under 30 minutes and wasn't totally blown at the end.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe running that second "interval" for four instead of three minutes; it's an unknown, but curious how many seconds that might've saved. What's strange to me is my run times, showing solid improvement over several years ago, are still not much better in relation to the pack than my swims. That just shouldn't be; would love to figure out a way to gain some improvement here.
Post race
Warm down:

Went straight to the lake, walked out into water up to my chin, and dunked myself to cool off. Very nice. Walked around a bit after that and ate some of the goodies (and yes, the spread included frosted donuts with sprinkles plus glazed chocolate doughnut holes; but I only ate the equivalent of half a doughnut).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Swimming, again. And, increasingly, despite improvements, a run that still has me way in the back of the pack.

Event comments:

Really like this race, and DQ deserves a big shout out for their efforts and abilities in bringing these things off safely and enjoyably.




Last updated: 2015-08-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:10 | 440 yards | 03m 13s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/14
Overall: 258/291
Performance: Below average
Suit: Xterra Vortex Sleeveless
Course: Straight out and back to and from the beach, looked a little long but that could just be justification for my time. Garmin reflected .27 mile, including the run to transition.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:30
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:54:07 | 17.2 miles | 19.07 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/14
Overall: 142/291
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Two loop course through South Jersey semi-rural suburbs. Some rough roads and one significant downhill.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:56
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:29:37 | 03.11 miles | 09m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/14
Overall: 222/291
Performance: Good
Course: Straight out and back along a well-shaded road bordered by homes on one side and a golf course on the other.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5