Pokagon Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon


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Angola, Indiana
United States
KPC Media Group and YMCA of Steuben County
55F / 13C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 32m 7s
Overall Rank = 11/49
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 1/2
Pre-race routine:

The day before I didn't skimp on what I ate. I treated myself to a very lean steak for dinner, and made sure I was not going to be in a caloric deficit at the start of the race.

I got up at around 4:30 and had my normal breakfast. I had organized most of my gear the night before, so I didn't have much to prepare the morning of the race. I left for the race site a little after 6.
Event warmup:

I did some light stretching and jogging.
Swim
  • 26m 30s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 46s / 100 meters
Comments:

The swim was cold but manageable. I didn't push hard and maintained a nice steady stroke. There was not much traffic in the water after the first 100 yards or so. After getting out of the water it I jogged and walked up the steps to the transition area. The Blue Seventy wetsuit was great and having lost around 15 pounds it fit like a glove.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I could have pushed harder, but that was not my plan for this race.
Transition 1
  • 02m
Comments:

The timing chips for this race were the big orange ones that didn't fit over my wetsuit well. I ended up sittin down to get my suit off.
What would you do differently?:

I should have practiced a bit more the day before.
Bike
  • 1h 12m 31s
  • 24.65 miles
  • 20.40 mile/hr
Comments:

I hit the wrong button on my Garmin and didn't get to recording my bike ride until a couple of minutes into the race. I was planning on riding based on power and was shooting for 95% of FTP, and amazingly, my normalized power was dead on at 233 watts.. I fiddles with my 910XT yesterday and found that I could read it best if I had the face on the inside of my wrist. With the rolling terrain, I found the power was jumping around quite a bit, but not so much that I felt I got good information. I did have two close calls, the first being when I took a turn too fast and nearly went off the road on the high side. The second when I lost concentration for a bit and nearly went off the shoulder on the right.

The race was kind of strange as after the first few miles, I didn't see anyone at all from the Olympic race at all. With my new Project Rudy helmet, I couldn't look behind me and there was nobody in sight in front. I'm glad there were plenty of volunteers to make sure i stayed on course.

This race I pumped my tires only up to a bit over 100 psi. I found that gave me better handling and the bumps in the road did not hurt my neck. I think I will keep with lower pressure in the future.

My gearing was bad. I changed from my trainer wheel and did a lousy job of tuning the rear derailleur the night before. The chain was slipping on a regular basis. I found it hard to keep my power up on the downhills. It seemed that I could not pedal hard enough on the downhills to keep the power in the zone i wanted.

A tip I just read online was to calibrate the V2's prior to leaving transition for the swim. I did not do this and I did not get the first calibration done. A short way into the bike, I did do the 3 backpedals to do the on-ride calibration.

Riding to power was definitely different. It kept me from going too fast in the beginning and not forcing on the hills. Overall, I was not quite as fast as I wanted, but I did have my fastest bike split for this race and my legs were much fresher on the run.

One thing that was concerning was my right knee. I got at least four sharp pains in my knees during the ride. I think I'm going to get my bike fit refined next week. I'm hoping that this will help with my knees. I'm hoping getting my cleats adjusted.will help my knees. If not, I may be in for a short season.
What would you do differently?:

1. Get my power meter calibrated prior to the run segment.
2. Make sure my derailleurs are properly aligned prior to the ride - probably not wait until the night before to get this done.
Transition 2
  • 01m 1s
Comments:

This was a good transition.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 50m 7s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 08m 05s  min/mile
Comments:

This was the freshest I have ever felt for a run segment. At the very start, my left hamstring was VERY tight, but it loosened up after a couple 100 yards and I settled into a relaxed pace. I'm kind of glad I did not have HR data to mess with my head. I had pretty much negative splits except for the last mile that had a steep climb just prior to the finish. The trails have rocks and roots all over the place and I had to be careful with my miminus road shoes. The high point of the run was not hitting the normal "I'm never going to do another race again" that I have during races.

I felt strong throughout the run. I free-wheeled on the downhills and was worried that my knee was all of a sudden going to give me a stabbing pain, but that never happened. Since there were so few people in the race, I think I only saw only 2 people on the run.
What would you do differently?:

I didn't push too hard but had a good run. I played this about right.
Post race
Warm down:

I really didn't have a warm-down.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing.

Event comments:

This was my 6th time at this race. Although I just turned 58, I had my fastest bike and run splits for this event. The swim was quite a bit different from years past, or I would likely have had a PR.

The race this year had more volunteers and there were no issues with missing turns (like what happened back when I did this race in 2014.




Last updated: 2016-05-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:26:30 | 1500 meters | 01m 46s / 100meters
Age Group: 1/2
Overall: 0/49
Performance: Good
Suit: Full
Course: The swim was very different from past years. This year it was straight out and around a buoy and back to the beach for a quick exit from the water, around a buoy and back in the water for another loop.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 60F / 16C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:00
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:12:31 | 24.65 miles | 20.40 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/2
Overall: 0/49
Performance: Good
Unfortunately, I had forgotten to put on my HR monitor, so I got no HR data. I was not planning on keeping track of my HR during the bike anyway.
Wind: Some
Course: Kind of a Popsicle shaped course. The roads weren't too bad bud there were a few rough patches. The course was rolling with several hills but none that long.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 89
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Bad Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:01
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:50:07 | 06.2 miles | 08m 05s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/2
Overall: 0/49
Performance: Good
No HR monitor. I missed the first little bit of the run on my 910XT, but the splits I got were: 8:25, 8:36, 8:14, 8:06, 7:56, 8:18.
Course: All up and down through the trails at Pokagon State Park.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %1.6%
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4