Frenchtown Triathlon - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic


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Monroe, Michigan
United States
3 Disciplines
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 08m 7s
Overall Rank = 77/108
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 12/13
Pre-race routine:

Since this race was so close, I was pretty happy that I would not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get there. Of course, I woke up at the crack of dawn anyway. Had my normal breakfast and then headed off to the venu. Got there before transition/registration was open, so I just talked with the manager of the LBS that was on site for bike support. Got registered and then set up transition.

Ran into some guys that swim at the same rec center that I do and chatted with them for awhile. Its pretty cool that I am starting to recognnize faces from the races I do and people are starting to recognize me too. Talked with some people that did Novi Lake and a few that did Interlochen as well.
Event warmup:

Went for a five mile warm up ride. Since I ate breakfst so early, had a cliff bar about an hour before the start. Went for a short swim about 30 minutes before the start.

After my swim warmup, found Brandy, my sister, and parents. Walked with them to the swim start; did some light stretching during the course meeting.
Swim
  • 36m
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 11s / 100 yards
Comments:

Ran from the beach into the water. When the water was thigh high, started dolphin diving. They started all of the men at the same time, so, it was crowded--I could not find room to swim. It was REALY crowded at the first buoy; it was shallow there, so people were actually standing up, fighting for postion.

About 200m after the first buoy, things finally started to spread out. I found a pretty good stroke and was sighting very well. For the life of me I could not stay on a draft though. Everytime I tried, the person would pull away or start swimming way off course.

At the turn around buoy, the lead women had caught up to me. Was feeling good, so decided I would try to draft off some of them. This went a little better than the start/middle of the race--but still wasn't the best. Swam till I started hitting the bottom with my stroke and then ran in.

All in all, a decent swim. The course might have been a little long as very few people averaged below 2 minutes per 100m.
What would you do differently?:

The rec center that I swim at is closed for renovation. My swim is not at a point where I can take a full week off from swimming and still expect to perform at a high level. I should have gone for an OWS during the week or at least done some work in the back yard pool.
Transition 1
  • 02m 28s
Comments:

Running through the water always spikes my heart rate. Took it easy on the run up from the beach (about 150 yards) to hopefully get it under control. Everything went great when I got to my bike; no wasted time.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, this was a smooth transition for me.
Bike
  • 1h 18m 5s
  • 25.4 miles
  • 19.52 mile/hr
Comments:

I wanted to push on the bike, and that is what I did. Passed a bunch of people right after transition. Made it to the fist turn and was shocked at how they had layed out the cones, you could only go through single file. I was forced to slam on my breaks to avoid running over the woman in front of me.

Road well until the next turn. This is where the bike course got really unsafe, there was so much traffic that bikes were forced to pass cars. Monroe county does not have bike friendly shoulders so you had to pass on the left, with on coming traffic coming at you, scarry stuff. This section had the first 180 turnaround too. Saw that it would be tight, so I unclipped--glad I did because if could not put my feet down I would have crashed. I passed quite a few people, but unfortuneately most of them were doing the sprint or the duathlon.

Second loop was more of the same--almost having to come to a complete stop to make the turns/turnarounds, dealing with idiot drivers, passing people who were not doing the same race as me, etc. I think the wind picked up during the second loop because my legs were really starting to burn by the end.

Even with the course being so bad this was one of my faster rides. On a course without so many turnarounds, I might have been able to average over 20mph.
What would you do differently?:

I am not sure. This was a great bike for me, but I completely fell apart on the run. I am not sure if pushing too hard on the bike contributed to my bad run.
Transition 2
  • 01m
Comments:

This was another good transition for me. Only thing I did wrong was that I changed shoes before taking off my helmet. While changing shoes, I was terrified that I would forget to take it off and would end up doing the whole run with my helmet on.
What would you do differently?:

Take off the helmet before changing shoes like I always do.
Run
  • 1h 10m 35s
  • 6.7 miles
  • 10m 32s  min/mile
Comments:

Left transition at a very comfortable pace. Made it to mile marker one in 7:30--this had to be mismarked, as there was absolutely no way I was running this fast. Grabbed some gatorade at the aid station and slowed my pace up just a bit. Made it to mile marker two in 17:00. Walked through the aid station and grabbed some more gatorade.

Shortly after this aid station is where things started to go wrong. I started to get side stiches, which I rarely get--I slowed my pace a little more, but was able to keep running. About five minutes later, I suddenly felt like I was in the final kick of a 5k, but my pace had not increased. Looked at my heart rate monitor and it was registering 204. Immediately started walking. For the rest of this mile, I was forced to run a minute, walk a minute, but my heart rate and RPE were starting to come down.

Walked through the aid station at mile 3 and grabbed some water. It was here that both of my quads cramped up (complete charlie horse). Tried rubbing them to get the musle to relax. Unfortuneately, that did not work. I knew I if went to the ground I might not be able to get back up, so I grabbed my ankle and tried to strecth my quad that way. Unfortuneately, that just caused my hamstring to cramp up. My other hamstring must have felt sorry for its buddy because it cramped up too. While hobbling along, I could feel my calfs starting to get tight. I have to admit that this was first time in a race that I wasn't sure if I could finish.

Hobbled/walked/limped for the most painful mile I have ever done. Grabbed two cups of gatorade at the next aid station (I knew that it probably would not help, but it could not hurt either). About half way through mile four, my legs finally started to loosen up. Unfortuneately, by this time, I was physically spent. Jogged/walked for the next two miles and ran in once I saw the finishing shoot.
What would you do differently?:

I am not sure. To cramp up so bad, something had to be wrong with my nutrition. I used virtually the same nutrition that I used at my last Olympic, and had no problems with cramping there.
Post race
Warm down:

Found my family and ate a little bit. I was exhausted but I was afraid to sit down in fear of cramping up again.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overall conditioning. Its coming along, but not quite there yet.

Event comments:

This was the first race at this venue and there are some things that definately need to be improved upon. The bike course just wasn't safe, unless they drasticaly change it (they said they are going to), I would never do another race here.

Not as big of a deal, but I don't think the mile markers were very accurate on the run, had I run better it would have been difficult to check the pacing off of those markers.




Last updated: 2006-09-01 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:00 | 1640 yards | 02m 11s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/13
Overall: 68/108
Performance: Average
Suit: Tri Suit
Course: Kind of a weird swim. Paralled the shore for the full length of the beach. Turned around, and then swam at an angle back to the middle of the beach.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:28
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:18:05 | 25.4 miles | 19.52 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/13
Overall: 66/108
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: This was a terrible course. A short out, followed by two loops, followed by a short back. Each loop had three tight 180 turnarounds. In addition, the course was open to traffic and cars were pretty much ignoring the volunteers trying to stop traffic. A couple sections of the road were rough, but I've definately ridden on worse.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:10:35 | 06.7 miles | 10m 32s  min/mile
Age Group: 13/13
Overall: 94/108
Performance: Bad
Course: Two loop course along a paved nature trail. Paved path the whole way, lots of shade, perfectly flat.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 2