Mooseman Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Bristol, New Hampshire
United States
Endorfun Sports
92F / 33C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 30m 32s
Overall Rank = 477/723
Age Group = F 25-29
Age Group Rank = 19/34
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5 and ate a bagel with pb and a Red Bull. Packed up the car and drove to the park. We didn't arrive until around 6:15 so we had to park pretty far away and hoof it. Set up transition, port-olet X2, wetsuit on, then headed to the beach to watch the other waves go.
Event warmup:

Got in the water to get used to the cold temps so it wouldn't be such a shocker. Swam just a little bit. Caught Pam before she headed out and wished her luck.
Swim
  • 40m 8s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

Anyone who knows me knows that what I am about to say is very rare and this could be a first: I am happy with my swim. In fact, it was the best leg of the race for me! On Saturday I went for a quick swim in my sleeveless wetsuit and made the decision to wear it on Sunday for the race. Yeah, my arms were kinda cold but I have a much better range of motion with a sleeveless.
The swim start was pretty violent. People all around me, clawing at me, pushing my legs down, etc. Good practice for LP. I started to lose my cool but then I just focused on breathing and moving forward and eventually it got better. It was very weird swimming near other people for the entire time. I'm usually all by myself!
I had to stop twice to let water out of my goggles but other than that I was truckin along nicely. I got out of the water feeling good.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Transition 1
  • 03m 45s
Comments:

Had a sip of water, got stripped by a pair of boys, and headed for my rack. I like to be efficient in transition but I don't rush all that much. I dried my feet, put on my socks, shoes, sweat band, sunglasses, and jogged out the chute.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 3h 07m 10s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.95 mile/hr
Comments:

I felt good heading out on the bike, I was still nice and cool, but I had to pee pretty badly. I was looking for a good tree when I came upon the first run aid station and it had a porto. Score! Felt much better after that. Last year on the bike I was absolutely dead, but this year I had energy and it is much easier hitting the early hills with energy. Devils Hill was no match for a compact and a 12-27. I got up it no problem, no weaving back and forth across the road. The one problem I did have was shifting back into my big ring. My bike has this quirk where it doesn't want to shift back into the big ring for the first time on a ride. I have to keep changing gears until I find one it likes and then it will shift rings. Usually it's only a problem the first time I shift back up but this gave me trouble the whole ride. From what I have read it seems to be a known problem with my bike model. I need to bring it in to be looked at.
This year I finally broke down and bought an Aerodrink and today was my first time actually using it. Am I glad I had that! I took a water bottle at every aid station and filled the Aerodrink and I just sipped water like crazy. It was starting to get really hot so I knew I needed to stay hydrated.
There is a particular section of the course, when you take a right out of town and start a series of long, gradual climbs. That was by far the hottest section. It's wide open and the sun just beats down. Ugh. That's when I started thinking about how much the run was going to suck.
Overall this went pretty well.
What would you do differently?:

I probably should have backed it off a little, especially in the heat. I may have also drank too much because my stomach was sloshing water when I started the run.
Transition 2
  • 03m 12s
Comments:

The chute was crowded with people who wanted to walk their bikes into T2, and I wanted to jog, so this was a little annoying. I finally got around them and got to my rack, hung up the bike, helmet off, bike shoes off, sneakers on, visor on, Fuel Belt on, sunscreen on, and off I went.
What would you do differently?:

nothing
Run
  • 2h 35m 35s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 53s  min/mile
Comments:

I started out ok. I ran a 9:15 first mile and I thought "ok, slow it down a little" but then I didn't need to tell myself to slow down, I just did. After mile 1 I got a side stitch, much like last year. Crap. So I slowed to a shuffle and tried to work through it, and by the turnaround of lap 1 it did.start to go away. By then I was really feeling the heat and I had nothin goin up hills. I walked the hills. I hated to do it, but I had to. I ate and drank everything I saw. Coke, pretzels, water, orange slices. I kept 2 sponges in my top and re-soaked them every chance I got. Some of the residents along the course set up their own little aid stations and they were spraying people with hoses and squirt guns and providing buckets of water to wet our sponges in. Very nice.
About a mile into the 2nd loop this guy started running with me and we chatted to pass the time. It turns out he is doing LP this year too so we talked about that and other stuff. It made the 2nd loop go by much faster. Many thanks to my new friend Ed!
We ran the last mile in around 10 mins so I finished strong even if the rest of my run wasn't very good. Oh well.
What would you do differently?:

I think I did the best I could have today.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt like crap. And then had a very long walk back to the car with a bike that had a flat tire and a bag that weighed about 30lbs. Drove back to the cottage, ate a snack, then C and I went for a swim in the lake to cool off. Packed up the car and headed out.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat.

Event comments:

This is a very organized and well-supported race. Lots of volunteers, plenty to eat and drink out on the course, plenty of cops and marshalls, mile makers, arrows, plenty of portos in the transition area (very rare) and on the course, cool Moose goodies.




Last updated: 2007-12-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:08 | 2112 yards | 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/34
Overall: 551/723
Performance: Good
Suit: Promotion sleeveless
Course: I guess it was a rectangle of sorts
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 60F / 16C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:45
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:07:10 | 56 miles | 17.95 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/34
Overall: 364/723
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: 2 loops of rolling hills around Newfound Lake
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 03:12
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:35:35 | 13.1 miles | 11m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/34
Overall: 531/723
Performance: Below average
Course: 2 loops of hell along the lake
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
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? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5