Swim
Comments: Swim was in the James River at the ferry landing near the Jamestown settlement. The water was flat and calm- no issues. I was in the 2nd wave and started toward the back. Only minor bumping during the start and throughout the race. Overall it was a pretty standard swim- felt pretty good but wasn't very successful finding feet to draft on. My time was a little slow, but I think everyone's was.. I believe the swim time included the run to transition. Transition 1
Comments: Another slow transition.. probably lost about 2 minutes here.. just need to practice this. Bike
Comments: I was very pleased with my bike time- this exceeded my expectations by far. I've been trying to focus on improving my biking throughout last year's off-season and this year, but this was my first race since last May. I have been averaging 17-ish on training rides, though they have primarily been on trails with a lot of starting and stopping. So I didn't know exactly what to expect.. I was hoping for an 18-mph average. Conditions were pretty ideal- light winds and mild temps. It was a fast course- some rolling portions and a couple of minor climbs, but mostly flat. Most of the course was on smooth country roads, though there were a couple of bumpy sections. I was surprised to be 20+ during my first 10 miles and wanted to hold it as long as I could. Fortunately I kept feeling good during the ride and was able to stick with it. Nutrition was good, though I started to get a little hungry during the last 15-20 miles.. probably needed to add another gel or two during the ride (took three total). I think the distance was a little long.. my 305 had 57 miles, and a 20.4 ave mph. 10: 29:40 (20.2) 20: 30:14 (19.8) 30: 29:33 (20.3) 40: 28:51 (20.8) 50: 28:51 (20.8) 57: 18:53 (20.9) What would you do differently?: Fitness was good, but my neck and upper back were pretty sore during the last 10-15 miles, so I needed to come out of the bars and stretch more than I would have liked. Also may need to tweak my seat height. Might be worth a re-fitting and experimentation with some different saddles. And hey, maybe I can justify race wheels for the next race.. Transition 2
Comments: Was OK.. probably lost about 45 sec here, but not as crap-tastic as my typical transition. Run
Comments: The run course was interesting- lots of turnarounds and switchbacks.. but I liked it, especially the 3-4 miles on a gravel trail through the woods. The course was very flat, with only a couple of small inclines throughout. I started out way too fast- I really had to force myself to settle down. After the first mile, I got into a rhythm through about mile 8. At that point I was starting to hurt (a little bit of GI issue) and thought I might need to walk for a few minutes.. fortunately I was able to push through it.. started feeling better by mile 10 or so and was able to bring it home pretty comfortably after that. I did start feeling twinges of hamstring cramps at about mile 11 and had a lot of salt on my shorts- same thing as Lake Placid. I need to do some experimenting with the salt tabs in prep for the Nov. IM. Overall, though, I was happy with the run, especially after pushing it on the bike. 1: 7:40 2: 8:17 3: 8:04 4: 8:07 5: 8:05 6: 8:11 7: 7:57 8: 8:14 9: 8:38 10: 8:38 11: 8:25 12: 8:12 13: 8:00 What would you do differently?: Start out slower. Post race
Event comments: Overall this was a good confidence builder going into the peak period for IMAZ.. I would definitely do this race again- setup did a terrific job with the race execution, especially since they had to make a late change to the run course for reasons beyond their control. Last updated: 2009-03-07 12:00 AM
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United States
Setup Events
84F / 29C
Overall Rank = 71/491
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 13/61
Arrived in Williamsburg Friday night and got equipment ready. Got up about 5AM, had a bagel and loaded up.