login
 Swim
Comments: I started off really slow, on the advice of people who have done this race before. Swimming at higher elevations can cause breathing issues, and since I have them in open water to begin with, I wanted to start out even slower than normal and see how my body responded. I felt really comfortable as I started into my freestyle stroke. My original intent was to take about 30 strokes on each side before looking up to sight. As the swim went on, I found it necessary to pull up after 20, but that was okay. I don't swim straight, so it kept me from getting even further off track. As I got near each buoy, I was a little off line, so I rounded them pretty wide. However, I was comfortable enough that I didn't need to pause at them. I think it was the first race where I didn't make any physical contact with a buoy. The other good sign was that there were other people around me from my wave. I normally get so far behind on the swim that the only people around are from later waves. For once, I didn't feel like I was too far back. I got out of the water feeling pretty good. It wasn't a fast swim, but I wasn't drained from fighting the water, and my time was better than usual. It was my best OWS event to date. What would you do differently?: I could have adjusted a little better to compensate from swimming off line. I probably swam some extra distance because I got about 20-30 yards off of the buoy line.  Transition 1
Comments: Transition was tight, so I had a little trouble getting my stuff out and getting changed for the bike. Not a lot of urgency, either. Not a great transition.  Bike
Comments: I started off well and at a good pace. Passing was fairly easy and often until I settled into a place in the pack with riders traveling at similar speeds. My exertion level seemed a little higher than it should have, but I didn't feel like I was pressing too hard. The uphills started to get a little tougher close to the turnaround - I think there was a headwind picking up. On the way back, I manageed to get up to 46.2 mph on a long downhill. The trip back was definitely faster, but even so, I didn't feel like I had that extra burst that I am used to having. Looking back, I think this was due to the altitide. I finished the bike with a pretty good split. It wasn't a blistering ride, but it was solid. I ended up in the top third of the field for the bike. What would you do differently?: Nothing - it was a solid performance and pushing harder might have made the run even worse. Transition 2
Comments: Another slow transition, but no regrets. Bark saw me and was trying to go under the barricade to say hello - very cute. I said hi to Jenna and petted Bark and was on my way.  Run
Comments: The run started off okay, but I felt like my pacing was off a little. When I turned the corner to start up the long hill and the switchbacks, it was like I hit a wall. I couldn't get my breathing under control, and couldn't settle into a rhythm. I ended up having to do a lot of walking in this portion. After staving it off for a couple of hours, the elevation had finally caught up to me. I struggled the rest of the way. I just didn't have any push left. Post race
Warm down: Quickly grabbed my stuff and we headed for the car. We had a long drive ahead of us and I was looking forward to a shower and a meal. Event comments: Based on recent training improvements, I had harbored a secret goal of possibly breaking 3:00 for this race. At the very least, I wanted to best my Olympic PR of 3:36 from Havasu. Coming in at 3:17, I felt like I would have gotten it if it weren't for the lousy run. However, after thinking it through, I realize that this was probably not realistic. I was happy with my bike and swim, so the time would have had to come from transitions and the run. I could have saved two minutes at each transition, and still would have had to make up 13 minutes. That would mean that I would have needed to run at around a 10:00/mile pace for the entire run. While I can do that in a standalone training session on flat road, I just don't think it would have been possible under those conditions. I still think I have a sub-3:00 Oly in me, but not on that course on that day. I'll take the 20 minute reduction in Oly PR and call it a good race. Overall, a good race and a good experience. I just wanted to have fun, and I did. The swim and bike were good enough to compensate for a sub-par run. One of these days, it's going to all come together on the same day - I guess that promise is what keeps us coming back. Last updated: 2009-03-24 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
Mountain Man Triathlon
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 204/254
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 25/28
Staying at a hotel is a little different from most races. The travel time is less, but the preparation takes more time. The good thing about this trip was that the hotel was pet friendly, so we were able to bring Barkley. She usually is a little bit of a handful for Jenna, but she loves going to the races and we're all calmer when we don't have to worry about her being at home by herself. Since we had been to Flagstaff before, we just stayed at the hotel and relaxed. It was a pretty low-stress trip.
I was a little nervous about racing at altitude (7000 ft) and wondered how it might affect me. At the hotel there were a couple of times I went up a flight of stairs, and felt a little winded, which is really unusual. I did my best to put it out of my mind - if I ran into physical issues with the elevation, that was okay, but I didn't want to think myself into having a hard time.
I had everything packed the night before. In the morning, I went and got some coffee for Jenna and I. I packed the car, got dressed, we checked out of the hotel and went to the race site.
I saw Milton and Tom beforehand, chatted a bit, and set up transition. I stalled around a little bit too much, and ended up only putting my wetsuit on about 10-15 minutes before my wave started. I wandered down to the swim entry, found Milton again, and we went into the water together. Thankfully, Milton was able to tell me what buoys were the turns for the Oly.
I went under the water a few times to get my face used to the water, temperature, etc. I felt pretty comfortable, and didn't have any jitters when the race started.