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Cincinnati Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic


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Cincinnati, Ohio
United States
Cincinnati Triathlon
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 16/151
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/16
Pre-race routine:

Cup of black coffee, 1 slice peanut butter toast. Poop

Event warmup:

Well since you had to get yourself from transition to the swim entry upstream I jogged it and warmed-up at the same time.
Swim
  • 18m 27s
  • 1476 yards
  • 01m 15s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swimming in the river downtown is interesting. One - you'll notice my time is excellent (for me) but that's mostly due to the current carrying you downstream. Two - It's easy to go in a straight line if you breath on your right side because that's what side faces the bank. Three - there is other stuff floating downstream with you.

Overall swim went well. I got passed by a lot of the guys in my wave but that's ok - spoiler - I caught most of them in the other legs anyway!

Also, an Olympic Swim is supposed to be 1500 meters. This swim is only 1350 and is with the current. I realize there are only a few spots to get into and out of the river but I think they need to do something to make this 1500 meters.
What would you do differently?:

Not hit the log!
Transition 1
  • 01m 15s
Comments:

I don't quite have the jump-on-the-bike-barefoot skills down yet. Maybe by my next tri :)
Bike
  • 1h 13m 35s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 20.26 mile/hr
Comments:

I pushed it pretty/really hard on the bike. Sure my run suffered because of it but I think my time was better overall. I ended up finishing 3rd in my age group with a total time of 2:17!
Transition 2
  • 00m 52s
Comments:

So I tried to take my feet out of the shoes (for the first time) while still riding. I was only able to get one out successfully, the other one I pulled off after getting off the bike. This was still much better than running in cleats. I was still able to run barefoot and I slid my other shoe onto my aero bar.
What would you do differently?:

Get both feet out of the shoes. I will have to practice this :)
Run
  • 43m 24s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 07m  min/mile
Comments:

Run course was a bit crowded due to all the people running on it at the same time. The Friendship Park trail is weaving figure 8’s, so every hundred feet or so you had a choice of which path to go. It would have been nice to have signs at each intersection to know everyone took the same course.

I ran a little slower than I expected to but that was mainly due to how hard I pushed the bike. One thing I don't like about tris like this is all the people on the course who are at different stages of the race and started earlier or later than me. This doesn't give you the ability to really "chase down" your competitors.
What would you do differently?:

I think I could have pushed a little harder. Although I did start to feel my quads on the verge of cramping.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a little then did a slow 3 mile jog around downtown.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

n/a

Event comments:

This is a unique race, which I'm glad I have now completed. Even though it’s a newer race, it does a good job of getting the sport into the mainstream vocabulary in Cincinnati. I'm not sure if I will do it again though. Swimming in the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati is an adventure but always seems to be questionable about the safety of it. The “Great Ohio River Swim” which was scheduled for the day before was cancelled due to high bacteria. They said the bacterial was fine by Sunday which I’m sure it was, but the risk of cancelling the swim is always there – which would be very disappointing.

Also, this race is expensive! $110 for an Olympic Triathlon? That is by far the most expensive Olympic Triathlon price in the area (unless you count the Giant Eagle Tri in Columbus, which is in a completely different class of professionalism). I realize it does take a lot of people to put it on because of the dangers of the River and closing downtown streets and Columbia parkway. I guess that’s why it costs so much.

I’m not usually one to bitch about race shirts/ swag, but… This company (Tuscon Racing) is in bad need of a graphics designer! I did their Cincinnati Half Marathon (also a very expensive race) last fall and the shirt was an absolute joke it looked like it was probably designed in MS Word or PowerPoint – the worst designed shirt I have ever received from a race (even small 5K races). The Cincinnati Triathlon shirt was not as bad, but for a company that is taking such “official-sounding names” like The Cincinnati Triathlon and The Cincinnati Half Marathon they have an obligation to put out a good shirt (IMO). The Flying Pig has set a high precedence for cool shirts and the people of Cincinnati expect more. OK, that’s my rant about race shirts.

Overall I like this event, and I would like to see it grow. There are some hurdles it needs to overcome to join the ranks of legendary downtown races such as the Flying Pig and the Heart Mini Marathon.







Last updated: 2012-07-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:27 | 1476 yards | 01m 15s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 0/151
Performance: Good
Suit: 2XU Comp Shorts and Top
Course: Well it was in the Ohio river, which one day earlier was deemed to be unsafe due to bacteria levels. They said it was safe for the triathlon the next day so we swam in it! Since they didn't let you go too far out into the middle, there was a ton of debris on the course. While swimming under the Purple People bridge I thought I had run into a wall because there was a large "thud" that knocked my goggles sideways and I let out an involuntary scream underwater. I looked up saw that I had run into a huge log!
Start type: Wade Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:15
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:13:35 | 24.85 miles | 20.26 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 0/151
Performance: Good
According to Garmin it was 24.23 miles and I averaged 19.9 mph.
Wind: None
Course: Bike course was great. A great change of scenery from most (if not all) tris in the area - which are mostly rides through cornfields. Columbia Parkway was really cool to ride on while it was closed down. This was a great bike time/ avg pace for me. The roads were very smooth with rolling hills, but nothing too steep - except for that ramp going from Eggleston to Columbia Parkway
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:52
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:43:24 | 06.2 miles | 07m  min/mile
Age Group: 0/16
Overall: 0/151
Performance: Good
6.28 miles according to Garmin (6:55 pace)
Course: 2 laps of out and back on through friendship park then out and back on the Purple People Bridge.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %5
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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] 3

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2012-07-24 2:52 PM


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Subject: Cincinnati Triathlon - Olympic Course
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