Dominion's Sprint and Olympic Distance - OPEN !!! (Page 19)

Originally posted by rjchilds8 We went back to our "roots" for the Childs family 5K trophy this year. Besides vying for the family championship cup, I was also looking for redemption as the only family member to have run the race and never won a medal. Mission accomplished! A few years ago, they lengthened the 5K to 3.28 miles (and now call it "5K+") and pushed the start back to 8 a.m. After that, we looked for a different race to run. But last year, the race we had run for 2 years didn't hold the event and we went without a champion in 2015. So I floated the idea of going back to Manchester (VT) and it was game on! I was pretty confident that it would take a major disaster for me to lose the family cup. My younger brother hadn't been doing any running and my older brother had fallen off his training, so I was mostly competing against myself and my age group for that elusive podium finish! I had run a time trail on the treadmill at the 3.3 distance and clocked in at 25:43, so I knew what I was capable of. I just had to put in the effort and race day. I knew the course very well and there weren't going to be any significant hills. I didn't really hold back and was fast (for me) out of the gate. My first mile was 7:32. I knew I couldn't keep up that pace, but it gave me a cushion that I would need later. One guy and I traded positions a couple times in that first mile, but he pulled ahead just after the Mile 1 marker and I just settled in on his heels. The gap between us fluctuated by a few feet, but largely I stayed right behind him and finished mile 2 in 7:51. Slightly under my time trial pace, but acceptable with the time I gained in mile 1. About 2 1/4 miles in I finally started to feel the effects of the pace, but I did my best to keep pushing. The guy whose heels I had been chasing slowly started to pull ahead of me. We entered some woods for a short while and I let him go and kept my pace up as best as possible. Coming out of the woods, I knew I was on the home stretch, right about the mile 3 mark. I took a look over my shoulder an could see one guy in a white t-shirt maybe 70-100 yards behind me. I didn't want him to even sniff a hint of confidence that he could catch me and put the hammer down a little. I finished mile 3 in 8:06 and cranked it up to run the last 0.28 at 7:14/mile pace! The end result was a 17th overall finish and FIRST in my age group! I was so thrilled! It wasn't until later that day that I realized I had only won my age group by a mere 4 seconds. Thank you, random guy in a white t-shirt. The sight of you behind me is probably the motivation I needed to to push my pace at the end. ;-)

Originally posted by burner2 Palouse Sprint Triathlon 500 yards/9.3 miles/5K 1:36:10? So, this was an interesting race. I thought it was at an indoor pool, but it turns out it was an outdoor pool at a small aquatic park. It was a pretty nice facility, with a 25-yard, six-lane pool on one end, and a kids’ wading pool with lots of toys and slides on the other end. Two different transitions: one in the parking lot outside the pool where we racked our bikes, and the other two blocks down the street at the junior high school, where we left our run gear. I’m not sure why they had two transitions since the aquatic center was closed for the season, so it’s not like anyone else needed to use the parking lot, but whatever! The aquatic park was enclosed by a tall chainlink fence, and the swim exit was through a gate about five or six feet wide, with the timing mat just behind it. I was in the third heat, sharing a lane with two other women. I self-seeded myself second, which turned out to be the right choice because I actually was the second fastest (slowest?) swimmer in the group. The first swimmer took off, and I followed five seconds behind her, with the third woman five seconds behind me. I didn’t have any issues with the swim. Half way through, I took a quick look at the clock, and it showed 6:31, so I was swimming faster than I had expected (about 2:30/100 yards). After my ten laps, I got out of the pool and ran for the exit. It was completely blocked! Two toddlers had pushed two strollers across it and stopped. Behind them were a half dozen other toddlers and kids of various sizes, and they all must have been orphans because there were no parents in sight. I screamed “Clear the exit! Clear the exit!” But the kids just stood there and stared at me with wide eyes and gaping mouths. The volunteer staffing the gate just sat there and did nothing. “MOVE!” I screamed and motioned for them to move aside. They just stood there; not one of them moved. I didn’t know what to do, and my exit was completely blocked, clear out past the timing mat. There was no other way for me to get out, so I just plowed through them, pushing them to the side. I appreciate kids and love seeing them at races, but no parent would take their children to a football game and allow them to play on the field during the game, would they? So why do they let them play on our “field” during our events? I was so angry! I couldn’t believe the race organizers allowed this to happen! I fully expected to be disqualified for unsportsmanlike behavior, even though I used “polite” language and refrained from the more colorful words that more fully expressed my anger. However, I did try to be gentle as I moved through the knee-high crowd, and I didn't hear any crying or yelling as I ran past to transition. In fact, I was VERY AWARE at that moment that the announcer said NOTHING and didn't warn parents about keeping their children out of the way! That was unacceptable! I grabbed my bike and headed out transition. There was no marked mount area, so I had to stop and ask a volunteer. Apparently, it was OK to mount as soon as we exited the bike corral, so I hopped on and headed for the street. I had no idea which way to go. Turn left? Or right? Again, I had to stop and ask a volunteer. I headed out in the direction he pointed, and as I passed a side street a block later, I saw a mileage marker sign on a sandwich board. Wait, what? I rode another couple of blocks, and then got concerned I was heading in the wrong direction, so I turned around and went back to ask whether I was supposed to go down the side street or continue on the street I was on. The other competitors I asked didn’t know for sure, either, but said they thought maybe we kept going straight, so we did. It turns out the sandwich board was for ANOTHER event taking place the following day. Good grief! How confusing! So, I got straightened out on the route, and the rest of the ride was well marked with both volunteers to point the way and markings on the pavement. However, the ride was really disappointing. Fat people on mountain bikes cruised past me like I was relaxing on a sofa stuffing chips in my mouth. No matter how hard I pushed myself, I couldn’t pass a single person. The wind was pretty strong, too. There are no trees in that area of the country; just wheat fields and wind. And rolling hills. It was not fun. The run was pretty uneventful, except I was painfully slow. This was the only part of the event for which I used my Garmin, and I could see I was way off my usual pace, which is slow to begin with, but this was cringe-worthy slow. And it hurt. I was wondering if I would be able to tell I hadn’t trained in a month during this race, and boy! could I see a difference! And again, the entire route was marked for TWO other events, but fortunately, they had plenty of volunteers to keep us going in the right direction. I stuck it out and just pushed myself as hard as I could. About the last half mile or so, I caught up with another woman. I thought I recognized her. She was alternating walking/slow jogging, and we chatted for a bit. We didn’t have our ages on our calves for this race, so I wasn’t sure if she was in my age group, but I thought she was. When we got within about a hundred yards of the finish line, she picked up her pace and cruised past me as fresh as if she was just starting her run. I tried to challenge her, but I was done. I just didn’t have it in me, and she crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of me. It turns out she WAS in my age group, and when they posted the official times, she was listed in second, and me in third. Well, that’s something at least, right? They didn’t give out finisher’s medals at this race, but they did give out awards medals. I wasn't happy that there were only eight seconds between me and second place, especially given the problems I'd had, but a medal is a medal. I had been attending church camp at Lake Coeur d’Alene this weekend and just drove down for the race, planning to head right back to camp to spend time with my friends. However, since I had placed, I wanted to wait around to get my medal, even though it was a couple hours drive back. They wouldn’t give out medals until the award ceremony that afternoon, and if you didn’t attend, you wouldn’t get a medal. Fine. I had five hours to kill (seriously!), so I took a shower and headed downtown for lunch, only to find the entire town was closed off for some festival or something. Thousands and thousands of people and no parking and thousands and thousands of people milling around in a tiny, tiny town. It wasn’t worth it. I don’t like crowds and I didn’t want to wait for food and I was tired and sore and cranky, so I headed back to the event venue to wait for the award ceremony and snacked on (more!) granola bars. They had a kids triathlon going on, and it would be fun to watch, so that was something. And it was fun to watch! They had kids as young as five competing, and they all got finishers medals and everybody cheered them on. Finally, the award ceremony started, and I waited patiently while they got to my age group. I stood up, ready to go up when my name was called, and instead, they called three names that didn’t include mine. The woman who had been listed as second got third, and two other women (who didn’t show up for the award ceremony) got first and second. Good grief! I waited five hours! And nothing! I don’t know what happened. I’m guessing a woman had perhaps registered in the wrong age group and it was corrected between the race finish and the ceremony. In any event, I ended up out of medal contention, and I’m pretty angry still about what happened. Having the swim exit blocked cost me time, and the beginning of the bike course not being marked cost me time. I figure I lost at least five minutes dealing with all this. However, in all honesty, I don’t know that I would have placed higher if those issues hadn’t happened because others may have experienced them, too. It could be the woman who ran past me had the same problems and just overcame them better than I. The “official” official results aren’t out yet, but I believe my time was 1:36:10, which is pretty embarrassing for a 500 yard/9.3 mile/5K triathlon and about 20 minutes slower than I expected. I forgot to hit stop on my Garmin at the finish of the run, but I think my time for the 5K is around 40 minutes, which means it’s the slowest 5K I’ve run since 2014. Yes, not having trained in four weeks HAS made a difference! I came back from Burning Man fat, exhausted, and out of shape. I know now not to race too soon getting home!

Originally posted by nrpoulin Did the White lake fall race today. Its the same as the spring course, and marks the 3rd time I've raced it. It was hot and humid but could have been worse. Earlier this year I shaved 14 minutes from two years ago and today I took an additional 1:45 off. Mostly in transition and swim. Had a better swim today, just over a minute faster than the spring. Didn't mess with a wetsuit (water to hot anyway). Lack of wet suit also resulted in the 1 minute reduction in T1. Bike went well. tweaked my hamstring less than an mile in but it started to feel better by mile 2. Pushed it at times surging to 25.6 to pass a group of riders on a couple occasions. Overall on a few seconds faster than the spring. Transition 2 10 sec faster than spring. Headed out for the run and just felt heavy. Thought I would loosen up but just felt heavy the whole way. Only 26 sec slower than the spring. Overall a decent performance for me. Still got housed in my AG. Here is my BT report http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Originally posted by Dominion

Great Race and great write-up! So was the guy in the T-shirt the same guy that you beat by 4 seconds for the win? Congrats on the Family Cup as well. I think you are starting a dynasty Give your brothers my contact info and I will try to coach em up

Originally posted by Dominion

Knowing the course and which way to go out of transition is on you. Always make sure you know where and which way to go, at least to get started, then you can follow signage or other racers. The deal with the gate and the kids. Unacceptable in my opinion, especially if there was a volunteer right there and they did nothing.  I'm sure I would have reacted the same way you did, and pushed my way through. I'd probably send a follow-up email to the RD, if for no other reason than to make them aware that it was a problem and maybe they can be sure to address it in the future.

Originally posted by burner2 I’ve been doing some research to try to figure out why heavier people on mountain bikes can pass me so easily because this is an issue that has bugged me for quite some time. They don’t always pass me slowly, with the rider struggling, but rather, they pass me as if I’m a spectator, just sitting on the sidelines. It’s not something that happens occasionally, but rather something that happens with great regularity, and not just during races. I get passed all the time when I’m out training, too! I’ll be busting my buns, keeping my cadence high, riding in aero, and someone with a significantly higher BMI will cruise past me on a mountain bike with fat, knobby tires, sitting near vertical on their bike, pedaling like they’re out for a Sunday ride with the kids. I don’t get it! Looking at just the bikes, road bikes are lighter, have less rolling resistance, and are (generally) higher geared than mountain bikes, so they tend to be quite a bit faster. One website I read estimated road bikes to be about 32% faster than mountain bikes (http://bikecalculator.com/examples.html). This is a significant difference! All things being equal, a rider on a road or tri bike should be way faster than someone on a mountain bike. And then taking weight into consideration, according to Bicycle.com (http://www.bicycling.com/food/reach-your-ideal-cycling-weight), “the single best measure of your cycling performance is your power-to-weight ratio.” I don’t know my power ratio, but I know I’m a lot lighter than many of the people who pass me so easily, so logically (I think), I should be faster, right? Especially considering a rider who not only has a significantly higher BMI than me, but is also on a mountain bike, which is theoretically 2/3 the speed of my bike. On the other hand, I have to admit I’m making a flawed assumption that people who ride mountain bikes during road triathlons tend to be those new to the sport, so therefore are trying it out to see if it’s for them before replacing their existing bikes, or those who race recreationally just for fun (versus those of us who race recreationally for fun and to annihilate our competition…I mean, beat our previous personal bests) and therefore have less time training than me. This also makes it hard for me to comprehend the whole power-to-weight ratio thing which suggests that these triathletes who pass me so easily on their mountain bikes must be considerably stronger than I, and therefore able to pedal not only with more power than me, but enough power to compensate for their slower bikes and wind resistance. I just don’t get this. So what am I doing wrong? Or, what are they doing so right that makes it so easy for them to pass me when I have the advantage of a faster bike, aerodynamics, and weight? I don’t get it. Is it a strength issue? I've been training pretty hard for 2 1/2 years now; my legs are pretty rock hard, so I have a hard time believing I'm just not strong enough to produce the power needed to keep up with people on mountain bikes.

Originally posted by nrpoulin I'm riding my QR Kilo. Curious why you asked what bike I was using? One of these days I am gonna try to go all out on the bike and see what happens. Not like I will ruin my chances of winning!

Originally posted by nrpoulin I was a little surprised at my average speed because everytime I looked down I was going 21+ with a few bursts upto 25. I probably corner a little slower than most but considering I almost took out some cones thats a good thing. I need to ride more consistently if I am to get better in this aspect of triathlon. Although there are group rides with people that are faster, if I do ride on the weekend with friends then are typically in the 17-18 mph range which is a little to slow unless I am going to go out for 2 hours. Nate

Originally posted by nrpoulin looks like I will be on the cusp of placing in the NCTS series. There is a minimum of 5 races required and I will get that with my next race. The top five in each age group get an award. I have registered for the Oly where there is 8 people in my age group. Two have out preformed me this year, and a head on the standings. The sprint has two in my age group. Scores are calculated by finding the average time in seconds for the top 5 in the AG and then dividing this time by your time. For this sprint this is multiplied by 0.9 and the Olympic by 0.93. I am torn between staying in the Olympic vs dropping down to the sprint. The sprint gives we the possibility of hitting the podium, and due to the way its scored improves my chances of getting series prize. I can also try my all out bike strategy. The olympic will by my second race at this distance this year, and third ever. I am training for a half marathon and my run volume has fallen off and I really need to build and race thru. The longer distance will be a better workout. Thoughts? Glory or Big Picture... Nate

Originally posted by nrpoulin

The olympic will by my second race at this distance this year, and third ever. I am training for a half marathon and my run volume has fallen off and I really need to build and race thru. The longer distance will be a better workout.

Thoughts? Glory or Big Picture...

Nate

Originally posted by rjchilds8 Finished up my tri season... Nearly 20% of the top 61 times were in the M45-49 group! Sadly, I would have medaled in a couple of the younger groups!

Originally posted by HelmoAlkou

I have more of those "sigh, not bad" end of the season races than any other kind. Congrats on another good season! Hurry up and join me in the 50+ group!

Originally posted by rjchilds8 I'm OK with it. I knew I was giving up some tri training to focus on running. I know that I easily could have done better if I had only been focused on triathlon training leading up to that race. Don't rush me into that 50+ group, Monty! I'm going to try to enjoy racing in one of the toughest groups out there for another season next year. Although, to be honest, it isn't like it suddenly gets easy in the 50-54 age group. It won't be like I'll magically be contending for a podium spot all of a sudden. I see a lot of those guys pass me on the bike! ;-)

Originally posted by HelmoAlkou

Lets all meet up and do this!!

Ultra Runner Karl Meltzen

Originally posted by HelmoAlkou

Brownie Finish

Originally posted by Dominion

This was great!

I plastered this video on my FB and Twitter. Always been a huge fan of the Brownlee's.