Dominion's Sprint/Oly/70.3 Group--Closed (Page 30)

Thanks, Chris. I was pretty severely sleep deprived by the time I got home and have been doing nothing but working and sleeping since. It was two days by train there, and two days by train back. I got home at around 3:00 a.m., washed all my gear, and then went straight to work. Have to say, though, being severely sleep deprived seemed to have really helped my coding skills at work. My boss said I should do it more often!

Traveling by Amtrak is a great way to get to events, if you ever have the opportunity. The round trip ticket was cheaper than flying or driving, and it was only $10 each way to ship my bike. I only had to take the handle bar and pedals off and roll it into the Amtrak bike box, so it was pretty easy to pack. And I got to talk to lots of interesting people and see a lot more of the country than I would if I had been driving.

I also stayed at an AirBnB, which was really cheap. It was only three miles from the event venue, so it was really convenient, and my host was really accommodating. There were a few other triathletes there, too, which made it more interesting. In all, transportation for me and my bike and the AirBnB was under $400. And you can't beat that for a six-day vacation!

Thanks, Nate. You can email it to me at [email protected] if you come across it. Don't go out of your way to find it, but if you come across it you can send it to me. It happened to me once maybe 6-8 weeks ago and then during the Oly swim. Other than that, it hasn't happened any other times. If it happens a 3rd time, then I'll have to go talk to my doctor.

Great job, Cassandra! Very impressive to have done both races back-to-back. I'm sure there is no way I could have finished a sprint the day after my Olympic, so my hat's off to you!

Awesome job Cass. Was worried when we hadn't heard anything.

Randy will look when I get back home.

My race went well and I will have a report up after I get back.

Nate

Well, it was only by 52 seconds, but I set my PR at the sprint distance today. I think it would have been a bigger difference if I hadn't done my Olympic last weekend, but it was still a PR and more importantly I had a good time.

Pre-race: Got to the venue about an hour before the race. Got my race packet, body marked, got my timing chip, and set up in transition. I was just about to head down to the beach when the PA announcer said they were closing the swim area in 5 minutes. What?! Forty minutes before the start?! Grrrr! I think that is excessive. It meant I couldn't get a swim warm up in and would have to start cold.

Swim: Knowing this was a short swim (only 0.25 mile), I had decided I'd go somewhat hard on the swim. After all, I had just finished a 0.9 mile swim, right? Bad idea! I went too hard (coupled with no warm up) and was gasping for air about half way into the swim. As much as I hated to, I had to flip over to my back. In fact, I had to do that 2 or 3 times. My swim wasn't horrible at 8:31, but it wasn't what I was expecting (and 0:27 slower than last year). Still, it was good enough for 130/249 and 14/19 AG.

T1: It was a relatively long run from the beach, up a hill, and into transition. T1 went fairly smoothly, nothing interesting to report. My time of 3:01 was almost exactly the same as last year. Transition times were not ranked.

Bike: I think this is where the Olympic hurt me the most. It wasn't the hardest course, but at times my legs felt like it was. A little less than half way in I think I hit a bit of a wall. I took an energy gel and that gave me a little boost, but it faded somewhat quickly. From a riding perspective, my race was pretty clean. I had a mishap on one corner. I went a little wide to avoid some sand and loose rocks on the edge of the road only to realize there was a big patch of sand in the middle of the road and I was heading right for it. I had to swerve over the yellow line to avoid it. Luckily, there were no cars coming. For 13.57 miles, my time was 48:51, which was 54 seconds *slower* than last year when I was riding my bike from Walmart! That was good enough for 149/249 and 14/19 AG.

T2: Again, things went fairly smoothly. I landed my flying dismount nicely and jogged through transition. Same as T1, my time was pretty close to last year, just 12 seconds faster today. Part of that was probably due to the flying dismount vs. last year I stopped completely to get off the bike.

Run: This race had the 1.0-1.5 miles of the run on a trail around the lake. Much better than the "trail" from my first tri this year. I could feel tightness in my calf shortly after leaving transition, so I decided to proactively stop and stretch. 15-20 seconds and I was on my way. I had the best run off the bike I've had in any of my 5 career triathlons! Excluding when I stopped to stretch or for 1 water stop, I don't think I was passed on the run other than by 2 people that were running as part of a relay team. I believe I passed one of them back in the last 200 yards!

The only mistake on the run was that they changed the run course and I had never bothered to look at the map. I had intended to jack up my pace for the last half km or so. When I saw the entrance to the park, I figured I was close so I started to hammer. Then I looked up and noticed volunteers were directing runners AWAY from the finish line! They must have added an extra 1/4 mile or so to the run. Still, I kept up a pretty good pace. My splits were 9:20, 9:01, and 7:44. Talk about a negative split! I finished the 3.0 mile run in 26:06, good for 130/249 and 11/19 AG. Slow by the standards of some others, but fast for me. I took almost 2 full minutes off my time from last year.

Overall time was 1:28:04, which was 136/249 and 12/19 AG. I'd really like to do this race next year when I'm better rested, but I'm still happy with a new PR.

Race report: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-view-container.asp?...

Edited by rjchilds8 2015-08-16 5:58 PM

Hey Everyone,

I ran a 5K today. It was sponsored by McDonald's for their Ronald McDonald House charity. I managed to do well finishing in 22:37 which was good enough for 2nd in my AG. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Enrique

Nicely Done!

Nice race report. BTW, I'm using Airbnb for my upcoming HIM. It will cost me only $70 instead of $250 for a night's stay

Cass, you are a BEAST! and you're my HERO! Rock on, sister!!!

Great job Randy and Enrique

Nate

Race Report: West Plains Wunderwoman Olympic Triathlon
3:48:31

I made the two-hour trip to Spokane on Friday to pick up my race packet, and on the way home, witnessed a huge wildfire cresting a ridge on the other side of the valley. Within 45 minutes, it was over the ridge and down the mountain to the valley's edge, threatening farms, homes, and businesses. As a result, the air is thick with smoke, and the friend I'd been planning to race with canceled because of asthma. I was concerned the fire would block my route to the event venue Sunday morning and scouted alternative routes (none--too many fires!), but fortunately, firefighters have been able to restrict it to the far side of the valley. However, the valley and mountainside were all aglow as I drove through it early Sunday morning, and the air was still thick with smoke.

This was my eight and last triathlon of the year. I was pretty tired from the three previous races in the past couple of weeks and had spent the week resting, instead of training. However, I woke up with my back really hurting (this is unusual for me), so I tossed my bottle of hydrocodone in my transition bag. I got there early enough to grab one of the few coveted parking spots and set up my transition area. This race is one of the two women-only races in the area and always lots of fun. The Olympic field was much smaller than the Sprint, so we had a small section of the transition area all to ourselves. And happily, the area was smoke free, so no air quality concerns.

I took a hydrocodone pre-race, but my back was still spasming pretty bad. I just tried to ignore it while I waited for the meds to kick in. The swim went well enough. My back didn't bother me once the starter gun went off. I didn't have any issues other than a woman who kept going off course and twice swam UNDER me, and then tried to correct her course and swam back UNDER me again. Odd, but whatever. I was the last Olympic swimmer out of the water and also last out of T1, but right on the heels of two other women. Swim time: 41:19.4; T1 time: 3:54.0.

I'd forgotten my bike computer, so I didn't know how fast I was going, but I rode as fast as I could and passed a few Olympic competitors, so I was happy I was no longer last. A couple of women and I had a bit of a battle for the "lead" among us back-of-the-packers. I maintained it from the halfway turnaround until about the last five miles, and then my back was hurting again and I just couldn't keep it up. Bike time: 1:40:58.5. Definitely not my best time! Especially for a relatively flat course.

I couldn't run off the bike. I tried, but my legs just wouldn't do it. I walked to transition, using my bike for support. I grabbed another hydrocodone and had to stop for a blue room break, which involved running out of transition, around the fence, and through the spectators, and then reversing the run, across the transition area, and out the Run Out exit. I have no idea why they designed the transition area that way--it made no sense! Why not have two of the blue rooms inside the transition area?!?!? Or, at least, have it more accessible? In any event, because of the way it was set up, I didn't get a separate time for T2. I'm guessing it was included with my run time, but it could have been with my bike.

My back was still hurting, but I hitched up my big girl panties and ran as best I could. All of the Olympic competitors had passed me in T2 so I was dead last again, but I passed several during the run, which is a first for me! I even passed a woman in my own age group! I was NOT the slowest runner! Woohoo! The run was two laps around the lake, and on the second lap, I knew I was slowing down, so I kept looking behind me to see if anyone was catching up. I didn't see anybody, but that was OK--I kept pushing as hard as I could. I was NOT going to let anyone pass me! I had two goals this race--first, finish in under four hours, and second, not be last. In the end, I finished 51/57 and 8/9! And under four hours! My first two Olys I finished dead last; my last two, I did not finish last! Success! T2 + Run time: 1:22:18.1. Not bad for running exhausted and with a hurting back!

So, one of the things that became glaringly apparent to me as I transitioned from sprint to Olympic distance this year is swimming is definitely my weakness. I'd thought it was a strength, but with the longer swimming distances, I can see that I'm not just a little slower than everyone else--I'm a LOT slower. I think if I can increase my swim speed and improve the START of my races, then my bike and run times will improve, as well. It's a lot harder to stay motivated when you start the race dead last and stay dead last, racing alone, as I did during my first two Olys. I did my best, yes, but when there's someone to race against, there's more incentive to push myself and give more than I might otherwise think possible. I was really hurting my last two Olys, but I really pushed myself because I had attainable goals, unlike my first two where I was so far behind, I couldn't even see anyone.

I'm taking the next six weeks off from any structured training and also from swimming. I'll run and probably do some mountain biking and maybe some hiking, and I've got Burning Man coming up next week (woohoo!). That always involves a lot of biking as the city is restricted to pedestrian and bicycle traffic only, without a special permit. And, then a couple of runs in September, including my first ten-mile race--the Sundae Sunday Ten Miler. And who wouldn't want to run for a Ben & Jerry's ice cream sundae?

Great race and a great way to end your season! I still have a few left before I'm done. I added a duathlon to my schedule. 5k run 30k bike 5k run, it's part of the powerman race series and I think they might be having a hard time getting folks to sign up as the price went down. But that's just speculation. It should be fun! My Oly is 2 weeks before the Du and 2.5 weeks after my sprint. Then I have 300m swim in a pool, 20k bike and 5k run the first weekend of October. It was a sweltering 38 degrees F last year lol! All proceeds go to help keep the only indoor pool in 3 counties open.

Scott

I ran the timberman triathlon in NH this past weekend. It was a sprint associated with the IM 70.3 race. I selected this race as part of a vacation and the desire to compete in a big race. This was my 9th sprint tri and my fifth this year.

I had a bit of a cold and kept the week light before the race. I did scope out the course and felt the bike would be challenging. My race plan was hard swim, go easy on bike, and hard run.

I had my bike tuned at the Ironman village and scoped out the booths Friday before the race.
On race morning my watch (tom tom) blacked out. it does this sometimes with a full battery, very annoying. The setup my TA and talked with a few other athletes. They planned to use the same TZ for the 70.3 the next day so it was a big area. The race was wetsuit legal and I got into my suit and swam a few hundred yards. My wave was the first to start I would guess 150-200 in the first group. I started to the far outside of the front. The course was out, down the beach, and then into shore. I got pushed a little to far outside as the guy on my inside shoulder was fading left. I sped up and got in front and cut in. At the bouy things got really crowded and the swim was stop and go as someone would stop and cause a chain reaction. We were swimming into the sun and I had trouble sighting here. Eventually found some space, at the final bouy I concentrated on turnover and rotation and drove home the last leg. Swam till my hands hit bottom. I covered the 0.3miles and the run into TZ in 9:31 84th of 549, and 10th of 48 in my AG. This was my fastest swim pace to date (1:44/100y)

considering size of tz and removing wetsuit I was happy with a 3:22 in TZ. I did have some difficulty mounting my bike. Never had this problem before

The bike started with a climb then a downhill, a flat segment, a hill a downhill, a hill a downhill, flat, then a hill and down hill. one of the climbs
was 3 miles. I was either going 10mph or 30mph. I maxed at 36mph and passed a motorcycle . At 30+ mph I was being passed easily. I really took it easy saving myself for later. My average speed of 16.66 is my second slowest bike (the other one I had to do a road side repair). I thing I went a little to easy. I did pass a couple but got passed by 1-2 dozen. I covered the 15 miles in 54:01. 21st in AG and 174 overall.

Pretty happy with t2 of 1:56. Stopped to stretch the legs a little

Onto the run the course was uphill for the first half and then down hill. I tried to keep my own pace. Gave a High Five to the kids as I left TZ. Settled into my pace but wasn't sure what it was because i had no watch. Kept telling myself I was going faster than I thought despite the number of people passing me. Kept my stride short on the up hills. At mile 1 i sped up a little as I was feeling good, and at the turn around I lengthened my stride. Picked up the pace some more at mile 2, and again at 2.5 as I felt like I had a decent amount left in the tank. As I turned off the road to push for the finish I sped up and tweaked my hamstring and hobble sprinted to the finish. Covered the 5k in 26:28. My second fastest 5k split in a Tri (fastest being the one with the slowest bike). For the run I was 25th in AG and 261 overall.

Overall I was 177 and 20th in AG. I met my goal of being in the middle of the pack. I also determined that like many have suggested I push to hard on the bike to run well. That being said I had to much left at the end and I shave more time with a faster bike and slower run, then with a slow bike and a faster run.

Great experience, lots of fun, learned something, and met my goals. Got a little of the ironman fever learning that they were projecting 2000 athletes for the 70.3

Started to drive back after the race and did my first run today. Hamstring felt fine. One more race this year if I can stay healthy

here is my bt report http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Edited by nrpoulin 2015-08-18 10:46 PM

Nice job, Nate! I also go through the question in my head of whether it is better to give extra effort on the bike or the run. For me, in my last race I passed more people on the run that I ever have on the bike (plus, bike is probably my weakest sport). I guess as long as you accomplished your goal, that is the important part.

I didn't realize they did a sprint up there the day before the Timberman 70.3. I have considered training for the 70.3 event in a couple years after I've done a couple more Olympics. Someone said Lake Winnipesaukee was very clean. What was your take? I was thinking at some point next year I'd go up and just check out the bike course on a random weekend. Do you think the hills were tough overall or just tough because you are used to a flatter course?

Very nice run, by the way!

Randy

I have just completed my first Olympic distance at the London tri. It was surprisingly enjoyable, not least due to all the advice from here.

The traffic leading up to the event was terrible so I don't get a chance to wander the expo, but was in plenty of time to track my bike and get ready for my wave. Racking was quite difficult as there are numbered rows but no defined slots, so it felt as if my bike was too close to other bikes and there wasn't much space for my kit.
Anyway got to the briefing in time with wetsuit on. Had to get help zipping it up, always struggle to do that on my own.
It was a deep water start, which I prefer as it takes my time to get use to the conditions when your face is in the water. Swim was pretty good. I started at the back, but soon found I was passing more than passed me. I might start further up the field in future as I found I swam into a lot of feet which broke my rhythm. I also noticed from my gamin after the race how erratic my direction was. Something to work on! My swim time was 36:25

T1 was fine, and onto the bike. It was a great bike course some very technical turns and then long straights.
During the last month I had spent more time on my bike than before so although I still don't think I'm fast enough I didn't get the usual cramp. I'm going to try clipless pedals next year. Unfortunately I still won't be able to afford a descent bike.
Bike time was, I thought a respectable (?) 1:21:54

T2 was quick, one advantage of riding in running trainers.
I felt really good starting on the run course. I had read from UK pro Emma Pallent how important it is to not shuffle and be bent over when running so I concentrated on that, and managed a not to bad 10k (think the final course length was a shade under) in 47:54 mins.

In fact my bike and run time was so good compared to my estimated time that my family missed my entire run and finish!
Finish time was 2:54:41 which considering I was aiming at 3:30 to 4 hours was great.

So my season finished on a high! Now after a break I'll be into planning my off season.

One final thing I really enjoy this group, I don't wouldn't have gotten the good time I did without the advice here so thanks to all.

Congrats, Tony!!! Wow! A half hour better than you hoped for! You must feel amazing right now! Rock on!!

Great job, Tony! I agree, coming in more than 30 minutes below your estimated time must have felt fantastic!

Nice. I ran a 5K last weekend too. My friend from work and I finished 1st and 2nd in our Age Group.  We started out side by side and I went out a little faster. I figured he would be pretty close somewhere as I estimated running in the 21's and figured he would probably be around 23.  At the halfway point, I started looking around behind me and didn't see him, then I looked up and there he was 20 yards in front of me! I had never seen him whenever he passed me. I guess I was in my own little world, kind of like that run course sign I missed at my last tri. Maybe I need to start paying more attention when running?!?

Anyway, he had a little gap and I figured that if I hadn't seen him before and now he was just in front of me, that he must be tiring and that I would just hold my pace and pass him. Funny how your mind gets so cloudy sometimes when running. So at 2 miles same gap, at 2.5 he still had the same gap. Now I'm thinking, "how am I going to explain this to the guys at work."  They know me to be "the endurance guy" even though my friend also runs and works out, plus he is just one of those genetic freaks, played D1 college basketball, etc. 

So we make the final turn and the finish is 3 tenths ahead. Something just snapped and I took off. He didn't respond and I beat him by 11 seconds. We have another in December and if he trains a little more, I could be in trouble. Oh well, the curse of trying to train for 3 sports at one time and being master of none I guess.

Edited by Dominion 2015-08-22 11:38 AM

Nate,

Great race report!

The more you race, the more you learn, and the more you can fine tune at what pace you should be at during different points of the race. I agree though that generally there is more time to be gained from a faster bike and a little slower run. It's not for everybody but like Scott said in an earlier post, I like to go as hard as I can on the bike and worry about the run when I get to it.  Sometimes you have to back yourself into a corner to really see what you can do.

Edited by Dominion 2015-08-22 11:57 AM

That's great! It's funny how motivating it can be to have someone in front of you that you absolutely can't let beat you!!

Edited by ecpasos 2015-08-23 5:08 PM

Tony awesome job and way to finish strong. What do you have planned for the off season?

Chris way to get your coworker. How did you slip by slowly or did you drop the hammer? When is your 70.3?

Randy. The water is fantastic, beautiful, and clear. I think the bike course is challenging, but likely more so from where I race and train. Would recommend it. It was a nice race

What should I do with my run intervals for an oly? I had done 2 weeks of 6x800m, then 2 weeks of 4 x 1200m, then 2 weeks of 3 x 1600. Between my July and August races I just did the 3 x 1600 workout. This week I added a mile and did a 4 x 1600. Should I continue to add 1600s or should I increase distance?

Nate