Shellback1998 Group - FULL (Page 41)

Scott, 

haven't heard anything about your race this past weekend!

Scott

Overall:

249/374 there were over 500 people who started and some of those are aqua-bike and relay teams however even with that there were something like 50-75 DNF's.

Age group 40-44 43/60

Swim 25:39 1:34/100 rank 105

T1: 3:21

Bike 1:24:34 17.6/MPH rank 220

T2: 2:36

Run 1:00:43 9:48/mile rank 309

Getting there:

We drove down the afternoon before and checked out the water and T1. Both of us realized we had forgotten to print out the course maps and the packet pickup information. We grabbed dinner way too late and went back to grab some sleep. The hotel had a wedding with loud music and a beat you could feel in bed. Sleep wasn’t good.

Pre-Race:

Up at 4AM. Loaded the truck up and headed for T1 to pickup our race packets and drop off the bikes and swim stuff. Then we were going to drive back to T2 and drop off the sneakers and water bottles. We got there and were told there was no packing at the beach and that we had to grab packets at T2 and then bike back to T1, !@@##$@@!!!!!

So we do so and it’s a zoo back there. We get the packets and dump the sneakers and water. Go to the truck and pack up the other stuff into our backpacks and figure we’ll do the tattoos at T1. At this point I take a caffeine pill. I did so to avoid coffee so it didn’t dehydrate me and make me have to pee so much. HUGE mistake!!!! It made me wired. I was so hyped up and the stress of running late coupled with this I was so stressed out. So we start riding and are looking in the packets at the same time and realize there’s no timing chips in our bags, !!@@#$$$!!!!!! So we turn around and ask and those are at T1.

Don’t be an idiot like me everybody. Read the informative emails they send that spelled all this stuff out. Having the separate transitions was cool in the long run but stressful this morning. So we get there and none of my tattoos will stick right so I end up going and using marker anyway. Stress, stress, stress….

Finally I do some stuff right. I layout T1 perfectly including my Garmin setup. Get the wetsuit on and do a nice warm-up. Temp was 73 and very humid. 6:30 comes and the elite men leave, 6:31 men 18-34, 6:35 we are off. First major kudos to the event and staff. They manicured the beach with equipment and everything was set up perfectly.

Swim:

Edge of the water start. In is different than out. Buoys are huge and the two turn buoys are different than all the rest. The water is a perfect 68 degrees. I’m amped to go. I had a great swim and my pacing was very similar to Ashland and I never felt out of control or overexerted. Great drafting, great work around the buoys. When I got out of the water however I instantly knew my heart rate was higher than Ashland. Not dramatically but enough to notice. I was kicking myself for screwing around with the caffeine tablet without trying it out prior to race day.

T1:

T1 was perfect. That’s about as fast as I can do it at this point. Another kudo to the race they had Hammer heed at every water station including at the beach. Nice perk vs straight water which they also had for those who didn’t want the endurance drink.

Bike:

The first three miles of the bike is a lot of uphill and a lot of turns. I felt good and then suddenly realized I was running too hot and checked my heart rate and I was at 175, damn it. I hit the downhill at the right time and got it quickly back in the 150’s and monitored it more. Mile 3-9 went through downtown and were pretty uneventful. I was in a great groove. Police did an awesome job controlling the roads.

Miles 9-18 sucked. I was told this wasn’t a hilly course. Lies. This was so much worse than Ashland. In Ashland my front gear never left the big ring even on the worst hills. Miles 9-18 I was not only on the small ring but I was on the smallest gear on the back quite a few times. Ashland was long hills with some big grade for small spots. This was steep but not as long and then steep again, then semi flat and then super steep again and then you would lose all that altitude in one big hill. All three of these laps, I do 3 mile increments on auto-lap, I hit over 36MPH for a max speed and yet averaged 14.2, 16.1 and 16.0 mph.  According to my Garmin this had 35 more feet of ascent and just about all of that came in these 9 miles.

Also the down hills generally had major corners. One guy lost it and tore up his entire back but still finished after a trip to the ambulance to get fixed up. This section of road was also not in the best condition. On one of the worst hills there was a pack of 12-15 of us who were so close and going so slow you could hear the others panting desperately for air as I was. Two hills I really thought about quitting.

Miles 18-24.8 were much easier after all the climbing. I averaged 21.0 and 19.1 coming back in and also got my heart rate back down. So I get to the edge of T2 and I go to dismount and as my calf hits the ground it cramps beyond belief and I quickly pull it up and then replant it heel first and then reach down and grab my toes to stretch it out. Still sore I walk it out on my way to the rack. My quads are also pretty sore.

T2 my stuff was out of place a bit from others knocking it around in their transition. Other than that it went well.

So I start my run and my legs feel pretty good. Calves smooth out quickly and my quads feel fine which I’m surprised at because they were killing me at this point in Ashland. I run with my endurance drink but grab water and dump it over my head at each station to cool off. The temps are now in the low to mid 80’s and it’s very humid. The bike was mostly in the shade which was lucky especially given the exertion. The first loop of the run is also in the shade as the sun is still just low enough that I can stay in the shade behind the buildings downtown. I do mile one in 8:49 and 2 and 3 both in 9:19. Heart rate is an identical 165 for all three miles. Two and three are simply more hilly but still not bad thus the pace change. I start the second loop and I’m feeling fine. I’m thinking to myself ok if I can duplicate that first loop I’ll be pretty happy with this performance and I’m thinking I can improve on it.

I come around the buildings and all the shade is gone. I go about a half mile before I get to the water station and I can tell the heat is starting to get to me. I dump two full cups of water over my head and it’s like a wonder drug. I instantly feel better and resume my pace for about a quarter of a mile and then the heat starts hitting me again. The funny thing is my heart rate is still locked in at 165 and my quads although starting to ache a bit are in much better shape than two week ago. I struggle to keep pace to the next water station and I’m starting to feel really sick to my stomach. I reach it and dose myself with 3 full cups of water. Again the wonder drug effect and I’m fine. This time the effects don’t last nearly as long however I hit mile 4.2 and I literally am going to toss my cookies. Heart rate is still 165 and my legs don’t feel bad. I slow my pace to see if that will offset this feeling and it does. So I pick the pace up again. The rest of the race goes exactly like this. I slowdown and cool off, feel better, pickup the pace, feel like I’m going to puke and repeat.

Being heat sick literally cost me 6 minutes. If I could have found a way to stay cool I was otherwise fine to continue the pace I was at. When I crossed the finish line I was just thinking don’t puke in front of all these people after trying to at least maintain the pace for the last quarter of a mile. A young boy of about 11 came over and handed me a large ice cube and I was so grateful. I immediately applied it to the back of my neck and within seconds I felt fine. I felt like I could easily continue running. I was so pissed.

We gathered up all our stuff and participated in the post race activities which were awesome. Tons of fresh fruit, bagels, sandwiches with great meat and fresh bread, lots of vendors with different drinks I hadn’t tried before. They also did a great job transporting everything from T1 to T2 in bags we were given. Security at the transitions and getting the bags was superior.

So we go back to the hotel and seek out the hot tub which felt great on the sore body. I normally can camp out in one for 20 minutes with no issues. Five minutes in my stomach starts going nuts and I had to get out. Stuck my feet in the pool and all was well again almost instantly. I’ve done two a day football workouts and played two hours of up and down indoor lacrosse with no line changes and gotten dehydrated. I know what that feels like and this wasn’t it. I’ve also experience severe fatigue from lack of conditioning and it wasn’t that either. I can only imagine I had a low grade case of heat stroke which is weird because it was hot and humid but still only in the mid 80’s. The other weird thing is how quickly I would feel better the second I got cool plus there were no lingering effects. Every time I wasn’t instantly fine again. On the run not only did I feel hydrated but I felt like if I drank more I’d get that swishy feeling. I drank plenty of liquids.

Conclusions:

1. I’m not going to do the Half Iron in the fall. It’s time to admit the Olympic is my threshold for this year.
2. I think I need to add some weights into the regiment and more hill repeaters on the bike. The steep hills are doing me in.
3. Caffeine pills are a no-no.
4. Read the itinerary in advance and print it out, stupid.
5. Pack drinks in a cooler. Mine was hot from sitting in the sun until I got to it. Also packing some ice in a small towel for hot days may pay off.
6. I would do this race again. It was a great course and very well done.

Overall:

I’m disappointed. I wish I understood the overheating and then I wouldn’t be but it literally cost me 6 minutes and that time I would have been really happy with especially given the degree of difficulty on the bike. 6 weeks until NY and my A-Race. It’s going to be even hotter and that bike is supposed to be really hilly as well. Lots to work on.  

I started April 23 of this year with my first sprint. As far as swimming -- I used to be an excellent swimmer and that's just my "thing". I find myself getting better and better the more I swim. So, keep it up and you will too!

It was a work in progress and I wanted to read what others wrote first. Up now.

My suggestion, keep Pumpkinman on your schedule. Now you have time to prepare and work on the nutrition. You can do it man!

Can you explain the nutrition part of this? I didn't really talk about that but I had an apple, banana, a 24 oz endurance drink and a Clif bar before the race. During the race I had 46 oz of endurance drinks plus a Hammer Gel. I didn't feel hungry, full if anything, and my energy level never wavered. I'm not saying it wasn't nutrition but if it was I want to understand why and how to prevent it from happening again.

I'll see how NY goes but for now I'm not going to sign up. I know slots are limited and I'll probably get boxed out but worst case I'll do Firm man if I feel better about it later in the season. Much like this was the Olympic season next year I'll sign up for Patriot and Pumpkin as my early and late races and go that route worst case.

Man, with my first Oly in just over 2 weeks, this reads like a horror novel for me....

Great race report and great job battling through to finish the race!

I'm sure it will be much cooler where you are and everybody is so different. You might be much better than I am at the steep inclines on the bike and not effected by the heat so much. Hopefully something I wrote will help you in some way. Don't let me stress you out.

I very much appreciate all race reports. For us newbies, there is always something you can learn!

I am doing my tri in the Canadian rockies, in a warm arid valley...average highs in July around 80. I weigh in at around 205 so I sweat plenty. Your race report helps immensely in tht regard as I now know to kick up hydration etc. for the race! Oh, the hills, hmm, on my last race the rolling hills just about slowed me to a stop...

Oh well the show must go on, I will finish or die trying!

Well, pre race it sounds good, The 48 oz of sports drink is good, but you need to fuel the body every 20 mins or so. You need to do this and be even more strict when you get to the longer distances. This past weekend, I biked 180 miles, every 20 mins or so I was drinking even in the rain because I know my body is working. You might not think you are thirsty but if you're body is working you need to replenish it. I think that was one of the primary reason's why you're body temp was high. Also, during races, follow your heart rate. See, my race execution plans have me on my watts and HR. Even though you can hammer up a hill, follow your HR and stay constant with it.  My race plan for PVD will have me probably 280 watts for the bike. I might be biking 21-22 mph on a flat straight away but climbing I might get to ~12 mph depending. It's all about the wattage and staying as close as you can to meet your goals.  While running, try to mix up a different carb, e.g. For my bike, I get my carbs, protein, salt etc from my Infinit, but on the run, I use cliff blocks. I usually take one every 1-2 miles. Drink often and as I said below don't drink water as it's just added weight which adds no value. 

Scott

Great job to Jen, Linda, Joy, and Scott.  I'm super swamped at work today and haven't had time to read all of your race reports, but it sounds like everyone did an awesome job.  Hopefully I can read them soon!

As for me, I survived a tough, tough bike course and followed it up with what I consider a great run.  It was enough for me to grab 3rd in my AG, so I'm pleased with my overall effort.  I'm hoping to get a full race report later.

And huge congrats to Roland - you're the best bowler I know!

So I did 24 ounces of endurance drink and a Hammer gel on the bike. That's 260 calories for an hour and 1:24 minutes. Then on the run I did 22 ounces of endurance drink which is 180 calories in the hour.

You're saying I should have added in 4 more Hammer Gels on the bike at 80 calories per pack to bring it to 580 calories and then a 9 pack of cliff blocks adding 300 calories over the run bringing that to 480 calories? That's 1060 calories vs the 440 I did. I'm going to really have to work on ingesting that much over that period of time. I generally have to force down what I'm doing now.

Also I didn't drink any water except for an 8 ounce glass when I first got out of bed with my vitamin.

I get what you're saying about wattage and heart rate. Two issue however are that I don't have a power tap or other watt meter. Second I do watch my heart rate religiously while training but on a course I haven't done it's a lot harder. Also you're far enough along that you can slow it down to 12 MPH on a big hill to keep your heart rate in the 152-156 bracket. On the really steep hills I have one of two choices. Push through it and pay the price for the higher heart rate or walk my bike up the hill. Now one hill sure I can reel it in and I do. But on a course like this where it's climb after climb and so on eventually you're just never getting back down. I'm having to exert force to not go backwards and fall. Those 9 miles by my Garmin says the ascents equaled 65% of all the ascents for Ashland.

I'm not complaining it is what it is I just don't see a way around it for somebody at my level. If I could gear it back to 8 MPH and keep my heart rate at 155 I would. Unfortunately I was going that slow and pushing 175 with those hills.

Thank you for the report, it will help all of us. The overheating seems to be a problem but I think you will figure it out with Scotts help. I think you did a great job!

I read your race report and I think you also had a great race.  (2 PRs!) It gets me excited to train, thanks Jim

Well, the nutrition is a balanced game. If you feel like you are fine with what you've done then I'd suggest staying with it. I need 300 calories an hour, and the 26 miles, I would consume at least one bottle  and start of the second. Getting off the bike, I would take one pack of cliff blocks with me for an oly and at the water stops, I'd use gatorade and have a block or two on the run. 

I'm curious, Have you done a sweat test? 

On the bike, yes it's difficult, when you are biking, are you constantly shifting to keep your cadence at a certain speed. I understand you don't have power, but the two variables you can control are the HR and the cadence.  On big hills, don't be afraid to drop to the lower chain ring. I do this all the time especially if my HR is climbing.  

One thing to remember coming off the swim, your HR is going to be high, it's going to take some time to get in it's recovery zone usually 20-30 BPM. If it doesn't drop, usually an indication that you either went out to hard on the swim. 

Go onto www.triathloncalculator.com and put your volumes in, your 5k time. It should spit out what you should try to do or maintain for that race. Curious to see what it says for you to do and if it is close to what you got. 

Scott

I really appreciate the input. If 300/hour is what it takes I'll do my 180 from the drink and throw in two gels per hour on the bike and the run use the blocks. It might take some time to get used to doing that much but I'll build up to it in my training. 

Nope, what's the process?

That's the thing I did. In Ashland I never came off the big ring. In Stamford I was on the smallest ring both front and back and the hills were so steep I could barely keep forward momentum at maximum effort.

As I said in my race report I do feel I went ever so slightly too hard on the swim but at the time I didn't think so. It was only when I stood up out of the water that I realized my heart rate was slightly higher than Ashland. I'm still not convinced that wasn't my stupid decision to use the caffeine. I did screw up and do the first couple of miles on the bike too fast and didn't realize it until it was too late. It was all up hill but so gradual I wasn't worried about it and the cumulative effect got me. Had I monitored my HR better I wouldn't have gotten to 175/BPM. Lesson learned.

I'm not really sure on a few of the values what they are looking for. The swim output says my pace should be 287:47 per 100 yards. I have no idea what that means. The bike says I should have been able to do 17.6 MPH which is what I did. I'm using a 65ft gain per mile which is a complete guess on my part since map my ride and the garmin both give ridiculous estimates in opposite directions. Also I'm using a 225 watts for 20 minutes which is a conservative estimate from spin class. My run pace says 9:18. I did the first mile in 8:49 but that was truly flat. Miles two and three I did in exactly that time. I haven't done a 5K for time since November and I'm in much better shape than I was then so I took my time and conservatively shaved off 15 total seconds feeling I'd be at least that fast.

Mike Lamie who you might know is pretty experienced and won his age group at the Texas Ironman to get a slot in Kona asked me how I did this morning and I gave him all the details. When I got to the part about how I felt great until mile 3 of the run and then the sun hit me and I went down hill fast and how the water kept reviving me his instantaneous comment was, you didn't wear a hat did you? Nope. He said on hot sunny days keeping the sun off your head is extremely important. Second question he asked and he knew the answer was how much training was I doing when the sun was high. None, it's all early mornings. He said you gotta get out there so that you're used to the race conditions and your body can get acclimated.

So add a gel per hour to my single gel and sports drink on the bike. Blocks every two miles on the run in addition to what I'm doing. Add a ventilated hat on the run to keep the sun off my head. Train more in the heat.

As long as I learned something and have a plan going forward I'm much better with how I did today vs the last two days. I'll take it all and use it.

Email me the values you entered. I want to see where it could have been entered wrong

[email protected]

Scott

Hey guys -- I've got a few minutes to spare here during my lunch hour, so I'll give a quick report from my race on Sunday at the Mountaineer Triathlon in Morgantown, WV.

Pre-race:  I nervously fidgeted around at transition area.  I had intended to get a good warm-up in, consisting of a 10 min easy run, a 10 min easy bike, and a short swim just before the race started.  The transition area was a mess though (400+ participants in a pretty small area), so the warm-up just didn't happen.  I was able to hop in the river pre-race for about 5 minutes of swimming, but that's it.

Swim:  1500 meters in 33:59 (roughly 2:16 per 100).  Rank - 29/83 OA, 3/5 AG

The swim was a wave start, with competitors jumping off a dock in groups of 2.  I started toward the back of my wave, as I'm not the strongest of swimmers.  The water felt great with my wetsuit on -- it was probably around 73 or 74 degrees.  I took things nice and easy (as I had planned), and reminded myself that the swim was merely a warmup for what would be a long race.  My stroke felt pretty good, but I definitely did a poor job of sighting.  I noticed several times that I had veered off course.  Who knows how far I actually swam.  I will be working on that!

T1:  1:45.  Rank - 22/83 OA, 2/5 AG

The first transition went pretty well.  I definitely need to practice stripping my wetsuit though.  It took me forever to get the wetsuit over my feet.  Do people sit down to do it or remain standing?  I couldn't seem to get my feet out of it. 

Bike:  26 miles in 1:40:03 (15.56 mph).  Rank - 23/83 OA, 3/5 AG

We got word last week that, due to a landslide, the bike course had to be changed.  The new course was ridiculously hard (at least in my book) -- more than 3500 feet of climbing over the 26 miles.  I was not looking forward to it.

I ran into problems before I even got started, though.  Like Jen, my chain decided to pop off as soon as I got started.  For some reason, it took me forever to get it back on.  My wife, who was watching the whole ordeal, estimates that I wasted well over 3 minutes fooling with my chain.  I'm convinced that had I ridden my bike pre-race, I would've been able to diagnose/fix any problems at that point, saving me precious time during the race.  Lesson learned

I did my best to force the chain mishap out of mind and felt I did a pretty good job of that.  I was able to pass several people on the bike, notwithstanding all of the hills.  I tried to keep my HR in the 160s (zone 3/4 for me), but I definitely crept up into the mid 170s during some of the climbs.  All in all, it was a pretty good bike for me, all things considered. 

T2:  0:49.  Rank - 8/83 OA, 1/5 AG

I was really happy to be off the bike, and I think it showed, as I moved pretty quickly through T2.  Everything went smoothly. 

Run:  10K in 42:54 (6:55 per mile).  Rank - 7/83 OA, 1/5 AG

My goal for the run was to start at about 8:00 per mile and slowly lower my pace based on how I felt.  I immediately threw caution to the wind, though, just to see what I could do.  My first mile was 7:10.  I felt pretty good at that point, so I decided to kick it up a notch.  My fastest mile was mile 4 - 6:39 per mile.  My body hurt like hell during the run, but I was able to hold on.  I stopped and walked through 3 aid stations just to make sure I got some sports drink in.  I think those short breaks really helped.

I'm really, really happy with my run times.  To put things in perspective, I was running between 8:30 and 9:00 per mile in sprint races last year.  To run twice that distance at 6:55 per mile is good news to me!

Overall time:  2:59:33, good enough for 16/83 OA and 3/5 in my AG.  I've got a lot of work to do this summer, especially in the swim and on my bike.  But I feel like I'm getting better at all 3 legs, especially the run.  Already excited for the next race!

Thanks for reading!

Everlong and Scott - I am so enjoying reading your analysis of E's race.  This is just the kind of stuff I love.  The hat and training makes perfect sense and is a good lesson for all of us. 

Scott - didn't you do that 175 mile bike this weekend.  How did it go?

After a day off I am hitting the pool tonight to perfect....ok, try to improve my stroke.  Then this weekend do OWS at the cabin.  Yes Scott I will have plenty of people to do the orange paddle boat patrol.  I really am lucky to have such great support.  Also, found lakes around here to OWS from the MN forum here.  Just tossing in some easy bikes and runs along the way.

Have a great recovery week all you racers from this weekend. 

Linda

My weekend was fun. I did 180 miles in two days, the first day I finished 102 miles, in 5 hours 7 mins and my average pace was 19.8 mph, my average watts was 270 and my avg HR was 149, 5 beats higher than what it should be but there were some hills in which I should have shifted down but didn't. The second day, I did 78 miles, avg speed was 17.9 mph and my HR was 131, average watts was 230.  Each day was fun... The first day there was wind and rain. I was biking with over 2200 people, I was in the first group to go off so I didn't have to pass many people.  There were a few injury's by riders.

so my safety topic is if going over bridges and raining and the bridge is made of metal grating not to go on that, but to use the side walk instead. Some guy, fell on the bridge, broke his elbow, jaw and had a serious gash in his leg. The second incident was that someone was hit by a car in duxbury a town on the south shore here, where some A-hole tried to pass and thought he was cleared but wasn't.  Other than that it was a very awesome weekend. 

so, that's all I have to report. happy training everyone and keep up the good work.

Scott