left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 80)

Just back from the beach....

Gary - last Thursday your BR traffic slowed me down a bit but yesterday I rolled through with no issues.....

Finish lines updated...

Everyone seems to be doing great.....I will have some comments later.  I have to go wash off the chairs and umbrellas and all the beach paraphenalia (sp?)

sTRIve

Race Report

Up at 5:00 a.m. to load the car and head off. The race was being held in Saint John, a city roughly 120 kilometers from Freddy Beach. Very foggy as we headed south towards the Bay of Fundy but no rain and the temp was nice – roughly 20c. Found our way to the race site – Rockwood Park –supposedly the largest urban park in Canada. Little bit of an incident in the parking lot – Mrs FBP backed her relatively new car into a big boulder that marked the outline of the lot. Damn. No major damage just a bit of scratching and an awful lot of anger, hurt pride, etc.

Registration/body marking was quick and easy then into transition to get set up. I was amongst the early arrivals so found a great spot near the end of row nearest the bike exit. Lots of hot bikes – not many in Sebastian’s price range – but aside from some envy I wasn’t bothered by it. Before long it was into my wetsuit and down to the beautiful lake for a warm up swim. Water was very clear, chilly but not cold. Quick race briefing then off we went. I seeded myself near the back but still got and gave a few hits and kicks. By halfway to the first buoy I was in a decent rythym and had some open water. There were 3 or 4 folks near me who seemed to be about the same ability so that was a help.Swim went well. Finished in 16:00 which was 2:00 better than my tri last year. I also felt “fresher” than last time – a good omen I figured. (45 of 64 in the swim)

Fairly long run up to T1 with lots of folks lining the route. Found my bike, stripped off my wetsuit, helmet on then socks and shoes. Quick drink and off I went. I think I was quick but no specific splits posted for the transitions.Ride was a worthy challenge. Two 13k loops of a VERY hilly course. By far the biggest hills and most hills I have ever ridden. Road was in bad shape in a lot of places too. Made for some edgy descents!!On the second loop I of course knew what to expect. Tried to be properly geared for the various climbs. Had a bit of trouble (B-man – I will post a question for help on this) but by and large OK.

The biggest climb was about a third of the way into the loop. As I was going up it on the second loop two motorcycle cops came up behind me. Don’t tell me I’m tail end Charlie!! Then they go past. I knew it – I am leading the race with an escort like at the TdF. Alas, not so. They zoomed ahead to respond to a racer who was broken down on the side up ahead.

As I was going up the hills I kept saying that I was Alberto Contador, “Dancing on the pedals” the announcer kept saying when I watched the TdF yesterday. After the race I was chatting with a fellow who I know is a really great biker and he was commenting on what a tough course it was too. Second loop of he bike was done and into T2.(Bike was also 45th overall)

Very quick change and off I went for the run. It was a single loop around the park. Course designer was mean – a 1k uphill grade to start. My legs though felt good so I decided to try and run without the 1 minute walks that I usually take every 10 minutes. Aside from a 30 second walk through the water station I kept going – LRR.Finish was a downhill section, through the chute, received my medal and then off for a warm down. (Run was 52nd overall) After the race there was great food – pizza, fruit, etc. – some prizes (none though for FBP) and then we headed home.

All in all I am really pleased. Final placing was 46 of 63 and 13 of 14 in the M40-49. I hadn’t felt like I had done a lot of quality training, especially on the bike, but in the end I exceeded my expectations. Can’t hope for more than that.

FBP - great RR....can't wait to hear the question.

FreddyBeachPete lookin' good at the finish line!

Pete - here is my method.  As I approach a hill I shift to a gear I can pedal to the top of the hill (many times this is an estimate and needs to be adapted on the hill) but it is a trial gear.  The thought is this way you don't put a huge amount of stress on your derailleur while you are putting big force on the pedals but the real deal (I understand Lance climbs this way too) is to keep the cadence high and reserve big amounts of power for the run.  Imagine that you have a book of matches to burn in a race and then you are out of fire, you have to pick where to burn those matches carefully.  If you are just coming off a downhill and then immediately starting up I would ride the bigger gear holding the speed as long as possible and then before requiring big force to turn the pedals, drop the gear down and get to spinning.  The thought is to spin up the hills and reserve as much power as possible for the run....or to finish a ride only at a high cadence speed ride.  You will pass many people who were standing on the climbs pushing the cranks like crazy as you conserve the energy....remember NO ONE HAS EVER WON A TRIATHLON ON THE BIKE.

Let me know if the explanation is not clear.

sTRIve

Thanks to both of you for the advice. Makes sense to me - I'll be trying it over the next couple of weeks on my practice rides.

Yippee - start my vacation tomorrow night. We are heading to the family cottage in PEI. I have managed to find a bike rack that will fit our new small car so Sebastian is going to be able to come along!! If I get enough quality workouts done then I will probably register for the Oly in September. If not, I will plan at least one or two more sprints for the late summer and fall.

FBP

Another question - how much of a decrease in pace (per 100m) should one expect when one increases their swim from sprint (750m) to Oly (1500m).

Gears - I think we are ALL very close to the same answer.  My plan is to gear into a gear that hopefully never spikes the power usage as there are only so many spikes to use.  Think of it like this.....an average heart of 140 consistently for an hour is a better deal than having a heart rate at 160 for 30 minutes and 30 minutes at 120 which still averages 140 for the hour.  I understand not slowing down...I really don't like to slow down either but I am much more concerned about the entire race rather than one hill...that's what you want to be careful of.....that said, I think we are all saying about the same thing.

swim - FBP - I really don't lose much time on my average 100 pace going from 800 or so to 1500.  I would say probably in the 5 second range (thinking about that - maybe it is a big time difference) but what it said to me is that since I am so dang slow to begin with it isn't a lot different.  I am thinking that going to 2.4 miles it will run up the average 10-15 seconds per hundred.....again, don't worry as much about the pacing as what you heart rate will be when you get out of the water....again....that's the key.  Unless you are doing a swimming race.

sTRIve

Apparently everyone lost their internet connection at the same time....where are ya'll???

Run and swim last night, two and a half hour ride today - sprint triathlon tomorrow.....

sTRIve

Gary - have a great vacation.

Sprint triathlon finished - finish line updated.  Will do RR later but suffice to say I think the time today is almost identical to last years.....Bike was very windy with several of those fun hills. 

Mav - how's the mouth?

Where the heck are you people?