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Graham Beasley Sprint Duathlon - DuathlonStandard


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Carleton Place, Ontario
Canada
Somersault
21C / 70F
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 27m 31s
Overall Rank = 40/56
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 5/5
Pre-race routine:

For me the pre-race starts the day before. After a good night’s sleep and a substantial breakfast I left Ottawa midmorning to head to Carlton Place to drive the bike course. The bike course was undulating hills with a general uphill trend to the 10k turnaround point. The transition area looked small and we had been advised that we had to have our bikes in place by 8 AM and to be out of the transition area by 8:30 AM to allow the Half Iron competitors room to transition so we decided that we would head up quite early on Sunday. I spent the remainder of the day doing odd housework, watching the Tour de France. Dinner was pasta and broccoli (yes I was looking for the roughage). After dinner I packed my kit, loaded the bikes on the car, prepared my drinks (kept in fridge overnight) and made sure I had enough gels etc and then went to bed around 10 PM. Woke up at 5 AM. After a quick breakfast of a bagel, banana, coffee and my special “breakfast” smoothie (milk, banana, porridge, strawberries, peanut butter, and yogurt), loaded the drinks etc into the car and I was off. Arrived at Carlton Place around 6;30 AM. It was overcast, drizzling, humid, and there was a fresh breeze blowing (it was to be a cross wind on the majority of the bike course). The temperatures where in the low 20s but it felt much hotter. I got a pretty good transition spot on the fourth rack from the bike out (first three racks where reserved for the ½ Iron). Once I was set up, I take my bike for a quick spin to check it out, everything is working just fine. Then I just wandered around for a bit before I joined the potty line. Finish there and I still have 50 minutes to go so I watch the start of the Olympic Triathlon and then wandered some more.
Event warmup:

With 20 minutes to go I start my warm up. I do a 10 minute jog with 2-3 stride ups for my warm up (cannot get to my bike as the T-Zone is closed), eat my pre-race gel and then realised that I had to join the potty line again with only 10 minutes to go. It was a close thing but made the start line with a minute to spare.
Run
  • 13m 28s
  • 2 kms
  • 06m 44s  min/km
Comments:

I joined the start close to the back of the pack as I was planning to run in zone 3 for the first run. The rain had stopped but the breeze was still blowing nicely. I did not take any water with me but they had a water station about 200m from the beginning/end of the run so I grabbed some water on the way back
What would you do differently?:

Try to run in a straighter line.
Transition 1
  • 00m 49s
Comments:

I had an excellent transition at just 49 seconds. The “run in” and “bike out” where at the same end of the T-Zone so racking early definitely paid off as I did not have far to run in either direction. It was only the swim portion that had to run through the T-Zone. My transition went as planned (and practiced). Off came my shoes. I unclipped the Garmin from wrist quick release strap and clipped it onto the bike quick release holder, the quick release watch strap was placed on the ground by my shoes followed by my hat. On with the helmet and un-rack the bike and I was off to the mount line. The line was fairly congested but I was able to mount on the run. By keeping my shoes on the pedals and running in socks I must have made up 5 places as I was never caught by those individuals who had to clip in at the mount line.
What would you do differently?:

Shoes where not tied in the up position, need to ensure I have the right elastic bands.
Bike
  • 42m 32s
  • 20 kms
  • 28.21 km/hr
Comments:

Driving the course certainly helped me prepare for the bike. I was able to pick out landmarks as cues to take drink and gels. My first glance at my HR monitor showed my HR in Z5, yikes. Eased off the pace a bit and got it down to zone 4. I am down in the aero position and notice that something is wrong with my pads, the right one has been bumped and my arm wants to fall off. I struggle with this for the first 3km and finally have to stop to fix it. Fortunately I can wrench it up into place and it stays there. This takes about 40 seconds, oh well better to take the time and be comfortable than fight with this from the whole course. Because the overall route was slightly up hill my HR remained in Zone 4 (bouncing from the top to the bottom and back again) until I started the home leg. Then my HR went from bouncing from the top of zone 4/bottom of zone 4 to mid zone 4/mid zone 3. I did not drink as much as I had planned and this may have been a mistake as you will see later on. I ate one gel about ½ way into the out lap and drank 1 ½ bottles of FRD (1 bottle less than my original plan). Before I knew it I was at my landmark to get ready for my transition. I get my feet out of the shoes, select an easy gear and do a high cadence for the last 500m. I jump off the bike and off to T2
What would you do differently?:

I need to force myself to drink more in wet conditions and to take a last gel about 10 minutes out. I also need to ensure that I stick with my race plan.
Transition 2
  • 00m 51s
Comments:

Not as slick as my T1. Everything was going great until I went to rack my bike by the handle bars. I did not realise before that my aero bottle is actually far enough forward that I could not get my brake handles over the bar. I tried this twice and finally flipped the bike around and racked it by the seat. Quickly slip off my helmet and put on my shoes and hat, grab my Garmin strap, clip the Garmin into the wrist strap. Grab my water and I am off. Watch on my arm as I am running followed by my water belt.
What would you do differently?:

Look to see if I can move my Aero Bottle so i can rack my bike by the handle bars. I need to check this during my pre-race
Run
  • 29m 56s
  • 5 kms
  • 05m 59s  min/km
Comments:

It takes me about 12 minutes before I finally feel that I have settled into the run. I am running through a bit of a stitch but I continue to plod along (or that is how it feels to me). I am being passed by quite a few people but by now the Sprint Triathlon, Sprint Duathlon and the Try a Tri are starting to mix together. I look at my HR, Zone 3 – right where I want it to be. At the turn around I am starting to feel better, stitch is gone and I can start drink some more. Up until then I have only been able to drink 4 oz. I notice that we are now starting to head down hill slightly and my pace is picking up a bit. Still in zone 3. I get to the 4km mark and try to increase my pace. Woops, feels like there is noting in the tank. I feel like I can maintain the same pace no problem but defiantly don’t want to increase the pace. I get to the final turn and finally manage to increase my pace slightly for the last 200m. I am finished.
What would you do differently?:

Take a gel on the bike before the run. Take some FRD on the run vice just water
Post race
Warm down:

Normal stretches

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think I went to hard on the bike. If I slow this down a bit I might be able to keep a slightly faster pace on the final run.




Last updated: 2008-06-05 12:00 AM
Running
00:13:28 | 02 kms | 06m 44s  min/km
Age Group: 5/5
Overall: 50/56
Performance: Average
According to my Garmin I actually ran 2.29k and finished in 13:28. Average HR was 162, Max HR 168 and avg pace 5:52. Overall it was a pretty good opening run. I was 5/5 in my age category (expected) and 50/56 overall.
Course: The course was a 1k out and back with a very slight rise on the way out.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
T1
Time: 00:49
Overall: Good
Run with bike? Good
Jump on bike? Average
Getting up to speed and into shoes: Good
Biking
00:42:32 | 20 kms | 28.21 km/hr
Age Group: 3/5
Overall: 23/56
Performance: Below average
Avg HR: 157, Max HR: 171.
Wind: Cross-winds
Course: The bike course was a 10k out and back course on open, rough roads with undulating hills. There is an overall general uphill trend to the 10k turnaround point.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 85
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Too hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:51
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:29:56 | 05 kms | 05m 59s  min/km
Age Group: 5/5
Overall: 43/56
Performance: Average
Avg HR 159, Max HR 169
Course: 2.5 k out and back course on open roads with a slight climb to the turn around point
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %UKN
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2008-07-14 8:42 PM

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Subject: Graham Beasley Sprint Duathlon
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