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Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Sylvania, Ohio
United States
Elite Endeavors
68F / 20C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 35m 41s
Overall Rank = 117/256
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 7/20
Pre-race routine:

Ate the normal breakfast on the way to the race. Got to the venue, pumped up the tires and took a little tour around the parking lot to make sure everything was OK.

Walked to transition and was pleasantly surprised to find out the water temperature had dropped to 77 degrees and the race would be wet suit legal. Setup transition, hit the bathroom, and then ran back to the car to get the wet suit.
Event warmup:

Jogged back to the car to get my wet suit. After I finished setting up transition, went out and did some running drills and light stretching. Had a few cliff shot bloks about a half hour before my wave went off.
Swim
  • 26m 34s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 37s / 100 yards
Comments:

At my last race, there was excessive contact at the swim start (even had my chip stripped). I wanted to avoid that all costs this time. So, I lined up on the outside about middle of the pack. When the cannon went off, I allowed my natural tendency to drift left (outside) to just occur.

Ended up swimming the first 600 meters about 20 yards from the buoy line. This worked great for me. I could site off other swimmers when I breathed to the right and just tried to keep a consistent distance between me and them. Obviously, there was no way to draft but I was relaxed and feeling strong.

By the first turn buoy, I gotten back to within 5 yards of the buoy line. Made the first turn and was totally blinded (even with tinted goggles). All I saw was the sun and mist. Just tried to swim as straight as I could. Ended up drifting left, so I took the next turn VERY wide.

Got into some shallow water about 400 meters from the end. Had to do a few dolphin dives to get back on course (ironically the same thing happened last year). Home stretch was very uneventful. Swam until my hands touched bottom, did two dolphin dives and ran up the shore.



What would you do differently?:

Nothing. This was by far, the best swim I've ever had. Probably could have conserved some energy had I stayed closer to the buoys and found some feet to draft off of. I think staying relaxed was well worth the extra energy.
Transition 1
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

Had a little trouble getting the wet suit off. Just could not find the pull cord. I don't think this cost me any time as I kept moving while trying to grab it, but it did cause a mild panic (the thought of having to ride the entire bike in a wet suit actually crossed my mind--maybe I need to breath more on the swim, oxygen deprivation causing hallucinations ;-)

Rest of the transition was business like. Helmet on, wet suit off, shoes and socks on. Good run to the mount line hopped on the bike and was off.
What would you do differently?:

This was a good transition. Need to practice getting the wet suit off faster--it still gets caught on my heels.
Bike
  • 1h 14m 4s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 20.13 mile/hr
Comments:

As soon as you made the turn onto Sylvania it was instant head wind. The winds didn't seem too strong at the race start so I decided to try to hammer through it. Made it about four miles like that. I knew I was going to blow up my legs if I kept going. So I reluctantly dropped into the small chain ring and spun as best as I could.

Next 12 miles were just about staying as aero as possible and finding the comfortable gears to ride in. It was great having draft marshals out on the course. I didn't see any drafting and only a little bit of blocking (I think some of the blocking was just forgetting to move back over when avoiding a pothole). In the first 16 miles, only averaged about 18.5mph and I was working for that.

Finally, we made the turn for home and the wind was at our back. It was hammer time. Moved back to the big ring and did a bit of mashing. Averaged about 23mph in this section.


What would you do differently?:

Not sure. I ride all the time in farm country, so I am used to winds. Today they just took more out of me than normal. If I backed off the bike some, I might have had a better run--but then again I might not have.
Transition 2
  • 01m 1s
Comments:

As we approached the dismount line there were three people in front of me who were not riding on one pedal. Figured they were going to stop to dismount so I got as far away from them as I could (didn't need to be involved in a pile up). Soon as I hit the dismount line I started running and blew by the three people who stopped to dismount.

Rest of transition was again very business like. Bike racked, helmet and biking shoes off, running shoes on, grab the race belt and go.
What would you do differently?:

Absolutely nothing. Don't think I could have gone any faster.
Run
  • 52m 19s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 25s  min/mile
Comments:

Soon as I exited transition my stomach was upset and bloated. It wasn't comfortable, but was manageable. Didn't take anything at the first aid station hoping it would settle down. Did the first mile in 7:50. A little slower than I was hoping for but was reasonably confident I could pick it up if I could get my stomach to settle down.

At the next aid station my stomach was still upset. Decided to try some water to see if that helped any. I felt a little better, so I decided to go with some more water at the next aid station as well. Unfortunately, the water reaked of sulfur and I had to throw it out (have no idea where they got unsoftened well water in the middle of a city). Hit the half way point in 25 minutes.

I was starting to fade about mile four. My legs felt heavy from the ride and I was running out of go go juice (usually take in more calories during the run). Even with the stomach problems I was having, decided to risk taking a caffeinated gel. Don't know if was placebo effect or real, but I felt better in a few minutes later and actually thought I could finish strong.

Unfortunately, about mile five, I got the worst side stitch I've ever had. I was forced to walk to work it out. Tried to limit the walking to only 10 seconds, but it took three of those 10-second walk breaks to work it out. After that, it wasn't gone, but was manageable so I was able to run the rest of the way in.





What would you do differently?:

Not have digestive issues. Not sure what happened, I've used this same nutrition in other Olympic distance races (and long rides) and was just fine.
Post race
Warm down:

Chatted with my family (mom, dad, sister, nephew, grandma, uncle and aunt) and after awhile went and got some food and a beer. Who knew a Coors Light could taste so good.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I felt I was ready for this race and had expectations of setting a PR (actually thought I did set a PR until I realized I must have accidentally stopped my watch while taking the wet suit off). It just wasn't my day. Still, I only missed my PR by 15 seconds so I think the training is there.

Event comments:

I've done this race two years in a row and it is by far the best race in the area. Elite Endeavors has this one perfected.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-06-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:26:34 | 1640 yards | 01m 37s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/20
Overall: 105/256
Performance: Good
Suit: 2XU Full Wet Suit
Course: Rectangle around a small lake.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 77F / 25C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:45
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:14:04 | 24.85 miles | 20.13 mile/hr
Age Group: 11/20
Overall: 125/256
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Kind of a figure eight through farm country--absolutely no wind blocks.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:01
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:52:19 | 06.21 miles | 08m 25s  min/mile
Age Group: 15/20
Overall: 152/256
Performance: Below average
Course: Through the streets of Sylvania and the neighboring subdivisions. Pretty much a flat course. Quite a bit of shade.
Keeping cool Average Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2008-08-12 8:43 AM

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Veteran
244
10010025
Ida, Michigan
Subject: Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance


2008-08-12 9:24 AM
in reply to: #1596573

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Veteran
272
1001002525
Canton, MI
Subject: RE: Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance
Looks like we had some of the same random issues during this race - what was that sulfur all about?! Did you happen to see a guy in your AG with the same race outfit as you? That was my husband...he finished about 2 min. behind you. When I glanced at your pics quickly, I thought it was him!

Great race!

2008-08-12 1:35 PM
in reply to: #1596573

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Expert
769
5001001002525
Alpharetta (until we find a home)
Subject: RE: Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance
I had fun in the mist on the turn too. Mist + sun + looking directly east made that turn a guessing game. My parents live in the area and some people do have wells, especially for their sprinkler systems. I took some liquid at that station (mile 2 ish) but I thought it tasted bad because I think I grabbed Heed (not a fan). Couldnt tell if it was well or heed but I spit my gum out and popped in a new piece.
2008-08-14 1:48 AM
in reply to: #1596573

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Elite
3488
20001000100100100100252525
Lakewood, CO
Subject: RE: Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance

Great swim and nice race even with the run issues.

I loved this line

oxygen deprivation causing hallucinations ;-)
 

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