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Armed Forces Triathlon Championship - TriathlonOlympic


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Pt Mugu, California
United States
70F / 21C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 12m 32s
Overall Rank = 67/108
Age Group = Male
Age Group Rank = 61/79
Pre-race routine:

We arrived in California on Tuesday, put the bikes together and did a quick ride and swim. After that, Wednesday included all three sports (plus another dip in the ocean), Thursday was off and Friday was a morning prerace prep workout.
Event warmup:

Ride to the event, easy run with some race pace efforts and a ten minute swim. Then out to watch the women start and wait (about 10 minutes) for our start.
Swim
  • 25m 13s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 41s / 100 meters
Comments:

Last year I swam somewhere in the 23 minute range and am in better swim shape this year. As such, I was hoping to swim in the 22 minute range but I just couldn't put it together. I was in good position at the start, hitting the water with everyone and doing a solid dive with the group. I was in the mix and felt that I was setting myself up for a good swim. However, I then felt like I couldn't catch my breath and was gasping to the first turn buoy. As I was struggling with breathing, I fell off the pace and knew I was behind the athletes I wanted to exit the water with. The cross leg was rough and we were fighting the current but I was able to latch on to some swimmers and follow them back to the beach. As I rounded the buoy on the beach, I heard Dave tell me that Harry was about 20 seconds ahead so I focused on bridging during the second lap. I pushed hard with a couple of dives and then picking up the pace and slowly reeled in Harry. By the final leg of the swim, I was on Harry's feet with nobody ahead that I would be able to catch so I settled in and cruised to the beach.
What would you do differently?:

200-300m performance at the start; I need to be able to get out strong before settling into the pace for the rest of the swim. As for the breathing, I'm not sure if I did the neck up too tightly and felt I couldn't breath or if it was just one of those things.
Transition 1
  • 01m 5s
Comments:

Solid T1; I didn't rush as much as last year as Harry and I came into transition together and I knew that I would probably be out first and able to ride with Harry so I moved well but didn't rush through.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 1h 03m 15s
  • 40 kms
  • 37.94 km/hr
Comments:

I was out of transition ahead of Harry and got up to speed and feet in my shoes fairly well. From there I settled in and waited for Harry (and anyone else) to catch up to get a pack going. I felt pretty shelled for the first half of a lap but as Harry and I got working together, I started to feel pretty solid. We were taking about 30 second pulls and holding around 38km/h for the first lap. There were a few groups that caught us and we would go with them for a short period of time but we kept getting spit out the back. On the second lap we were caught by another Canadian and we began working as a solid pack of three, although I was gapped a couple of times while dropping back. I was right on the edge of being able to hold on and focused my energy on riding well in the group. We were then caught by a very well organized group of Marines (probably eight of them) and then had a double pace line going. I was just finishing a pull when they caught us and I got gapped as they cruised through. I hammered to get back on the group but then was just not able to hold on after my second time at the front and got spit out the back. Harry and Jeff were able to stay with the group a little longer and I focused on trying to get back to them once they got spit out. Everyone that went by I would jump on their wheel if I could and work to get back up to the pack of three that was just in front of me (probably 30 seconds up). I got closer but when I was dropped, Harry's group would then pick up a little more time on me as they went with the group as well. As I started the fourth lap, Matt came by and he slowed enough for me to grab onto his wheel but as he cranked up the pace, I just couldn't go with him (he rode solo or pulling almost the entire ride and went under 58 minutes). During the last lap, I caught another Canadian and tried to get him to hold my wheel until he was recovered enough to take a pull. However, after his first pull he coulnd't hang and I ended up solo again heading back to transition.
What would you do differently?:

Draft more - still don't quite have the power on the bike I would like to hang wtih the packs; my 60 minute power is coming along but I need more work on working with a group, especially when the pace/effort goes above my comfort zone.
Transition 2
  • 00m 35s
Comments:

Very solid; looking to make up ground to run down anyone I could.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 42m 24s
  • 10 kms
  • 04m 14s  min/km
Comments:

Goal was to get out at race effort and hold it there; I was hoping to run 4:00/km but I was right at 4:13/km for the first km and didn't feel like I was going to be able to crank up the pace from there. During the out and back I saw where several of the team were in front of me (Matt, Eric, Harry, Aaron, Guy and Jeff were all in front while Pat and Steve were just behind) and aimed to cut into each of their leads as much as possible each lap. I thought that I could catch at least a couple and with a solid run maybe five of them over the 10km. At the end of the first lap I had put some time into Guy and Jeff but Aaron, Harry and Eric were holding me off.

As I began the second lap, I started to get closer to Guy and Jeff and thought I would have Guy by the end and Jeff sometime on lap three. I focused on staying as light on my feet as possible and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I was feeling awful but was determined to run as hard as I could through the finish. I caught Guy and Jeff (side stitch) by the end of the second lap and Guy was running on my heels until the female leader surged by and I went with her and left Guy behind.

On the third lap I started to put some time on Aaron and Eric but it looked like it would be too little too late. I focused on leaning forward and trying to maintain turnover while I chased for all I was worth. Came through the third lap about a minute back of Harry and Aaron and again tried to pick up the pace.

Through the last lap I was able to gain a little more time but I just ran out of room. I was still feeling awful but I was able to maintain almost the same pace throughout the run.
What would you do differently?:

Move race pace (4:00/km) efforts in training; I did a lot of running since November but hadn't spent quite enough time getting into race shape for this event.
Post race
Warm down:

Very dizzy for the first few minutes at the end; I don't really remember anyone taking my chip (but it was gone so they must have) and then I congratulated the other racers (Harry especially, racing with a broken toe and all!).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Race specific fitness in the bike and run and a poor swim performance. I wanted to go under 2:10 but it wasn't quite in the cards today.




Last updated: 2009-06-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:25:13 | 1500 meters | 01m 41s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/79
Overall: 63/108
Performance: Below average
Lap 1 - 12:07 Lap 2 - 12:31
Suit: Orca Evo
Course: Two loop clockwise course
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 61F / 16C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:05
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:03:15 | 40 kms | 37.94 km/hr
Age Group: 0/79
Overall: 69/108
Performance: Average
Wind: Strong
Course: 4 lap draft legal
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:35
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:42:24 | 10 kms | 04m 14s  min/km
Age Group: 0/79
Overall: 56/108
Performance: Average
Course: 4 loop flat (but windy) course
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2009-06-02 7:38 AM

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Champion
9407
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Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia
Subject: Armed Forces Triathlon Championship


2009-06-02 2:52 PM
in reply to: #2188675

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Elite
3683
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Whispering Pines, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Armed Forces Triathlon Championship
Hey man, nice race.
Solid effort!

nice!
2009-06-03 9:23 AM
in reply to: #2188675

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Westminster, CO
Subject: RE: Armed Forces Triathlon Championship

sounds like an exciting race!  very good effort and continued improvement.  I would think your run is there, but maybe the bike just took a bit more out of you...??

Do you know if the swim may have been longer than last year??

I'd like to read more about your CA trip in your blog.

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