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Rockman Sprint triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Loves Park, Illinois
United States
Rockman racing
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 03m 1s
Overall Rank = 3/122
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 2/13
Pre-race routine:

Got about 4-4.5 hours of sleep the night before, and woke up at 4:15 am. I would have liked to have more sleep. I ate some leftover cous cous, an apple, and a bunch of candy breakfast...for some reason. Normally I go into sprints with an empty stomach, but the race didn't start until 8:00 so I thought I should eat something. All my bananas are green, so cous cous and candy it is! I made the drive to the park and arrived at about 6:20. Surprisingly I got a good transition spot (most people racked yesterday), and I had plenty of time for a warmup for once. Ate a GU about 30 minutes before the start, for good measure.
Event warmup:

Ran about a mile, checking out a little bit of the bike course. Then stretched my everything. Put my wetsuit on about 30 minutes before the start, and did a bunch of warmup swimming. Maybe 5-10 minutes total, but broken up of course.
Swim
  • 07m 53s
  • 437 yards
  • 01m 48s / 100 yards
Comments:

I was out of the water at 7:07 (1:37/100 yards), and then the extra time was spent running to the timing mat. Even with that caveat, this was a slow swim for me. I felt good during it, so maybe the course was a little bit long. Who knows.

I seeded myself wide so that I would avoid the crowd to the first buoy. We were all standing around and then suddenly this horn goes off, so, oh, I guess we should start swimming. The first 1/3 was a bit hectic because of that surprise start. Coming into the buoy at an angle was trickier than I thought, because I had to watch that I didn't run into anyone from the side. Once we reached the first turn, the combined wake of all the swimmers to my side started throwing me off course. It was like a giant wave out there.

My stroke rate was high until the first turn. After that I fell into a steady rhythm at a low stroke rate. I felt strong. I didn't really do any drafting for this race. No one really drafted me either, from what I can tell. That was surprising, because after the last turn I had the best line to the finish and the people next to me were way off course. They should have come over and drafted off of me.
What would you do differently?:

Eh, nothing. Not sure why my time was so slow. I should have been able to throw down 1:20s or less over that short of a distance, and I didn't feel bad.
Transition 1
  • 01m 16s
Comments:

This was a good transition for me. I racked near the bike exit, so I didn't have to run far with my shoes. My wetsuit came off easily. I was actually watching some pros from the earlier race to get just the right stripping technique. It was a pretty long distance from the water to the mount line.

T1 rank: 14th
What would you do differently?:

I wasn't running as fast as usual through transition. I should have sped it up.
Bike
  • 33m 40s
  • 12.43 miles
  • 22.15 mile/hr
Comments:

My running has been sucking lately, so my plan was to leave it all on the bike today. So I just hammered away. I ate a GU at about 3 miles in. I planned on eating another near the end of the bike, but by that time my stomach was hurting from working so hard so I passed. I steadily moved up the field. It was out-and-back, so I could tell that halfway through the race I was in 6th place. 1st and 2nd place were way ahead of everyone, and then there was a handful of us battling it out for the lesser places.

On the way back I tried to work harder, so I moved up to 3rd within a couple miles. The 4th place guy stayed with me though. At mile 10 there was a turn and then an uphill, and suddenly all my energy left my legs. So, the guy whizzed past me and got a good 10 second lead in no time. When he went by, I could see he was a pretty big guy with super long femurs, so I decided to change my strategy. Based on his body type, I decided he was a better biker than he was a runner--so I just wanted to keep him in sight and I'd take care of him during the run. So I lightened up on the pedals a bit, preparing for the run. I tried to keep him in sight, and then also keep a bit of distance--100 yards or so--on the guy behind me.

Mean power = 227 W
Mean cadence = 79 rpm

What would you do differently?:

Well, maybe take care of myself better beforehand. My stomach hurt during the bike. I think my breakfast was a bad idea. My sciatic leg hurt a lot too.
Transition 2
  • 01m 5s
Comments:

This was a big disaster on the part of the race director. I knew ahead of time which side of transition I needed to go in, but as I approached no one was directing riders. So I was asking the volunteers, "do I go this way or that way?" meanwhile losing time since I had slowed way down on the bike. They directed me to the wrong side of transition, i.e., the exit. I was also like, "should I dismount at this line?" and they were like, "nah, do whatever you want." Because of the confusion, I didn't set up my flying dismount and instead I did this really ragged thing where I stopped my bike, left my shoes on the pedals but pulled my feet out there. It was ugly.

There were many other variations on T2 as well. Some people got all the way to the wrong side, and then they were told to bike all the way back around and go in that way. And somehow the 1st and 2nd guys managed to go in opposite sides of the transition, so they ran past each other inside.

Once I was in transition, it was actually going well and shaping up to be about a 30-second transition. The guy ahead of me had not left yet, so that meant I made some gains on him. Just as I was leaving some guy from the timing company chased me down and told me I had to go to the other side, run across that timing mat, and then I could come back and leave transition. I was super mad about that, because I was trying to get my 3rd place position back over here. The guy ahead of me escaped my clutches because of that, and the snafu also made my bike time and T2 a bit longer.

The race director did come up to me after the race to express remorse, and the problem was corrected after maybe only 10 people came in, so those are to his credit. It looks like the volunteers just dropped the ball on this one.

T2 rank: 41
What would you do differently?:

Eh, nothing I could do.
Run
  • 19m 5s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 08s  min/mile
Comments:

This was a pretty crappy run for me. My last race had a super crappy run too. I don't get it. Maybe I have overtrained, or maybe I just suck at 5K's now. I don't think it's because I biked too hard, because normally I can run well after similar biking efforts.

Anyway, my stomach hurt for the whole run. My legs were pretty sluggish, although I got into the groove for some stretches. It was more of a training run than a race. I caught the guy ahead of me a few hundred yards out of T2. So, my little plan at the end of the bike worked. I built a good lead on him. 1st and 2nd were still long gone, so it took the pressure off of me a bit. I didn't need to go faster. I just had to keep the people behind me behind me.

This was an out-and-back course. On the way back there were a few strong looking runners, but after a little math I decided they couldn't catch me in time. I'm glad, because I didn't feel like racing anyone today. I cruised in, beating the next guy by about a minute and a half.

Rumor has it that the course was short, although I'm not sure by how much.
What would you do differently?:

Well, I ran really poorly, but if I went faster I still would have been 3rd. So I guess it didn't matter.
Post race
Warm down:

I jogged a mile, cheering on some of the finishers. I didn't stretch, but I should have. I also should have gotten back in the lake, but I didn't. I guess it doesn't matter because my legs aren't sore.

My prize for 3rd place was a free 1-hour coaching consultation with some guru at Training Bible. Pretty sweet, and apparently it's a $100 value. I never won anything other than a medal or a ribbon, so I'm happy. Now, 1st and 2nd place both got money. That's my next goal, I guess.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Sucky running, and eating breakfast. Next time I'm keeping an empty stomach. I bet getting only 4 hours of sleep was another problem. I can race on 5, but 4 just hurts.

Edit:

The results page had a cool little graph for my rank in each leg. Here's the breakdown:
Swim: 13th (13th overall afterward)
T1: 14th (11th overall afterward)
Bike: 4th (4th overall afterward)
T2: 41st (4th overall afterward)
Run: 4th (3rd overall afterward)

I'm glad I have an excuse for T2. So actually it looks like the swim and T1 were my weaknesses relative to the rest of the field.




Last updated: 2009-06-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:07:53 | 437 yards | 01m 48s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 13/122
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:16
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:33:40 | 12.43 miles | 22.15 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 4/122
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course:
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 79
Turns: Good Cornering: Bad
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:05
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:19:05 | 03.11 miles | 06m 08s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/13
Overall: 4/122
Performance: Bad
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2009-06-07 6:02 PM

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Expert
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Denver, Colorado
Subject: Rockman Sprint triathlon


2009-06-07 6:16 PM
in reply to: #2200568

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Extreme Veteran
722
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Madison-ish, Wisconsin
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
Nice job Skavoovie!
2009-06-07 6:39 PM
in reply to: #2200594

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Expert
1238
100010010025
Denver, Colorado
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
2009-06-07 9:03 PM
in reply to: #2200568

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Champion
7931
5000200050010010010010025
Sequim, Washington
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
So tell me, exactly how do you strip like a professional?
2009-06-07 9:47 PM
in reply to: #2200568

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COURT JESTER
12230
50005000200010010025
ROCKFORD, IL
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon

So you were one of the unfortunates I saw headed to the wrong gate for the bike/run transition.  Next time I'll be nice and turn the arrow the other way.

2009-06-08 12:08 AM
in reply to: #2200995

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Expert
1238
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Denver, Colorado
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
tupuppy - 2009-06-07 7:47 PM

So you were one of the unfortunates I saw headed to the wrong gate for the bike/run transition.  Next time I'll be nice and turn the arrow the other way.



Which arrow was that?


2009-06-08 12:29 AM
in reply to: #2200920

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Expert
1238
100010010025
Denver, Colorado
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
mchally - 2009-06-07 7:03 PM

So tell me, exactly how do you strip like a professional?


Ohh man I have such a good comeback for this, but I'll spare you.

Edited by skavoovie 2009-06-08 12:30 AM
2009-06-08 4:50 PM
in reply to: #2201141

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Champion
7931
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Sequim, Washington
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
skavoovie - 2009-06-07 10:29 PM
mchally - 2009-06-07 7:03 PM So tell me, exactly how do you strip like a professional?
Ohh man I have such a good comeback for this, but I'll spare you.




you're no fun. 

2009-06-08 11:11 PM
in reply to: #2200568

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Expert
1192
1000100252525
Oak Creek, WI
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
kick a$$...  awesome race...!!!
2009-06-08 11:30 PM
in reply to: #2200568

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Master
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Muskego, WI
Subject: RE: Rockman Sprint triathlon
GREAT job today!! Bet you don't mind missing the Lake Mills deadline so much now 'eh?!!
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