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Tri-America
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Tri-America - TriathlonOlympic
View Member's Race Log
 Swim
Comments: First 1/3 of the swim felt decent. I didn't go out too hard and held a fairly good line to the turn. Then the wheels started to fall of. For some reason I just couldn't seem to hold a very good line after the first turn and I was getting tired. I'd take a couple breast strokes to adjust my diredtion and get a good sight. By the time I rounded the 3rd and final turn I couldn't maintain my freestyle more than 30 or so strokes at a time before I'd need to grab a short break. I can't explain why...I wasn't out of breath. I started to feel very constricted in my wetsuit and was getting extremely frustrated overall because I didn't know what was going wrong. By the time I hit the beach I couldn't wait to rip the damn wetsuit off. My legs were also very tired as I exited the water as if I had been kicking like mad and I had to walk most of the way to T1...probably 300m+ from the water. So while it started well, I was not happy overall with my swim. I ended up 10th out of 17 in my AG which means I need to improve to hit my goal of being a solid mid-pack swimmer. Thinking back over it I can't pinpoint anything specific other than thefrustration that was building from about the mid-point. I think if I were able to just relax and calm down I'd have beed a good 1-2min faster. If I had cut 1min I would have been 8th in my AG, if I were able to cut 1:30 I would have been 6th in the AG. So based on this my new goal for Diamond in the Rough in 3 weeks is to remain calm and swim easy even if it feels slow...it has to be faster and more efficient than the breast and side stroke I resorted to for probably a cumulative 200-300m. What would you do differently?: More practice with my wetsuit. I really started to feel uncomfortable in it by the last 1/3 of the swim. My HRM data shows that my HR climbed into the mid 170's by the mid point of the swim...seems way too high to me.  Transition 1
Comments: The actual transition itself was good...but my T1 time was slow because I walked most of the 300m from the water before my legs felt up for jogging...thanks to my below average swim. I don't really remember the details but nothing sticks out as being a problem. I also had a ~100m jog from my rack spot to the bike exit so about 400m on foot (much of it walking) plus my actual transition went into that 3:49. What would you do differently?: Nothing as far as the transition goes.  Bike
Comments: I think I rode a decent race. They had a bottle exchange at the and of the first lap. I ended up drinking about 20oz of water, 10oz of 2x strength Accelerade and sucking down a couple packets of Accel gel...probably 400cal total. I only got passed by two guys (both with full-aero TT setups, disc wheels, TT helmets...the whole deal) and they ripped by like I was out for a casual spin. A couple minor high points for me were the two guys I passed with Zipp 404' and me on my bone stock road bike. What would you do differently?: Hard to tell but I might have gone a little too hard because I was crap on the run. Couldn't really say for sure since this was my first experience at this distance. Overall I was satisfied with my bike. I'll need some help analyzing my performance and suggesting how to adjust for my next race in 3 weeks. Transition 2
Comments: Good quick transition. I took ~15seconds to suck down some more Accelerade before I took off. My rack was the first one in from the bike so I only had ~30ft to go before I could rack it and change shoes. The bike dismount area was a mess though. As you rode in the transition area was on your right and you had to dismount and then hang a 90deg right and pop up over the sidewalk to go through the timing mats into T2. This should be planned differently. What would you do differently?: Nothing really, although I wish I had left my running hat out to wear.  Run
Comments: I just didn't have anything in my legs. I went out at a fairly easy pace but I just never eased into a comfortable run. My first two miles were decent but then things started going bad. I had a little cramping in my quads, tightness in my shins and lower back. The course was boring which didn't help keep my mind off all the discomfort. I was generally struggling through most of the run which isn't normal for me. I can typically go run 7:30 pace for 10+ miles without a problem. Today 7:20 pace for 6 miles was miserable. I was officially listed as 5th in the AG on the run but I see that another guy ran the same 45:27 that I did and for whatever reason got the 4th spot, although I beat him overall by 4min. It looks like there were 38 people who ran a faster 10k in the whole race, including the open divisions. Still, 45:27 is about 23% slower than my open 10k PR. I'm not at all happy with that. What would you do differently?: First of all, after looking at the results I guess I was expecting too much out of myself to set a 40min goal (6:25 pace)...I can run an open 10k under 37min so 40min seemed challenging but reasonable. There were only a handful of people in the whole race who ran under 7min pace. But at the time I was out there all I knew was I wasn't even close to what I had thought I could do and that was mentally defeating...especially as I saw that 3rd mile split which seemed painfully sow even though I was about the best my body could give me at that point. Second, it's obvious that I need to focus on some bricks and transition runs after my training rides. My legs need to adapt to changing gears. I only have a few bricks in up to this point in the season. Mentally I'd rate the run as terrible but after seeing the rest of the results it looks like I did okay considering my lack of brick training. Post race
Warm down: Lots of water and some time in the shade. My ;legs got tight and sore by the evening which makes me wish I had done more stretching and some easy recovery walking/jogging but at the time I was kind of in a funk from my performance and didn't want to do much of anything. What limited your ability to perform faster: Don't know really what happened out in the water but something went bad because I just couldn't hold my freestyle. I was satisfied with the bike. On the run...I expected too much from myself and also wasn't well prepared to run off the bike. Event comments: Not impressed overall with this race. My $85 registration got me a T-shirt, a little pizza and a soda...not even a damn water bottle, Power Bar, or gel sample in my race bag! Minimal eats after. It almost looked like they sent someone to Wal-Mart the night before to grab a few snacks and just threw it out on the table. NO BEER! The course wasn't managed very well and that resulted in lots of accidents and confusion. They only had 4 port-o-pots. I'll never do this race again...it wasn't very fun, could have been organized/planned better, they skimped on the goodies and food, and was a boring bike/run that just made it seem all the more difficult. As far as I can tell most of the cash went to awards...finisher medals for everyone and award plaques for the top 10 of every category for the Oly and top 5 for the sprint...that probably amounts to 50% or more of all participants. I'm not big on medals and awards if I'm not top 3...I'd rather have some good food and a beer. Profile Album Last updated: 2005-03-25 12:00 AM
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 2005-06-19 9:47 PM |
Pro  3870      Virginia Beach, VA |  Subject: Tri-AmericaWell, I finished my first Olympic distance race and I wasn't happy with my performance overall. Lots of things to work on. I've got another shot in 3 weeks and hopefully I'll pull it together better. Edited by TH3_FRB 2005-06-19 9:48 PM |
| 2005-06-20 6:42 AM in reply to: #178359 |
Master 2314 Gulf Shores, AL | Subject: RE: Tri-America Hey thats a great race!! The olympic distance is a whole other ball game and to run a 10K at your pace is better than solid. I think olympic is actually tougher mentally than a half iron. You did a great job. I had a similiar experience with a tri-america race, the value for what they put on just wasn't there. Manatee |
| 2005-06-20 7:12 AM in reply to: #178359 |
Master 1557 Maine | Subject: RE: Tri-America I gotta agree with Manatee. Running is my strength, and I expected to go much faster on the run at my oly a few weeks back, but it is a whole other animal. This was your first oly, and you placed in the top third of what is one of the toughest age groups. Nice work. Too bad the organization was crappy. |
| 2005-06-20 7:24 AM in reply to: #178359 |
| Elite Veteran 781 | Subject: RE: Tri-America Expectations are funny creatures. From looking at your times, I would have guessed that you had the race of your life. You're going to be scary fast when you put a race together to your satisfaction. I hate reading that the bike course was unsafe. That is inexcusable. Congrats on completing your first Oly. |
| 2005-06-20 8:48 AM in reply to: #178467 |
Pro 3870 Virginia Beach, VA | Subject: RE: Tri-America Thanks for the encouragement! For the run I'd say my problems were 75% mental/experience and 25% training and prep. Sure, doing more bricks and transition runs will help me feel better on the run but I really got down on myself when I started to see the mile splits I was clocking. I had expected much more from myself based on my open 10k times and I didn't find out till after the race that actually ran in the top 15% or so of everyone. I bet I would have been 1-2min faster if I had just felt better mentally about what I was doing. For the swim...I can't really say. The only thing that really got to me was that I started to feel completely constricted by my wetsuit by the last 400m but I think it was much more from frustration than an actual problem with my wetsuit. It's not too small and I did swam 1500m OW training swims in it a couple times last week without these problems. |
| 2005-06-20 9:43 AM in reply to: #178359 |
Elite 3020 Bay Area, CA | Subject: RE: Tri-America You are scary fast. That said, a couple of comments. You should not expect to be able to match your stand-alone 10K time. You're coming off the bike, and that does affect you for the run. The discomforts that you listed are pretty common for someone who's trying to run off the bike. 23% slower is really good for someone who hasn't done very many bricks (basing that on your comments in your RR.) I'd suggest trying one or two bricks at race distance before you start your taper for your next Oly. That way, you'll be more prepared for the sensations. It sounds like you might have went out too hard on the swim. It's easy to get into that sprint mentality and then find yourself struggling halfway through. It's ok to sprint out for the first 100 yards or so, but then you need to think "relax, relax, relax." Oly is a big step up from sprints, I think you did great for your first one. That's a killer time. |
| 2005-06-20 10:51 AM in reply to: #178609 |
Expert 666 St. Thomas, ON | Subject: RE: Tri-America ...especially as I saw that 3rd mile split which seemed painfully slow... If I could go as painfully slow as you, I would be hooping and hollering and have the best race of my life Even though you didn't meet your expectations, you had a great race. Congrats. |
| 2005-06-20 12:50 PM in reply to: #178359 |
Pro 4578 Vancouver, BC | Subject: RE: Tri-America Joel, Your times spell out to a great race. So first I will say Congrats. This was your first Oly and was really just a training race for you, so use it as that. Now you know what to work on. I'll echo the others comments that you are going to be scary fast when you put everything together the way that you want. You bike time was stellar. Looks like you've made some great improvements on your bike this month. I guess after your run, which was still awesome in my books, makes you appreciate how fast the pros are running after swimming and cycling. Great race Joel. I'll look for photos in your album. Jen |
| 2005-06-20 1:40 PM in reply to: #178859 |
Pro 3870 Virginia Beach, VA | Subject: RE: Tri-America Thanks Jen. I typically have high expectations for myself...I've never been "average" at anything and I can't be satisfied with anything but my best. I think a re-calibrated sense of what a "fast" 10k (7min pace would have been top 5%) is along with a few good bricks and I'll be in much better shape on the run. Still at a loss on the swim...1500m isn't a big deal and the conditions were perfect...I just blew up and got very frustrated. My girlfriend was waiting at the swim exit as I walked by and all I said was "that was terrible"...not having any idea what my time was, it just felt bad. Well, I;ve got 2 more shots at the Oly distance this year and then the 1/2 so we'll see how much I learn from this one. |
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United States
Sommer Sports
78F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 62/224
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/17
Up at 4am, made my breakfast shake, packed the car and hit the road. Got to the start at 5am and found out that they had changed the check-in time to 5:30...so I stood around waiting for the sun to come up. Eventually got checked in and got my transition spot organized.
~10min on the bike, ~10min jog, 2-300m swim. We were actually able to hang in the water off to the side while the first waves were starting.