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Tri-America International - TriathlonOlympic


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Irving, Texas
United States
Sommer Sports
90+F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 35m 11s
Overall Rank = 20/149
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 1/6
Pre-race routine:

We were staying in the Marriott for this race, which was about a quarter mile from the race site. However, the whole family was along for the trip, so this meant that I had to eat breakfast and whatever else I had to do in the bathroom of the hotel. This after having to choose which little indian, (3 yr old or 5 yr old) to wrestle with all night. Joy. Anyhoo, I ate my bowl of Total cereal, and a Clif Bar, and washed it all down with a can of mostly defizzed Red Bull and a cup of coffee. I took care of some personal business (twice) and made my drink bottles and headed down to the lobby.
Event warmup:

After leisurely riding my bike down to the transition area, I set my area up and found Bill and Brandt and we shot the breeze intermittently for about an hour or so. I also took care of some more business (really?) and got a short run in before donning my purple LSU swim cap and warming up in the water a little. Oh yeah, my swim wave was purple caps, so I decided to wear my LSU cap instead of the plain one that the race issued me. Got a few comments on that. "Did you swim at LSU?" No, but right about now I wish I had.

Did I mention that Sommer Sports, the outfit that puts these races on, is out of Florida? Sheesh. The announcer was going on and on and on about how great Florida is and how big triathlons are there and how we should all come down to Miami in September, blah, blah, blah. Get over Florida, buddy. You're in Texas now.
Swim
  • 29m
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 56s / 100 meters
Comments:

Just before the swim start, I started to feel a little bloated like maybe I needed to poop yet again. I thought, no way. I've already gone 3 times! I looked up at the port a johns and there was a line for all of them, so I decided to soldier on.

The swim start was actually out in the water, so we were treading water at the start. I probably got out there a little too early, and treaded water for quite a while. This was different than the water treading that we had to do at IMAZ, because of no wetsuit. As a result, the swim start felt a little goofy to me. I got out of there with relatively no collisions or anything, and headed to the right shore, because that was the most direct route. As I started, I noticed that I was taking it easy, in an effort to recover from the treading, I guess.

I picked it up and kept close to the shore. I was sighting about every 40 or 50 strokes, because I could navigate by the shore. However, about halfway out, there was an inlet to the right, and when it came back, the shore was way further away. At that point, I started sighting every 20, and was right on track with the buoy every time.

I did notice during the first half, that my stomach was maybe a little too full with the several cups of Gatorade, and the GU that I took right before the start. I made the decision there to not take a GU on the first 15-minute beep during the bike. More on that later.

Rounded the buoys at the turn, and headed back to Transition. Only now the sun was to the right, and I prefer to breathe right - even though I can breathe on both sides. I started having to sight a little more frequently, and with two buoys to go, I really started going off course to the left, which is odd, because I usually swim off course to the right. Whatever. I made it to the ladder and across the mats in less than 30 minutes. I was hoping for a time below 28, so I was only a minute or so off from my goal. Nevertheless, I had the stinking suspicion that my swim was going to be a touch slow on account of the heavy gut and the bad navigation at the end.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe eat a little less before the race. Navigation is just something that will get a little bit better as I continue to become a stronger swimmer.
Transition 1
  • 01m 53s
Comments:

Long run across some grass (with a raised sidewalk for good measure) and then into the transition area which was in a parking lot that did not have the rocks swept out. Ouch. I got to my bike and while trying to get my shoes on, I knocked my bike over and into the fence. Luckily, I was the last bike on the edge near the fence, so that broke the fall a little.

Got myself together and headed on out.
What would you do differently?:

Duh. Not knock the bike over.
Bike
  • 1h 11m 52s
  • 24.8 miles
  • 20.71 mile/hr
Comments:

My bike computer read 21 MPH exactly, and this was after walking the bike out and in transition, so I am going to hold on to the belief that the course was a shade long.

I saw the whole family as I went past the Marriott and gave them a wave. "Go, Daddy, GO!"

My plan was to ride comfortably hard, and I think I did so. There were a number of hills. I spent the entire first lap in the big ring, and only on the last big hill of the second lap did I shift into the small ring. Overall, I thought that it was a great bike course. On the way out, there was a huge downhill that I coasted down and hit over 30 MPH. Then, you climb up to the top again, and this time it is a gradual downhill. This one, you need to pedal down, but I still got up to 30 or so while pedaling. That's cool. Coming back, I measured it and it was about 0.7 miles up the long hill.

My only complaint with the bike course had more to do with the riders. During the second lap, when the sprint riders were out on the course (they started 30 min after us) there were a ton of riders going all over their lane! I continually had to announce "on your left!" as I was overtaking them, and that gets old after a while.

I checked my halfway split and it was 35:35. The second half split was 36:00, and this included a good section of slow riding through the parking lot so as not to make like David Zabriskie. :) So I think I did a very good job of holding my speed and not wasting away on the bike.

During the ride, I only took in two GU's, because of the aforementioned gut issues.

Passing through mile 21, I rode past a dude on a Felt B2. Ugh. I told him that I loved his bike. He passed me, then I passed him again, then he passed me. I caught him at transition and entered before him.
What would you do differently?:

I was pleased with my ride. I thought I maintained focus throughout and rode at a good pace.
Transition 2
  • 01m 16s
Comments:

This was a quick transition. Sat down and put my running socks and shoes on, grabbed my race belt and my visor and one more GU for good measure.
What would you do differently?:

Not eat the GU.
Run
  • 51m 12s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 08m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

Holy smokes, it was getting hot. I headed out onto the run course, and after slamming that GU, I immediately regretted it. I could feel my stomach sloshing around and knew that I had overeaten. OK, nothing but water on the run. In the first 500 meters out of transition, my friend with the B2 passed me again, but I kept my eye on him.

As I hit the first mile, I checked the split and it was 8:47. That is no good whatsoever. It was going to be a struggle, and I knew it. The bad part is that 8:47 felt hard. I started getting two cups of water at each aid station. One for my head and the other for to drink. I knew that if I could make it through the first couple of miles, I might start to feel better, so of course I soldiered on.

Early in the second mile, I saw Bill, then Brandt, and gave them both a quick shout. I wonder if they could tell that I was dying out there? Now, halfway through the second mile was the turnaround for the 5-K (sprint). I seriously thought about turning around there. Any chance I can change my mind on my choice of run distance? Please?!?!

OK, back to reality. Mile 2 was a shade under 8, so maybe I was hitting my stride. Did I mention that there was only a slight breeze to go with the temperatures in the 90's. The breeze did not help though. When it was in your face, it felt like it slowed you down, but when you ran with it, it was not enough to help you. It only made the air stifling and nearly unbreathable. Mile 3 was 7:45 or so, and I noticed that I was reigning in Mr. B2. He stopped at the aid station to walk, and I kept on running (two waters, please!) I passed him and chatted for a moment before leaving him.

Mile 4 was long. It had to be. I did not feel like I was slowing down, and it came in at 9:42. There is no way that I lost two minutes. I actually started trying to calculate if my last 10K from IMAZ would be faster or slower than this 10K. (It wound up slower, thank goodness.) Mile 5 was back at 8:15, then I left it all on the course as I caught three or four others on my way in with an 8:44 final 1.2.

Danielle had brought Ellie back out for the finish and it was nice to be able to see them as I was running in.

After finishing, Mr. B2 introduced himself to me, and said that he was trying to catch me and thought that he just ran out of road. He finished 7 seconds behind me.


What would you do differently?:

Try to arrange for a course-wide air conditioner.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around. Drank a lot of water and ate some grapes. Oh yeah, and I sat in the Mustang Fountain. Ahhhhhhhhh.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat, and honestly, my marginal training since April.

Event comments:

After the race, I went back to the hotel to clean up and get the family all checked out. I thought that I might pick up some hardware with a 2:35, but it turns out that I won the Clydesdale division! Woo-hoo! They had already done the awards, so they are going to send mine to me. Also, I would have been 4th in the 30-34 AG. It was a small race (149 entrants in the International), but it's still fun to finish first!




Last updated: 2005-07-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:00 | 1500 meters | 01m 56s / 100meters
Age Group: 2/6
Overall: 0/149
Performance: Average
Suit: Pearl Izumi Tri Shorts and Singlet
Course: The best way to describe it is a curvey out and back. The course followed the right edge of the lake around to the right, then a short trek across then lake, then back down the middle of the lake. The worst part of it was that the swim exit was four ladders. Yes, ladders, like a painter would use. So you spend half an hour horizontal and then are expected to land your foot on a two inch ladder rung. But they had to do it that way, because the entire lake is surrounded by a concrete retaining wall.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:53
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:11:52 | 24.8 miles | 20.71 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/6
Overall: 20/149
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Double out and back for the Internationals. There were a few hills, some big, some not so big. I am sure that they only looked bigger to me coming from South Texas. In particular, there was a set of two hills in which the first was steep and the second was long as you went out, and of course it was opposite on the way in.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 95
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:16
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
00:51:12 | 06.2 miles | 08m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/6
Overall: 28/149
Performance: Below average
Course: Confusing run course. It was an out and back with a bunch of turns and not too many hills. The confusing part was that there was one intersection that you hit four times. Yes, four times from four different directions. They had cones up there, but it would have helped if there were lines painted on the ground or actual barriers so that you could not make a wrong turn.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2005-07-06 9:43 AM

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Expert
751
5001001002525
Texarkana, TX
Subject: Tri-America International


2005-07-06 3:22 PM
in reply to: #191281

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Elite
2796
2000500100100252525
Texas
Subject: RE: Tri-America International
I couldn't tell you were dying on the run Phil. I was trying not to go to the light myself. You looked strong to me. Way to go brother!
2005-07-06 3:47 PM
in reply to: #191685

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Expert
751
5001001002525
Texarkana, TX
Subject: RE: Tri-America International
Thanks, man. I really thought about turning around at that 5-K sign.
2005-07-06 10:41 PM
in reply to: #191281

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Elite
3020
20001000
Bay Area, CA
Subject: RE: Tri-America International
Good job finishing the race even though you didn't feel so good, and of course, on the hardware.
2005-07-07 12:37 AM
in reply to: #191281

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Elite
2706
2000500100100
Hurst, Texas
Subject: RE: Tri-America International

Awesome race, Phil.  And don't feel bad, I was dying halfway through the 5k we had to run! You looked pretty darn strong when I saw you. When I got to the tunraround, I saw my beloved BIL coming the other way, so I decided to spee dup for fear that he might actually catch me.

By the way, I loved the kayak comment you made to him before the swim start....it still makes me giggle when I think about it.

Again, great race, and congrats on the 1st place hardware.

 

2005-07-11 4:46 PM
in reply to: #191281

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Extreme Veteran
367
1001001002525
Lufkin (East Texas)
Subject: RE: Tri-America International
Dude...nice race. Better yet, nice win! Congrats man!


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