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Greenfield Lightlife Triathlon - International Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Greenfield, Massachusetts
United States
Greenfield Recreation Department
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 38m 53s
Overall Rank = 11/106
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/12
Pre-race routine:

So even the night before the race there were bad omens. I was staying at my parents place (who were in NH for the weekend), and a next door neighbor had some stuff on their porch robbed at about 9pm. Cops showed up, I checked my parents deck, porch, and the area to make sure everything was copacetic. However, getting to bed in an empty house when someone was robbing in the area...well that was difficult.

Anyway, wakeup was at 6am, quick stop at Dunks then the 5 minutes drive to the race (one of the few things that went well all day!)
Event warmup:

Let's see...got transition all sorted out, went for a quick jog then took the bike out--flat tire. Awesome. I had two spares--one in the car--so I switched tubes and grabbed the second one for my saddle bag. Then taking off my sunglasses I noticed I was missing the earpeice. Oh, and I was randomly bleeding (quite profusely) on my right ankle for some reason...again, just bad omens all around.
Swim
  • 18m 13s
  • 1014 meters
  • 01m 48s / 100 meters
Comments:

Either my swimming has gotten worse or I've just had some bad performances. This was sub-standard yet again. The start went well, I got in the front group and found a pair of legs to draft off of for a short bit. I then got cut off and from there on out couldn't find a single person to draft off of. The swim felt long, I don't know if the course was long or if my swimming has gotten worse but I struggled a bit here.
What would you do differently?:

Find someone to draft off of, and I guess more swimming is in order!
Transition 1
  • 01m 34s
Comments:

Again, subpar. I couldn't get the suit over my giant, oversized 310XT, that held me up a few seconds. From there I think I just need to be a bit quicker with everything I do in transition.
Bike
  • 1h 24m 12s
  • 30.4 miles
  • 21.66 mile/hr
Comments:

And here's where the fun begins! First lap was good, I did just under 22, kinda getting my legs under me and tried to take the two hills pretty easy, save it for later. Shortly after the first hill on the second loop, during a slight decent, I was reaching for my water bottle--still in aero position--when I hit a little bump--one of those small bumps that you just don't notice on the road. With one arm down, leaning on the front, going 30+ it threw me off balance. Front tire jerked to the right, and I just couldn't get control back. If I had some room on my right I probably could have saved it but the road disappeared into (thankfully) grass/dirt and went steep downhill. The wheels lost traction and I slid out on my left side. Wow, that's a rush! First time putting a bike down, and at 30 mph it scared the crap out of me. After a few seconds to catch my breath I checked the damage: no broken bones, some serious road rash on my left forearm, upper arm and back, and some hip pain, but otherwise I was in one peice...and most importantly, so was my bike! I did a full inspection--derailleurs, tires, brakes, quick releases--and determined nothing was broken (I just needed to do some brake adjustments), so it was time to get back in the race!

With the adrenaline pumping I got back on the bike and started climbing my way back through the ranks--I got some shocked comments from people who saw me bloody on the side of the road then cruising past them, which gave me extra oomph that lap.

My next surprise: finding out my gels fell out during the crash. So with a quarter bottle of Gatorade Endurance left I'd be left to on-course support for the last 1:45 of the race...AWESOME!

Anyway, the rest of the bike went fine, I held the hard, steady pace that my coach and I had as a goal and I'd say it went well: minus the crash I was 22.5 mph and would have come in with the second fastest bike split without the 3:30 lost to the crash.
What would you do differently?:

Not fall? Yeah, that sounds about right.
Transition 2
  • 00m 42s
Comments:

A bit better here, it all went as planned (minus the pesky rock making its way into my right shoe, but that's for later)
Run
  • 53m 49s
  • 7.2 miles
  • 07m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Haha...where to begin? Well my thighs started seizing up about half a mile into the run, I knew I was in for a battle. I just hadn't had enough nutrition, period. Half a bottle of water, one bottle of Gatorade Endurance and nothing else, it just wasn't enough...and when I cramp I CRAMP. So I took it (reasonably) slow and steady, just concentrated on keeping a decent pace. I walked the aid stations so I could take in more fluids and walked the second half of the big climb, I think those two things really saved my legs.

So lets see..what else? Oh yeah, my left hip started killing halfway through the run, a product of the spill I took earlier. And at about mile two the pebble in my shoe really started bothering me. By the last mile it was absolute torture--why I didn't take the shoe off during my walk-the-aid-station--during ANY ONE OF THEM--I have no idea. Some times I'm too competitive for my own good.

Anyway, I did the last 3 miles at a 7:10 pace (including two walks during aid stations) which I'm VERY happy with, both from a pacing standpoint and from a 'putting it all out there despite the conditions' standpoint.
What would you do differently?:

Remind myself that ten seconds to adjust something that's causing pain is worth the trouble. Also, drink more and take in more calories before the run, but that was kinda out of my hands today.
Post race
Warm down:

Met up with my sisters, who showed up to cheer me on for the finish. Then I roamed aroudn for a half hour looking for a medical station to clean up my blood-stained body. Quick stretch, some great lasagna and a klondike bar, then the awards ceremony, which had a cute small-town feel to it.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Sometimes despite your best efforts you just have crap luck...maybe better bike handling skills would have helped keep me upright, but in the end this was just 'one of those days'. I'm VERY happy with the way I rolled with all the issues and finished strong, but at least one of the issues (the pebble) was correctable, so I need to be more self-aware on the course and remember that these races last hours, sometimes a short break early can pay big time dividends later.

Event comments:

Very fun event. Things are a little confusing with the swim loops and a 4-loop bike course that's running at hte same time as a 2-loop sprint race but they do a good time keeping everyone on track. My one issue, and one I wouldn't have noticed had I not been hurt, was in finding medical help post-race. There was no tent, I asked a few people and no one knew, I just had to go find the medics, who weren't at the ambulance parked on course. They were extremely nice and helpful, but having a tent or at least a good way to find the medics would have been nice.

Other than that, great race, it's a fun and challenging course and the volunteers were fantastic and cheering the whole way around.




Last updated: 2010-06-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:13 | 1014 meters | 01m 48s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/12
Overall: 15/106
Performance: Below average
Suit: 2XU tri comp
Course: Down, back and partway down again of the Green river; because it's dammed up during the day it was very, very calm and flat; only issue was extremely shallow water in parts.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:34
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:24:12 | 30.4 miles | 21.66 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/12
Overall: 6/106
Performance: Average
Wind: None
Course: 4 loop course with a 5%, .3 mile climb to start then a tough 9%, .3 mile climb halfway through each loop. Everything else, though, was a slight decline, which made for some fast times.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 99
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:42
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:53:49 | 07.2 miles | 07m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/12
Overall: 18/106
Performance: Average
Course: One loop of the bike course: same two climbs, and that 9% climb is a bear on the run.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
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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2010-08-01 6:26 PM

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Subject: Greenfield Lightlife Triathlon - International Distance
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