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Desert Triathlon - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic


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La Quinta, California
United States
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 20m 20s
Overall Rank = 739/739
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 88/88
Pre-race routine:

Woke up early and got to the race site around 5am. I was one of the first to arrive. I wanted to make sure I got a good parking spot and I also had a flat rear tire I had to deal with. I parked and the guys parked right next to me were working on their bikes. So I asked if they had a tire iron so I could change my tube. They did and I changed it in a few minutes and it was fine. Although, I had to replace the rear Latex tube with a regular tube...oh well, not a biggie. I then went and picked up my packet and got into transition. I found a spot in the back of the rack. I knew ahead of time that I was only going to do the swim and bike and drop out...so I didn't want to take a prime rack spot.


Event warmup:

First thing to do was to get in my 10 minute run that my coach had scheduled for me. I just ran down the course super slow...out 5min and back. Everything was fine there.

I got my wetsuit on with about 20 minutes to the start, talked with some friends and headed down to the lake. I swam to the last buoy and back and felt pretty good. I would estimate it was about a 300 yard swim. Got out and headed over to the start.
Swim
  • 19m 37s
  • 1312 yards
  • 01m 29s / 100 yards
Comments:

Swim went good although I must say I wasn't thrilled with the time. I felt like it was the perfect effort level though.

At the start, I took off much faster than normal and apparently everyone else had the same idea because there were several guys sprinting with me. There was NO seeing the first buoy in the sun. I was smart though and picked out some landmarks ahead of time and I used those. I never once corrected my swim line. I swam perfectly straight to the first buoy. I could see that a couple guys had taken off. I knew some of the guys there and expected that.

On the way back, I had to correct course a couple times. There was an intermediate buoy that you were suppose to keep on your left on the way to the next turn buoy. Well, this intermediate buoy was NOT in a straight line to the next turn buoy. I was correcting off of everyone else but the problem was they were swimming to the middle buoy, instead of swimming to the turn buoy. So I finally figured out why I felt like I was swimming off course, because I was following dumb people...I just swam straight to the turn buoy. Just before the last turn buoy, a guy passed me with my color cap on. I sat on his feet all the way in.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe swim harder? I guess I could have. This is a tough leg to experiment with though. You don't want to mess up the rest of your race trying to pin the swim. My swim fitness is good...I should have been just a little faster than this.

I will also say that my run to the timing mat was slow. It was over a gravel path and it was a tough run. I could have picked it up there as well. I also have to take into consideration that I did finish the swim within some of the Elite times, so I can't be too bummed.
Transition 1
  • 01m 33s
Comments:

Transition went well although I was not really trying to haul ass. I've got it down to such few things though, it goes fast anyway.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 59m 10s
  • 24 miles
  • 24.34 mile/hr
Comments:

Power was down but speed was good. Which I kind of figured. My position is good, just not very powerful...but the goal is speed, not power. There were a couple things I didn't like and I'm going to make a couple changes to my position,...very minor ones. It did take a while to find my legs and all my peak power numbers came in the second half of the race.

Bike starts off on a pretty shitty road but then gets on a flat smooth road for the rest of the ride. I felt like I was going fast right off the bat, but legs felt fatigued. I had a plan to not go real hard for the first 10-15 minutes and I did stick to that...but they still felt sore. It wasn't till about the half way point that they actually came around. I hooked up with two other riders and we swapped spots several times. They would hammer out of the corners and pass me but I wasn't having any of that. I would just roll up to speed and pass them back.

We caught a TON of people and were really riding pretty fast.

I was happy with the ride. My goal was to break an hour and I did that. I wish I would have felt a little better on the bike. I think more warm up might be needed to get that initial shock out of my legs that morning.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe spin before the race. It took a solid 20 minutes to find my legs.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Dropped out in T2....I was in third place at the time, and only seconds out of first. Such a weird feeling to be doing that good and have to stop.
Run
  • 00m
  • 6 miles
  •  min/mile
Comments:

Didn't do the run portion.
Post race
Warm down:

Not much, just rested in transition and cheered on some friends.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Like I mentioned above, I'm going to experiment with riding some before the race.




Last updated: 2010-10-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:37 | 1312 yards | 01m 29s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/88
Overall: 50/739
Performance:
Suit: Blueseventy Axis
Course: Triangle. Lake
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 65F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:33
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:59:10 | 24 miles | 24.34 mile/hr
Age Group: 3/88
Overall: 28/739
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Two loop...dead flat
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:00:00 | 06 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/88
Overall: 0/739
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2011-03-07 9:43 AM

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Master
2356
20001001001002525
Westlake Village , Ca.
Subject: Desert Triathlon - Olympic


2011-03-07 11:56 AM
in reply to: #3386108

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Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Looked for you Dusty... actually, I looked for your bike, or more precisely, your seatpost, as I am sure it is the only one in existence with that decal.....   Never saw it, or you.

Smoking swim, that time is up there with the elites in the mix

And that bike?  crap, you were flying.  Did you end up using it as a power test?

Honestly, the run looked like it got a little hot so I was OK not being out there, but I wasn't contending for AG anything.  Although it does feel weird intentionally dropping out. 

2011-03-07 12:18 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Master
2356
20001001001002525
Westlake Village , Ca.
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Yeah....I avg'd 230 watts. 232NP or something like that.

I actually wasn't too disappointed with that number. My FTP is 277 right now. So I figure about 265 or so after the swim with no run afterward. But, that number comes from my road bike. It's not uncommon to have a 20 watt drop on a TT bike with the position....so that 245 or so that I should expect. Number wasn't too far off that and I didn't feel great on the bike. So, it is what it is.

But the speed was there and that's what I'm ultimately going for.

I was bummed to drop out, but the run did look a little "uncomfortable", shall we say

There were some fast runners behind me, plus the bike would have been slightly slower if I was running...but a top 10 was definitely in the cards.

2011-03-07 12:35 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Champion
9600
500020002000500100
Fountain Hills, AZ
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
Great job, I wouldn't worry about the swim time per se, courses are almost never the correct distance. Like Chris said, all that matters is relative placing. Solid bike.
2011-03-07 1:08 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Master
1420
1000100100100100
Reston, VA
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
Like others have said - swim distance is very often not measured correctly. I would look where you were vs the overall and/or guys you know and by looking at that is looks like you had a very solid swim...great job on the bike too - under 1 hour for an Oly is always a good day.
2011-03-07 1:12 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Looking at 2010 swim results, the times this year appear to be about 2 minutes slower, lots of 15s and 16s last year.  Only a couple 16s this year. 



2011-03-07 1:22 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Master
2356
20001001001002525
Westlake Village , Ca.
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
That's probably it Chris....I was estimating 18:xx based on last year's times...might have been a bit longer this year. 
2011-03-07 1:32 PM
in reply to: #3386654

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Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Fastyellow - 2011-03-07 11:22 AM That's probably it Chris....I was estimating 18:xx based on last year's times...might have been a bit longer this year. 

That's exactly what I was estimating based on those times, and I was about 1:30-2 behind that, depending how long that stroll to the first mat lasted

2011-03-07 2:00 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Expert
703
500100100
Palm Springs, California
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
Great bike and swim! I'm looking at the numbers, too, and this was a really fast field this year, both days. Like the others are saying, the swim distances were, um, a little arbitrary?
2011-03-07 2:33 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Veteran
259
1001002525
SoCal
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
Nice Bike Split.....
2011-03-08 12:10 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Master
2356
20001001001002525
Westlake Village , Ca.
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Thanks everyone....definitely looking forward to the next one.


I did a 12 minute run last night and felt pretty good. Tomorrow I have a long run...15 minutes...lol. We'll see how it goes.



2011-03-11 8:39 AM
in reply to: #3386108

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Elite
3315
20001000100100100
Miami
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
2011-03-11 9:43 PM
in reply to: #3386108

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Extreme Veteran
833
50010010010025
Strong Beach, CA
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic

Way to kick a$$ Dusty.

 

 

So...uh, it looks like your swimming has got faster since Hansen Dam last year? 



Edited by jackson61802 2011-03-11 9:43 PM
2011-03-14 4:07 PM
in reply to: #3394633

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Master
2356
20001001001002525
Westlake Village , Ca.
Subject: RE: Desert Triathlon - Olympic
Yeah...since the running injury...I've been swimming a ton and it's coming along.
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