General Discussion Race Reports! » Diamondman Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Diamondman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Bear, Delaware
United States
Pirana Sports
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 33m 36s
Overall Rank = 189/437
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 37/63
Pre-race routine:

We camped out at Lums park so ideally the prerace routine should have been rediculously easy. Unfourtunately, I wasted all of that gained time and ended up putzing around until I was almost late for the race start. I spent about 30 minutes in the bathroom line and had to rush to setup my stuff in the transition area, put on my wetsuit, and run to the swim start. Thankfully the race start ran about 15 minutes late or I would have missed my start.
Event warmup:

none
Swim
  • 39m 5s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 51s / 100 yards
Comments:

The water quality in Lums park was horrible. Having never swam there, I was totaly unprepared for the murky mess that the lake was. I literall could not see 12 inches in front of my face. It made drafting very difficult. To add to the visability problems, the return leg of the swim was directly into the morning sun so I couldn't see anything even when I pulled my head to try to sight. I didn't see the swim exit until we were about 50 feet from the shore. Even walking in the lake was a challenge. It seemed like you would walk five steps and suddenly sink two feet into the mud at the bottom.
Transition 1
  • 05m 33s
Comments:

The transition area was a quarter mile from the swim exit.
Bike
  • 2h 37m 31s
  • 56 miles
  • 21.33 mile/hr
Comments:

The flatness of the course seemed to lull me into going faster than I should have until I just got that god awful quad burn. The course was relatively flat amd it kept burning the same muscle groups for the entire ride. It never gave you a chance to change effort. I caught myself hoping for the hill of the bridge because it would at least allow me to change position. In retrospect, I definitely went out too hard. I wasn't watching my effort early on and got caught up in playing tag with a couple of riders before I finally let them go at about mile 20. I went over the Bridge on the way out and kept pushing the pace until about mile 30 where the effort seemed to get much harder. At that point I went from doing a lot of passing to just trying to hold my place and finally to trying to limit my losses. I kept up that struggling until about mile 45 or so until I consciously backed off a little and tried to recover. That seemed to work because I was able to pick up the pace a little and to resume catching people from mile 50 on.
What would you do differently?:

Go out slower. Use a more measured race strategy. I didn't record my bike mile splits but I rode the first half of the race at about 23 mph and the last half at about 20 mph.
Transition 2
  • 04m 17s
Comments:

My legs were shot when I got off the bike. I literally couldn't run from the dismount area to the bike rack so I just walked the bike in.
Run
  • 2h 07m 12s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

Hot. We had a slight tailwind for the first six miles which definitely kept the run very warm. Since I had struggled through T2, I knew the run was going to be a nice long stumble through the dessert. I resorted to a run walk strategy early and walked for 30 sec. every mile. Once we turned around, I started to feel a little cooler from the headwind. I still walked the two slight hills and all of the water stops but I felt a little better than I had thought. The last mile was probably my best mile and I was able to hold a decent pace for that mile. The only bright spot on the run was that I didn't really hurt (from previous injuries) at all so it looks like I'm finally over the disasters in august.
What would you do differently?:

Given that I had blown up on the bike, I'm not sure that I could have done much differently on the run.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Pacing - I think I blew my race during the first 40 miles of the bike.

Event comments:

I enjoyed the race and thought it was reasonably well run. While I didn't like the swim course, I'm not sure that they could have selected a better swim location given the limited number of places to do an open water swim. That said, I think another water station on the bike would have been nice. Additionally, it would have been nice to have the following at at least a few of the aid stations on the run(maybe even just the aid station right before the turnaround): sponges, ice, and some type of food (pretzels?).




Last updated: 2005-09-12 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:05 | 2112 yards | 01m 51s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/63
Overall: 221/437
Performance: Below average
Suit: QR
Course: Out and back
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 05:33
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
02:37:31 | 56 miles | 21.33 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/63
Overall: 95/437
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some
Course: The course was a flat out and back. The only hill was at the Reedy Point bridge.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Too hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 04:17
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:07:12 | 13.1 miles | 09m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/63
Overall: 228/437
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back along an unshaded canal path.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

{postbutton}
2005-09-12 8:21 AM

User image

Member
39
25
Ambler, Pa
Subject: Diamondman


2005-09-12 10:07 AM
in reply to: #244575

User image

Extreme Veteran
492
100100100100252525
Home port
Subject: RE: Diamondman

Nice race! You kicked my butt.  I definitely agree with you about the run, but I like running on hard packed dirt more than running on the road.  As sore as I am today, I will probably do this race again.

2005-09-12 7:58 PM
in reply to: #244575

User image

Not a Coach
11473
5000500010001001001001002525
Media, PA
Subject: RE: Diamondman
Good job!  It sounds like you at least limited your losses on the run.  But I'm not sure I noticed that breeze you mentioned!
2005-09-12 11:22 PM
in reply to: #245413

User image

Pro
3870
200010005001001001002525
Virginia Beach, VA
Subject: RE: Diamondman
I defiitely got the headwind after the turn-around but it only lasted a mile or so.  I remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to hold my pace if that kept up for the entire return trip. 

JohnnyKay - 2005-09-12 8:58 PMGood job! It sounds like you at least limited your losses on the run. But I'm not sure I noticed that breeze you mentioned!
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Diamondman Rss Feed