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Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
45F / 7C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 07m 47s
Overall Rank = 440/909
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 108/194
Pre-race routine:

Good Italian dinner the night before with some pasta and a glass of red wine. Got to bed early and was asleep by 10pm which is good for me. I was nervous and ended up waking up at 1:30am, then 2:30am, then 3:30am which is when I finally said screw it and got up. I was too wired and excited and the storms were not helping either as it was pouring rain still and I just opened windows to look at it come down. Packed my stuff up and ate a piece of bread with PB as well as a banana.
Event warmup:

Like most I was disappointed with the swim cancellation and honeslty lost a lot of motivation by Friday afternoon. I don't blame anyone just found it disapointing as this was my first tri ever and it went from a tri to a duathalon.
I was at T2 fairly early compared to most. I think I got to park in the 3rd row. Fortunately it had stopped raining by then but the rgound was saturated and muddy and ended up getting my feet soaked before I even got on the bus. Turned out to be good for me as when our bus finally got moving I saw a ridiculously long line of cars in every direction trying to get in.
I was really well hydrated and between arriving at T1 and me going off I had to pee 4 times! A little too much I think.
My actual warm-up was really a non-event as just walked around a bit and jumped up and down.
Swim
  • 00m
  • 2112 yards
  • / 100 yards
Comments:

No swim due to high water/current. Lots of storms in the NE over the last month
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Since swim was cancelled it was a TT start by number/rom. Pro's went off with 30s intervals then the rest went of in less than 3 sec intervals. Started with one and I was 987 so it was about 40-45min before I went and the frist pro taking off.
Bike
  • 2h 53m 55s
  • 55 miles
  • 18.97 mile/hr
Comments:

The excitemnt was builing as my row started lining up and I forgot all bout the loss of the swim. it has been oalmost 13 years since I last competed in any organized event and forgot the feeling you get as that adrenaline get you going.
I went out too hard with no real ability to warm up. I had 3 layeres on, long sleeve under armor, short sleeve cycling jersey, and my Gore jacket with the sleeves removed and full gloves. I think the clothing was fine although I might have been good without the jacket.
I started passing people right away and all the negativity from the loss of the swim completely disappeared. People were riding all over the place so just passing on the left was almost impossible. I hit the first hill and just sprinted by lots of people and was mazed to see people walking some hill so early.I kept up the hard pace until disaster struck! About mile 10 there was a sweeping right that was tighter than I had anticipated. I was blocked from turing in tight so went wide and started to hit the brakes and felt rear lock up and start sliding. I immediatly let the brakes go and aimed for the side of the road. Call it the MTB instinct. I would always rather hit some bushes over pavement and that was my choice. I leaned my butt over the rear wheel and tried to apply gentle pressure to brakes. Front wheel hit the ditch and I got thrown over the bars and landed about 5 feet away from bike. I was easily going over 20mph at that point. Fortunately I was not injured....other than my pride. I crawled out with bike and realized I had landed ona bramble bush and had stickers all over me. Gloves, jacket, sleeves, shorts.....COVERED!(more about this during the run). My rear speed/cadence sensor was in my spokes and at the time i though my front wheel got knocked out of tru. Whatever, I was unijured, made some adjustments and got on my way again. The positive is that it made me realize I needed to take it down a notch on the intensity level.
After this I got into my rythm and felt good throughout the bike. Stood up most hills coasted down and rode relativly hard on the flatter sections. I had gone in thinking 18-18.5 avg would be good and bested that and paid for it on run
What would you do differently?:

Go out a little slower and try to recon course. I did try this time but they had so many raod closures it made it diffcult. Ultimately I felt very happy based on training and ability ot get sub 3hrs
Transition 2
  • 05m 31s
Comments:

Coming into T2 roads were not yet paved so was bumpy and slow. Not much congestion so can't complain there. Ground as mentioned during pre-race was a mess now after crew/spectators/racers went trampling through. Remebered exactly where my stuff was. Took a bit to remove jacket, gloves, and shoes as did not want to step in mud before putting dry sneakers on. Took one gel and put race belt on with only 2 bottles although had 4 prepped. Treid to pick some stickers off shorts but found it useless so moved on.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure as this was my first transition ever. looking back maybe just throw a towel down and stand on it to change? Just so muddy not sure I would be willing to destroy something like this for some time.
Run
  • 2h 08m 21s
  • 13.3 miles
  • 09m 39s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt OK coming out of T2. and just get off the track and BAM! cramps start hitting me in medial quads. I am a cramper and cramp in most anything over 3-4 hrs regardless of intensity so can honestly say I was expecting this. No biggie dealt with it before. Stop. Stretch. Massage. Run again trying to keep about 10min/mile. Get out of Highschool and BAM! hits me again. So I'm thinkging this sucks and I barely even started. I got 13miles of this shit?!?! gonna be a long run!
So keep up the routine with walk, stretch, massage, etc. Walk all aid station and eat banana and gatorade or whatever they had which tasted terrible IMO (cough medice flavored orange drink). I try to keep it slow and figure try to recover first half and do better on second half.
Sure enough hit the turnaround and between bananas and slow pace felt better along with mental part of knowing almost done and less than 6 miles to go started running and ignoring pain as much as possible. Every mile got better and ran the last 3 at just above 8min/mile which is what I had wanted based on training. Smile from ear-to-ear as felt great and started p[assing people that had passed me much earlier as most were fading in the stretch and i was getting stronger. Quads were buring but didn't care at this point and was gonna suck it up for rest. Hit the city and the crowds just gave me more motivation and completely missed the family in the finsihing chute! lol a great day overall
What would you do differently?:

Not sure. I always cramp so was expecting it. Don't know how to prevent it.
Post race
Warm down:

Ran into waife and kids and just kept walking for abit. Left them in restaurant while I went to T2 to change

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cramps. I am not sure going slower on bike would have helped as this has been an ongoing issue for me for the last 15years. I always cramp. Nutrition felt fine. never felt hungry or thirsty including post race although I obviously ate as neessary.

Event comments:

Great race even with loss of swim. Only at one section during bike was I a little confused as to where to go but that had more to do with flagger chatting up some girl than anything.




Last updated: 2011-07-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:00:00 | 2112 yards | / 100yards
Age Group: 0/194
Overall: 0/909
Performance:
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:53:55 | 55 miles | 18.97 mile/hr
Age Group: 108/194
Overall: 365/909
Performance: Good
Avg HR = 160. which was much too high.
Wind: Little
Course: I was very concerned about the course in that I did not really know what to expect. Heard multiple elevation profiles leading up to it as high as 3200ft and as low as 1700ft. It was a hilly rolling course with nothing long although a few short steep sections. great course through the country side and very scenic.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: 84
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 05:31
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:08:21 | 13.3 miles | 09m 39s  min/mile
Age Group: 108/194
Overall: 766/909
Performance: Below average
148 avg - good
Course: Supposed to be gradual up then race down back to town. NOT! just more up and down like the bike course
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2011-10-04 2:28 PM

Veteran
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Subject: Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains


2011-10-04 2:45 PM
in reply to: #3711143

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Regular
117
100
Gettysburg, PA
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains

If it makes you feel any better, I know of quite a few crashes.  Not surprising considering the conditions. Great bike course but they need to make some adjustments next year.

Nice race. Glad you weren't hurt.

2011-10-04 4:40 PM
in reply to: #3711143

Master
10208
50005000100100
Northern IL
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains
I didn't see any crashes, but heard about quite a few later on.  Just hill walkers and people on the roadside that could have flatted.  Some pro's went down as well.  Even it you feel ok, a fall can take more out of you than you think.
2011-10-06 10:07 AM
in reply to: #3711143

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Pro
4528
2000200050025
Norwalk, Connecticut
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains

w3ay to get it done, sorry about the crash, glad you were ok though!!  gonna do any more??

 

2011-10-10 9:47 AM
in reply to: #3711143

Veteran
597
500252525
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains

Thanks all. Just noticed the comment section below! lol. I am such a newb here.

The crash was my stupidity and partly due to congestion. Hoenstly if I was able to recon course it likely would have been fine. Also, this being my first race I probably should have backed off a little to try to avoid the cramps. Anyways, I got  my bike back from LBS and results were a front wheel that needed truing and a new headset as bottom protion was ovalized! Talk about lucky I wasn't injured!

next up is IM Couer D'Alene in June 2012. After taking a full week off for recovery and got sick as well before weekend I do not even know where to start.

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