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Lake in the Hills Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Lake In The Hills, Illinois
United States
Lake in the Hills Parks & Recreation Dept.
Total Time = 1h 19m 29s
Overall Rank = 9/297
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/
Pre-race routine:

Got there, rode to T2, set up, rode to T1, set up and walked around.
Event warmup:

Chit-chatted with a few people before they started to call people out of the water a lot sooner than expected. I went and jumped in to get things wet. Wetsuit works much better that way.
Swim
  • 11m 53s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 21s / 100 yards
Comments:

Warm day to start. 65 when I got up and went up from there. Water was listed at 82. I went for the wetsuit because I'd been training in one, and it's just a sprint. I won't overheat in that.

Watched the first few waves go off. Wondered how to get into wave 1, which was the elite AG. Don't remember seeing anything about that. Think it's new this year. Picked an inside line and planned to start just off the front. Trotted/walked it in until even with those who dove in early. Then I dove and just started swimming. I pulled in front of the main pack pretty quickly (though by no means am I a FOP swimmer). Will have to remember this in the future. Go for the run in the local stuff, I'm good enough to break ahead there.

Kept swimming at a solid pace around the first buoy. Some guy came up at the turn and was about the same speed. He began to pull ahead, so I slipped in behind him. Was able to draft off him for a couple hundred meters, most of the back stretch, actually. He pulled away eventually, I couldn't hang on. Still way better than I've ever done before.

Reached the end after the last turn, got up and ran to transition.

Age group 2nd in the swim? Come on guys, have to better than that!
What would you do differently?:

Besides the run-out, not much. Not a big deal either.

After looking at results, wonder how consistent the course is from year to year. Top swim is the same guy, but he's a full minute faster than last year. He's also exceptionally good, so is unlikely to vary his pace so much.
Transition 1
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

Had thought of using the sleeveless wetsuit since the run-up is very short and I've had trouble with the full-sleeve. Decided on full because it's been coming off more easily. No issues here. Came right off. Changed to bike stuff and took off.
Bike
  • 36m 54s
  • 15.5 miles
  • 25.20 mile/hr
Comments:

Got on the bike and took off. I planned to hit this about very hard, as I needed to remember how to do that. Trying to go just under falling over or stumbling when I got off. Actually ended up short of that. Power and cadence were working this time, but HR was still way off. At least I had something.

Powered out of the first few hills and just flew. Power was ~350 for the first few minutes. Wasn't sure if I could hold that the entire time and ended up trying to keep it in the 330-350 range. Kept cadence up a few rpm higher as this is a shorter event. Power tends to come better that way.

Amazingly, I was able to get around people very easily in spite of starting in one of the later waves (5/8). I don't remember being held up hardly at all. Zipped by lots of people who had no idea someone was coming, giving as much space as I could. Power slightly up on the uphills and did what felt right to build speed on the downhills. Also worked on powering through the wind while staying long and low. I think of staying "long" more to keep myself stretched out. By doing that, I have to get low and small from the front view. Then I don't bunch up my midsection, constricting my breathing.

Flew up the far part of the L, and saw the turn-around was different from the map. They actually had a short loop going into a subdivision. No big deal, and it worked out nice as I could keep my speed up better. Had to work a bit more coming back into the wind. Listed at 10 mph or so, so not too bad. Just enough to notice it. Didn't notice any cross-wind effect on the base of the L either out or back. Kept power away all the way up to transition. Made sure to push on the downhills here as they carried well up into the uphills. So many people kept coasting on them.

Seemed to startle some people and volunteers who didn't realize a bike was coming, or that some people do know how to handle a bike. I don't coast in, but keep moving fast up until I have to brake to stop. Got off the bike and ran to transition.

Power values per Garmin Connect
5 sec: 521 watts
1 min: 386 watts
5 min: 351 watts
20 min: 330 watts
Average: 327 watts
Normalized: 332 watts
VI: 1.015

Happy with how steady I kept things, especially with the up and down terrain. Also happy with the power output. Have not tried to sustain this much power with the lowered position for anywhere near this long before. And it's good to see that my estimate of how far under I was for Galena was right on. And in this one it felt like I could have finished off an hour at that effort level.
What would you do differently?:

Not really anything.

Fastest split on this course I could find over the past few years of the race too.
Transition 2
  • 01m 9s
Comments:

Got in, changed to run stuff, went out. Took it easy, but efficiently.
What would you do differently?:

Time was a little faster than expected. Seems to be a timing error run split was 40 sec higher than watch. And how the heck can some people get through in under 10 seconds? I can't run straight through the transition in that time.
Run
  • 27m 47s
  • 4 miles
  • 06m 57s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt sluggish from the start. Really need to work on the transition runs. Pace was way off where I wanted. Got to the hill half a mile in and things weren't much better. Just ran up it, but didn't have to back off pace much. The downhill after helped some, but still well behind. Just kept going until I got to the end. I was in the middle of a huge gap. At least several hundred yards in front and behind me had no one there.

In looking at the data after, it seems that pace did pick up as I went from 7:14 down to 6:21 somewhat evenly considering terrain, but I wanted to beat that 6:21 for everything. That last mile was still short of threshold pace and effort. Though it is good to see that things opened up quite a bit throughout the race.

Another "problem" is that I'm just not used to pushing as hard as needed for a sprint. HR did start to work on the run, but I was only at 170 or so. I should be 180+ for a sprint. Even though I'm more HIM focused, I should be able to push up there for a sprint. With more practice to reacquire the run off the bike, this should get much faster pretty quick. I feel pretty good today, far better than I should if I had been running as hard as RPE was telling me. So have to readjust how I feel again for tri-running.
What would you do differently?:

Work on transition runs. Work on being able to push on the run.

Run time is 40 sec higher than watch time, and I know I hit them right after the mat. T2 times across the board are very fast, some aren't realistic.
Post race
Warm down:

Just hung around trying to catch up to as many people as I could. One guy I knew ended up proposing a few minutes after he finished (she said yes). Of course I had no idea, so was facing the wrong way at the time.

Event comments:

Nice race that would be fun to do again if it fits in the schedule.




Last updated: 2012-06-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:11:53 | 880 yards | 01m 21s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/
Overall: 28/297
Performance:
Suit:
Course: 1 loop around the lake.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:45
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:36:54 | 15.5 miles | 25.20 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/
Overall: 1/297
Performance:
Wind:
Course: A big L-shape that's mostly out and back, but with 2 transitions to only have to cross a busy road once. Small rolling hills to false flats on much of the ride.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:09
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:27:47 | 04 miles | 06m 57s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/
Overall: 16/297
Performance:
Course: First half is a loop, second is an out & back.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2012-06-11 11:56 AM

Master
10208
50005000100100
Northern IL
Subject: Lake in the Hills Triathlon


2012-06-11 12:36 PM
in reply to: #4255476

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Veteran
275
100100252525
Algonquin, IL
Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon
Wow, that is a smoking bike split for this course.  Good job.
2012-06-11 1:47 PM
in reply to: #4255476

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Expert
1121
1000100
Chicago
Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon
Great job out there.  You rocked the bike . . . and the run . . . and your swim wasn't too bad either.
2012-06-11 2:14 PM
in reply to: #4255476

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Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon
God gawd...327 watts?  Nice job.
2012-06-11 4:25 PM
in reply to: #4255870

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Expert
1121
1000100
Chicago
Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon

tri808 - 2012-06-11 2:14 PM God gawd...327 watts?  Nice job.

Yeah, Ben was in the wave after me, so I think I know who he was from when he passed me.  I was probably cruising at 21-22mph myself at the time and heard him coming.  Given that I wasn't exactly crawling, I was expecting someone to drift by me . . . he *flew* by.

2012-06-11 10:20 PM
in reply to: #4256255

Master
10208
50005000100100
Northern IL
Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon

If you were in wave 3 or 4, the timing does fit, as I was in 5. I may have caught some from wave 2. I know some in Wave 1 I caught on the run (swim specialist).

Taller, black & white everything on the bike. Orbea Ordu, Specialized TT2 helmet, SRAM S80's w/cover. The cover doesn't make any noise, but those S80's sure do. A bit higher pitched than a disc, but it's definitely noticeable.



2012-06-13 9:10 AM
in reply to: #4255476

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Regular
234
10010025
Madison
Subject: RE: Lake in the Hills Triathlon

Awesome job Ben! I know you're so much focused on the HIM, so I wouldn't worry about your run split too much. Think of that run off the bike as you getting into your rhythm. I would just think that you could take that as a positive as you hit negative splits each mile after crushing the bike. Maybe try going straight into threshold running and do positive splits on a brick runs? Might be something to consider. I know when I do mine, I keep my stride relatively short but really quick out of T2 until they loosen up since your legs are so used to the circular, quick cadence on the bike. Then let them open up as you get into the groove. Those are just my thoughts. Nothing tried and true. But I know last year at LITH that worked well for me to hit 6:40 pace, consistently through all 4 miles. Then again, I wasn't mashing out anywhere near your wattage!

-- edit

I forgot you hadn't done this race. Having that turn through the subdivision is nicer than the 180 degree turnaround like on the other out and back section.



Edited by djrigby9 2012-06-13 9:12 AM
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