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Finish Strong Half Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Jordan Lake, North Carolina
United States
FS Series
63F / 17C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 07m 17s
Overall Rank = 19/151
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 4/23
Pre-race routine:

Up way too early, 3:15 or so. Oh well, what can you do. Breakfast at 4 (bagel, honey, banana, 1/2 clif bar, Gu Brew). Departed at 5:15, arrived race site 5:40. Other half of clif bar at 6:20, ginsting at 6:45, drinking Gu electrolyte during. Had a nice time chatting with my rackmates, one of whom this was his first race ever (I let him borrow some electrical tape, and helped him with his helmet number). He finished in 6:56, nice job! Good vibes on our rack this morning. I might've been a little too chatty.
Event warmup:

Jogged up to the bath house to take care of potty business, then back down to race site. No bike, no swim warmup, and not much of a run. Figured yesterday was enough warmup.
Swim
  • 31m
  • 1400 meters
  • 02m 13s / 100 meters
Comments:

Well, it is what it is. Short or not, everyone did the same distance. I've had better swims, but heck, it felt pretty good out there. Got one big kick as some idiot was swimming diagonal from left to right, then more kicks as we rounded buoys, but nothing that rattled me too much. Just kept swimming.
What would you do differently?:

Swim faster. I had to pee a bunch, and just couldn't make myself go the last part. Wish I could have, was even just pulling (no kick) and NOTHING.
Transition 1
  • 01m 47s
Comments:

Had to sit down to get the suit off, but still got business done. Came in at same time as my neighbor (#11) but was in and out and gone pretty quick. Results show 30:00 swim and 2:47 T1, but I had it 31 and 1:47.
What would you do differently?:

Get suit off better, but the rest went pretty well.
Bike
  • 2h 51m 7s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.64 mile/hr
Comments:

Preriding the course really helped here. I was able to dial in just enough effort on the front half to keep the pace up (was at 21.1 for a bit) then let it drift back down to sub 20, as planned. Definitely a tougher back half of the course, and the wind started coming into play in the last 20 miles. For the first 30 miles I was passing a lot of folks, then kind of found my niche. Made a few passes, got passed a few times, but was happy with results.
What would you do differently?:

Well, I practiced peeing on the bike, but I decided I didn't want to have to deal with smelling like pee for the run, so I didn't. Probably, had I stuck with it, I might've reeled in 3rd place, what with that and a few stops on the run that were time-wasters.
Transition 2
  • 00m 51s
Comments:

Got one foot out, but not the second, so had to unclip and then remove shoe, but ran sockfeet into T2 okay. Got in and out pretty well here, so can't complain.
What would you do differently?:

Plan ahead a little better. I was working on a pass into T2, and I should've hung back and just gotten ready better.
Run
  • 1h 42m 30s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

Okay with this. Not my best effort, but I had a plan and went for it. Had a bloaty feeling for the entire bike up until mile 4 on the run, then it leveled out. The last 2 miles were a little tough nutritionally, and I was using the coke to try to generate some burps. Kinda worked a little.
What would you do differently?:

Keep moving a little better. Stopped at mile 2 to pee (ah!), then dilly-dallied around the turnaround, then wasted some time on lap 2 at the mile 11 aid station as they were running out of water cups and water, and I was trying to figure out how to get what I needed with limited supplies. Didn't see the (advertised) sponges out there, which would've been nice on lap 2, but it all worked out okay.
Post race
Warm down:

None. Dad was there, as were Lainey and the kids. Was very glad to see them, and hang out. Jen, Scottie, and Alan were volunteering/spectating and checked in with them too. Sent the family to lacrosse clinic, then walked into the lake for a few minutes, broke down transition, got a milkshake from Taylor's, then hung around for a bit awaiting Carol (but had to hit the road to make lacrosse).

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Swim. Comfort with pushing the bike. Having to stop twice on the bike. Wasting time on the run.

Event comments:

Great job to FS Series on the inaugural Finish Strong Half. I will definitely put it on my calendar for next fall as a season-ender.

Looking at race position in segments:
Overall male (out of 110 males):
Swim: 76
T2: 69
Bike: 36
T2: 36
Run: 19

In Age Group (23 total):
Swim: 19
T1: 17
Bike: 11
T2: 11
Run: 4

With a stronger swim hopefully next year, I'll have a better chance at making more headway at the start, and not have as much of the field to work through.



Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-05-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:00 | 1400 meters | 02m 13s / 100meters
Age Group: 19/23
Overall: 104/151
Performance: Average
I think the swim was only about 1350-1400m based on my time. Couldn't have been much more, so I won't call this a full 1.2. Still, not my best swim, but I swam the whole distance, no stopping.
Suit: full QR
Course: Longish out, short middle, longish back.
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:47
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:51:07 | 56 miles | 19.64 mile/hr
Age Group: 6/23
Overall: 28/151
Performance: Good
Had to stop at mile 38 or so after the water bottle handoff to actually fill my bottle up. Then not a minute later decided to stop to pee. Durn. Nutrition: one ginsting at 45 minutes, salt stick at 60 minutes, 1/2 clif bar at 90 minutes, gut wasn't liking nutrition so held off on next gel until 2:30. Was taking Gu Brew concentrated every 15 minutes with water. 2nd salt stick at 2 hours.
Wind: Little
Course: First 40 miles not bad, was holding 20.0 when I turned onto Gum Springs Church. But that section is tough. So it sucked about .4 mph out of the average. Still I planned 19.2 so I'll take this.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90+
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:51
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:42:30 | 13.1 miles | 07m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 2/23
Overall: 12/151
Performance: Average
Splits were all over the place, but my goal was 8 min/mile, so was happy with this. After the debacle at White Lake 08, and my bad run at IOS100, I was glad that the run was holding together. It started to get tough around mile 9, but was still feeling okay and sub 8s were still possible, so I stuck with it. Nutrition: Gu Brew concentrated in bottle, water every aid station, flat coke every 3rd or so, ginsting at 4 miles and 8 miles. Endurolyte cap at 1 hour on the run. No other nutrition. Mile splits: 7:17; 8:22(portajohn stop); 7:05 (mostly downhill); 8:03 (mostly uphill); 7:38 (mostly downhill); 7:21 (mostly downhill, then a little further to the turnaround); 7:32 (half down, half up); 7:52 (mostly uphill); 7:49 (up and down); 8:07 (down and up); 8:34 (mostly up, and walked the station to take in coke and water); 8:25 (mostly down, but taking it easy); 7:43 (downhill, game on); :40 for the last 0.1.
Course: Uphill gently for 2ish miles, then rolling to downhill, then reverse. Twice. Kinda mean little hills honestly.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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] 5

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2012-09-23 7:39 PM

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Subject: Finish Strong Half Triathlon


2012-09-23 9:10 PM
in reply to: #4424279

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Subject: RE: Finish Strong Half Triathlon

Worried about smelling like pee on the run? I doubt, after 5hrs of exercise, pee is the worst thing you smell like! :-) Nice job Bill- really solid run and a nice bike, and whatever the swim length was, everyone did the same swim so no worries there. Definitely some nice mojo to take to Raleigh 70.3 as well!

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