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Lake Zurich Area Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Lake Zurich, Illinois
United States
3-2-1Go! Event Promotions, Inc.
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 32m 34s
Overall Rank = 44/397
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 9/45
Pre-race routine:

One nice thing about doing a lot of races in one season is that the routine becomes more . . . well . . . routine. I made a PB&J and got the coffee maker all loaded up the night before, so I rolled out of bed, ate my sammich and got the coffee breweing, filled up my water bottles and a coffee to go and was out the door.
Event warmup:

Not much. A little stretching.
Swim
  • 28m 38s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 55s / 100 meters
Comments:

This was my best OWS to date. I really, really (really) liked swimming with the Speed Vest. I feel like I had good bouyancy with the bibjohns and didn't have to give up any mobility with the vest. I also didn't overheat and felt comfortable in the water at 78 degrees. After the starting whistle went off, I ran hard into the water and got off 3 or 4 good dolphin dives, after which I swam strong to open up some space. After a minute or so, I eased up a bit and focused on "steady" without giving up too much "strong". Once I settled in and looked around a bit, I was only able to spot a few other green caps. One had already opened up a good gap, and I felt that I had to let that one go. Another was only about 10 yards ahead of me, and I resolved to try and stay close to (or catch) him, which was a good way to work through the swim. My sighting was decent, but I drifted a little "inside" on the leg out; not a big deal as there was a lot of distance to reorient towards the corner bouy. I was a little more zig-zaggy on the back leg (it would be nice if they had more than one bouy in between the corner bouys on the back leg). The final leg into the beach was pretty straight. I got in a little practice drafting as I worked my way through the earlier waves. If I came up on someone more gradually (i.e., I was only going a little bit faster), I hung on their hip for a few strokes and felt like I was able to coast along a bit. It might not have made a huge difference, but I felt like I conserved a little energy and was able to complete the course feeling pretty good.
What would you do differently?:

Not much.
Transition 1
  • 01m 13s
Comments:

I hadn't totally drained myself swimming and was able to move up the hill to T1 at a good jog while getting out of the vest top. Everything was pretty smooth in the transition area. My one mistake was forgetting to un-velcro the top strap on my shoes after clipping them into my bike before the race. After I hopped on my bike and was getting up to speed, I flipped my right shoe up to slide my foot in and . . . . eerrnnkkk . . . no go. I lost some speed and coasted along for longer than I would have liked while I unfastened each strap before being able to slide my foot in.
What would you do differently?:

Shoe straps!! (see above)
Bike
  • 1h 09m 14s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 21.56 mile/hr
Comments:

My power was up in the 190s for the first lap, despite my feeling like I wasn't pushing too hard. I've wanted to go a little harder on the bike, but didn't want to overdo it, so I eased back a little on the scond loop (backwards, I know, but that's how it played out). Average cadence was with some coasting at 30+ mph on some of the hills. I feel I like I was spinning at a pretty good rate. The whole ride felt pretty good. Looking back, I feel that there were some periods where I cruising along more than working/maintaining effort and periods where I was working hard in an effort to push the pace a bit. It was not my steadiest ride, but the hills and wind might have factored into that. When I got back to transition, I was surprised at the scarcity of bikes around me. It made me feel like I was putting a solid race toghether.
What would you do differently?:

Not a ton. As described above, my effort throughout probably could have been a little steadier, but I finished up my fastest oly ride to-date and was able to get out on the run course without feeling too tapped out.
Transition 2
  • 01m 3s
Comments:

Solid T2. No real complaints.
What would you do differently?:

This is the second year I pulled out of my shoes a little early on this course. Not a big deal; just some extra riding on top of my shoes.
Run
  • 52m 23s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 08m 32s  min/mile
Comments:

I really felt pretty good starting off the run. I was consciously pulling up on the pace during the first mile (7:42), and I think the change in pace from mile 2 (8:23) to mile 3 (8:08) was largely due to the terrian. I tried to open up my stride a little bit after mile 4 and pick up the pace to finish, but after about 2-3 minutes, I got a bad side cramp and was running in a fair amount of distress through the end of race. I felt fine cardiovascularly and, unlike Tower, I didn't see my HR blow up. I just tried to keep moving through it.
What would you do differently?:

Hard to say. The pain in my side came on after I tried to pick up the pace at mile 4. Maybe I could have finished out run at a low/mid 8:00/mile had I just ran steady (instead of pushing the pace a bit faster than that and then dropping to a 9:00+/mile). No way to ever really know. I felt like I had it in me when I made the descision to move a little faster at the end, so I'm not going to second guess it.

I swam about a minute faster than last year (especially with the beach start) and biked about 3 minutes faster. My transitions were a little slower and my run was about 30 seconds slower. I would have liked to have put in a faster run, but it's really hard to guess at the trade-offs between an easier ride and a faster run. Year-over-year was a 3 minute improvement for the entire race in similar conditions. I feel like I've still got room to continue developing my fitness across the board, and can conitnue to make gains while I seek the right balance of riding/running intensity.
Post race
Warm down:

Ice pack on neck. Cold water bottle. Misting tent. This race know how to take care of its triathletes!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not much.

Event comments:

This is a great race.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2013-06-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:38 | 1500 meters | 01m 55s / 100meters
Age Group: 5/45
Overall: 41/397
Performance: Good
There is a looonggg run out of the water up the park to transition. Per the Garmin, I was out of the water at 26:15 and had swum .99 miles. So actual swimming was a 1:30 pace. I'm pretty happy with that.
Suit: DeSoto First Wave with Speed Vest
Course: Counter-clockwise horseshoe. Right after the elites went off about 20 yards into the water, the RD announced that everyone else would do a running beach start, which was a little bit of a bummer, but I shook it off and got ready to roll.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 78F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:13
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:09:14 | 24.85 miles | 21.56 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/45
Overall: 36/397
Performance: Good
HR gradually came down over the course of the ride. Power was 186w (normalized at 207w).
Wind: Some
Course: 2 loops.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:03
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:52:23 | 06.2 miles | 08m 32s  min/mile
Age Group: 16/45
Overall: 112/397
Performance: Average
HR didn't get out of control (160 avg). Laps went: 7:42, 8:23, 8:08, 8:23, 8:25, 9:15, 9:06 (last .2).
Course: Two 5K loops.
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2013-07-15 11:47 AM

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Expert
1121
1000100
Chicago
Subject: Lake Zurich Area Triathlon


2013-07-15 1:49 PM
in reply to: #4804426

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Champion
10550
500050005002525
Austin, Texas
Subject: RE: Lake Zurich Area Triathlon
Nicely done - you put together a really solid race! 
2013-07-15 3:42 PM
in reply to: blueyedbikergirl

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Expert
1121
1000100
Chicago
Subject: RE: Lake Zurich Area Triathlon
Originally posted by blueyedbikergirl

Nicely done - you put together a really solid race! 


Monica, thanks! Steady progress . . . little-by-little. Were you guys at this one?
2013-07-18 3:11 PM
in reply to: #4804426

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Regular
90
252525
Libertyville, IL
Subject: RE: Lake Zurich Area Triathlon
awesome race! way to go in all 3 legs of the tri!
2013-07-25 10:34 PM
in reply to: #4804426

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New user
24

Chicago
Subject: RE: Lake Zurich Area Triathlon
Nice Job! I hope to someday be as fast as you on the swim and bike. =)
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