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Copper Creek Triathlon - Triathlon


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Pleasant Hill, Iowa
United States
Copper Creek Triathlon
75F / 24C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 13m 20s
Overall Rank = 19/275
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 5/33
Pre-race routine:

Headed down to PH on Saturday AM to meet up with Bobby and went to packet pick up. Checked out the race site, rode the run course, rode the bike course, ran one loop of the lake. Looks to be a failrly harmless course with some solid climbs on the bike and a steady incline on the run followed by all down hill until the last mile to the finish.

Got to transition about 30 minutes after it opened. Set up everything and was ready to go.
Event warmup:

Plenty of time to get loose. Wanted to get in a good warmup for this race. I was concerned that my right achilles area which has been nagging me for about 3 weeks, would end up causing a DNF.

Got my bike in the right gear. Did about 15 minutes of jogging and stretching followed by some 30 second accellerations. The leg didn't feel too bad, but I could tell I wasn't going to have a big burst as usual.

Was able to get in some good swim warmups. Water is really nice. 80 degrees. No wetsuit.
Swim
  • 14m 21s
  • 750 meters
  • 01m 55s / 100 meters
Comments:

This had to have been long. There is no doubt in my mind that this swim course was long. There were guys around me that were saying they planned on going in the 9 minute range. I was hoping for 11:30 ish. No one hit their goals. The fastest in our AG was 11;08 or 2:14 per hundred. No way we were that slow.

Anyways, taking the results as they are because it really doesn't matter, I thought the swim was great. I started on the inside line, closest to the bouy line. There were about 70 guys in our wave. Both 35-39 and 30-34 AG's were in the same swim flight. There was 4 minutes between us and the group that took off before us. Plenty of time to get some separation but still catch a lot of the 2nd wave.

I took off fine, hung on to the "studs" for the first turn. About half way to the second turn, the studs started to pull away. I took a second to look around and there were 2 pink caps (our wave color) in front of me, and 2 right next to me. We had separated from the pack by quite a ways too. Still FOP swimmer!!!

I felt like the swim went according to plan and I was really disappointed by the time, but when I got to T1, there were a shit load of bikes there so something went right. According to my Garmin, the total swim distance was .65 miles.which would be about 1,000+ meters, which does include the run out and run to T1. Not sure how long that was. (I have to quit obsessing about this)
What would you do differently?:

I was happy with the swim. Came out of the water in great shape, and navigated very well around the slower people in the earlier waves.

Not much to say.
Transition 1
  • 01m 6s
Comments:

T1 was kind of a fiasco / pretty good performance. I came up to my bike with goggles and swim cap in my hand. Dumped them. Grabbed my sunglasses, dropped my helmet, got it on. Couldn't clip it that well, took off to the bike mount line.

Hopped on my bike. Right foot in okaish. The heel pushed down a ltitle which I fixed when I got moving.

Left foot going in WHAMMMMMY Cramp in my left calf. What the Fuck? got my foot in, stretched it out, and drank some water right away. Cramp left quickly, but dammit that hurt. Got up to speed, into aero, and off and riding.
What would you do differently?:

Dont drop helmet. Get it clipped faster.
Dont cramp.


Bike
  • 33m 59s
  • 20 kms
  • 35.31 km/hr
Comments:

The bike had some nice hills and some fast flats. The downhills were aggressive and on the first big one, I hit a little bump and took off into the air. Not a big jump, but enough to get both wheels off the ground at 35+ mph, in aero. Landed fine and my HR jumped. Nearly shit my pants.

The bike was mostly controlled HR in mid zone 4. I took the hills more conservatively than I normally would have because there were quite a few. I passed a few of the guys in my AG and a ton of the previous waves. Even one of the "Elite" guys. I did not get passed by anyone on the bike, which is always fun for me. Couple of hills were tough but nothing like the hills in my neighborhood.

The calf cramp cycled in and out a couple of times but I was able to control it pretty well with water. I told myself to keep drinking small drinks and that helped I think. Took my GU with about 4 miles to go so that it would kick in for the run.

Overall good bike.
What would you do differently?:

I could have gone faster I think on the up hills but I have not trained as well as I would have liked to for this event. It showed.
Transition 2
  • 00m 43s
Comments:

I came into T2 pretty fast, but was able to slow down, swing my leg over and hop off my bike very well. Got my bike and helmet put away fast. Put on my socks and shoes, grabbed my hat and race belt, left the sunglasses in Transition. didn't need them anyways.

The socks probably cost me 10 seconds, compared to those that don't wear them. I'm okay with that.
What would you do differently?:

It was a good transition.
Run
  • 23m 11s
  • 5 kms
  • 04m 38s  min/km
Comments:

The run sucked for me. I was all concerned about my right achilles being a problem but the calf cramp in T1 ended up being more of an issued. I came off my bike fine and we really feeling good running. Early pace was 6:30 until I made the right hand turn up the hill. 1 mile of a steady climb to the turnaround really played havoc with me. I was doing very well passing people. I keep a mental note of how many I pass vs how many pass me and I was ahead at the turnaround. Only one guy, who was in a different AG passed me before the turnaround. At the turnaround I could see Bobby coming and I knew he was going to be after me. Started to lengthen my strides to use the downhill. Bobby didn't pass me until about 1 mile left. Then another guy passed me in our age group. I tried to hang on but I didn't have it today. Sometimes that's what happens. I finished hard. I was coming up to a 19 year old that was struggling. With about 25 yards to go, he heard my steps and sprinted to the finish. Nice work buddy, I started 8 minutes behind you., LOL.

Mother Nature opened up her wrath with about 2 miles to go on the run. Started raining, then started absolutely pouring. My ASICS were water logged big time. Felt like I was trying to lift 5 pounds of extra weight with each step. Not to mention my calf was popping in and out of a nagging cramp. I knew if I really pushed through the cramp I could do some actual damage to the muscle so I played it smart and just finished.

This was my slowest 5K split in a sprint in 2 years. I was not happy about it and I know that this run blew my chances to get to Milwaukee. Gonna shake it off and keep training. Hy Vee is next!
What would you do differently?:

I needed to train more. I needed to do more Bricks and I need to stop with the excuses of family, and sleep, and other hobbies, IF I want to be a top AG performer again.

I should have run smarter and left more of myself on the trail. I held back and it sucked. I could see the guys that were in my age group in front of me and I could not catch them. Damn part is that I was ahead of them in a great postion off of the bike. Dammit.

Post race
Warm down:

Got a nice massage. The rain stopped for a few minutes and the massage therapists were empty. That helped on the calf. Jogged a little. Waited for Summer to finish and then took everything back to my car. Took off. Grabbed some lunch at Jethro's in Waukee and headed home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not enough training. Blaming that guy in the mirror for that.

Event comments:

I enjoyed the race. Can't help the rain and if the race would have started an hour later, it probably would have been cancelled. They should consider starting it an hour earlier though.

Good swag (Sunglasses and a water bottle).

If it works into the schedule, I will probably do this one again. I enjoyed it and I know I can do better.




Last updated: 2014-05-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:14:21 | 750 meters | 01m 55s / 100meters
Age Group: 5/33
Overall: 36/275
Performance: Good
Suit: No wet suit
Course: Rectangular shap. Clockwise turns. easy course to navigate.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:06
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
00:33:59 | 20 kms | 35.31 km/hr
Age Group: 5/33
Overall: 16/275
Performance: Good
Ave 156 Max HR: 163
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Out and back. Flats and hills. Good course
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 86
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:43
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
00:23:11 | 05 kms | 04m 38s  min/km
Age Group: 12/33
Overall: 53/275
Performance: Below average
AVE: 163 Max HR: 173
Course: Out and back that finsihed on a loop around the lake we swam in. Decent climb for the first mile
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2014-06-24 11:16 AM

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Expert
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Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa.
Subject: Copper Creek Triathlon


2014-06-26 10:03 AM
in reply to: #5016800

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Subject: RE: Copper Creek Triathlon
The swim split times were all messed up at first. I think they were calculated at a 500m pace. Also, I've been hearing from a lot of people that the course was at least 100m long, but that may have to do with how the turns were not 90 degrees.
2014-06-26 10:44 AM
in reply to: jveenstra0626

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Austin, Texas
Subject: RE: Copper Creek Triathlon

Really solid race (despite how it might have felt).  Great effort and solid results - plus, you learn something every time!  It's one of the reasons I like to race and not just train (and almost all of us want to train more than we're able to).

Congrats and glad it was a good race experience.  I hope you do it next year and crush it!  

Matt

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