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Canadian Standard Distance Championships - Duathlon


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Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
26C / 79F
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 03m 50s
Overall Rank = 86/230
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 13/17
Pre-race routine:

Up @ 4:30am, ate bowl of oatmeal w/ chia and almond butter and drank a beet/banana/mango smoothie.
Drank green tea on way to venue.
Event warmup:

They announced at 6am that the swim would be cancelled due to water quality issues, and the event would be run as a duathlon.
I did a quick 4 min run up and down the hill what should've been about 30 minutes before my wave went off, did some dynamic warmups, and ate a gel with what should've been 15 minutes before my wave start. The waves started about 20 minutes late, so I did my best to stay somewhat warmed up with a few more dynamics.
Run
  • 09m 52s
  • 2.5 kms
  • 03m 57s  min/km
Comments:

I've never done a duathlon so wasn't sure how to pace the run, especially with the uphill to start (I've also never run hills). I didn't want to go too hard, but figured it was only 2.5km so not enough time to do any real damage either. Settled on right around my open 5k pace. They had the water stations up and running which seemed a little ridiculous, but I took a cup and dumped it on my head.
What would you do differently?:

Try running hills in training? I'm comfortable with how I paced it, though I likely could have gone a little harder.
Transition 1
  • 01m 39s
Comments:

Changeover from run to bike went relatively smooth, though I was making it up as I went along so made a few errors (left my wristband on for my garmin - a minor aero penalty, but still; took a quick squeeze of a gel since it had been almost ab hour since my last one - this would come back to haunt me later in the race)
I'm not used to having so many other people exiting T1 at the same time as me, and when I got to the mount line I literally had to stop and wait as there were 4-5 guys all clipping in and no way around them. It threw me off my whole mounting routine so that didn't go smoothly either. Easily cost me 10 seconds.
What would you do differently?:

Visualize my T1 routine on the run so I knew what to do.
Pick up my bike and hop up on the curb in order to get around the other competitors? Very frustrating as I had been practicing my flying mounts and they were going well.
Bike
  • 1h 07m 51s
  • 40 kms
  • 35.37 km/hr
Comments:

I had forgotten how crack and crater laden these roads could be, and it seems as though last winter was not kind to them. Rough roads and you had to have your wits about you in order to navigate the potholes.
Again, not used to exiting T1 with so many people around, and the closed course meant people riding 3 abreast, staying to the left and hugging the centre line, etc. Took the first 5km to get into the clear - I was blocked several times by other riders and once by an officiating motorcycle. After that the ride was mostly congestion-free, but I had some trouble with other riders - one guy kept passing me then immediately start coasting and drinking from his water bottle. He did this 3 times before I dropped him for good. Another guy would hammer up the hills and pass me, then coast on the way down and get re-passed. I passed a pack of 7-8 riders in a bunch going the other way and saw one of the guys arguing with an official - there were several penalties handed out so good to see that the officials were on top of it.
What would you do differently?:

I was aiming to hold around 210W and I think I mostly did a good job of that, but I didn't account for the number of times I'd have to slow down in order to wait to be able to pass a group, or to wait to drop back before overtaking someone who had just passed me. When I was on my own and riding I was holding 210, but in the end my average power was 195 and nominal power was 201. I only had 3s power displayed on my garmin - next time I'll display average power too.
Transition 2
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

All went well with one hiccup - I had taken one gel with me on the bike, but it slipped out of my hands (with the rough roads, the lid had flown off my Torhans, so the gel was covered with Infinit), so I grabbed a gel in T2 to eat, but only once out on the run did I realize that it was merely the wrapper of the one I had taken in T1.
What would you do differently?:

Make sure if I leave a gel wrapper in my area to put it well away from any other gels.
Run
  • 43m 11s
  • 10 kms
  • 04m 19s  min/km
Comments:

Before the race I was hoping to go sub-45 minutes. With the hill I wasn't sure if this was realistic anymore but I managed to average 4:19/km and did the whole thing in just over 43 minutes, which is pretty much the only positive I'll take from this race.
I alternated dumping water on my head and taking a swig of water at the aid stations, and this strategy treated me well.
What would you do differently?:

Hill repeats.
Post race
Warm down:

Massage from Melissa and a stretch.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Properly managing the other competitors.

Event comments:

This race was well organized in several ways - the logistics were certainly formidable and they did a good job with the venue overall. However, it seemed as though they were unprepared for the swim to be cancelled. Way back when they announced this race, there were a lot of raised eyebrows in Ottawa - Dow's Lake is a shallow basin with minimal flowthrough in the heart of the city. There is no swimming there and for good reason. With the heat we've been having, of course water quality was going to be an issue. But they seemed to scramble at the last minute to figure out the duathlon thing, and refused to start handing out timing chips until 10 minutes before the first wave was set to go off. Why they thought they could hand out 230 timing chips in that period of time I don't know. Not a huge deal, but the delayed start did throw off people's warmup/nutrition routines.
Between the high probability of water quality issues and the rough roads, they really should consider moving to a different venue next year (Brittannia? Mooney's Bay? Gatineau?).




Last updated: 2016-07-24 12:00 AM
Running
00:09:52 | 02.5 kms | 03m 57s  min/km
Age Group: 16/17
Overall: 110/230
Performance: Average
Course: One lap of the out-and-back run course, uphill for for 500m (18m elevation gain) and somewhat flat before the turnaround. Closed roads.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
T1
Time: 01:39
Overall: Bad
Run with bike? Good
Jump on bike? Bad
Getting up to speed and into shoes: Average
Biking
01:07:51 | 40 kms | 35.37 km/hr
Age Group: 14/17
Overall: 86/230
Performance: Average
NP: 201W
Wind: Some
Course: Two out-and-back loops along the canal, lots of cracks and potholes, closed roads.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence: 95
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:30
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:43:11 | 10 kms | 04m 19s  min/km
Age Group: 14/17
Overall: 88/230
Performance: Good
Course: 4 laps of the out-and-back/up-and-down run course Two aid stations with water and sponges
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized?
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 2

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2016-07-24 7:43 PM

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