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Soma Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
The Red Rock Company
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 24m 29s
Overall Rank = 326/900
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 50/110
Pre-race routine:

Drove out from LA on Saturday morning. Arrived in Tempe and checked into the hotel at about 3:15. Met up with a bunch of BTers and their significant others for dinner including Jazz82482, PirateGirl, Pilgrim, Focker_Out! and Chili7473 (there were a couple other people from New Mexico who may also be on BT but I'm not sure). I cruised solo to the race so it was nice to have people to eat dinner with. Everyone in the group was friendly and very nice. Chili's carbo loading is also something to see. Will Guiness make me go that fast on the bike? I may try it just so that I can drink the Guiness.

Set two alarms (I usually set three but I was feeling lazy). Spent the first hour of "sleep" thinking about whether I set the alarm for an early enough time. After an hour I gave in and set it for 15 minutes earlier or so I thought. As it turned out the alarm was set for 4:45 am but the clock read 4:54 pm when I woke up. Good thing my other alarm was set correctly for 5:00 am otherwise it could have been a long day.

Had 2 bottles of water before the start. I did not eat or drink anything else prior to the race.
Event warmup:

Rode to the transition area from the hotel. About 1 mile or so.
Swim
  • 31m 36s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 30s / 100 yards
Comments:

Two thirds for the swim felt absolutely horrible. The last third generally felt alright but the whole swim felt like a struggle. I ended up by myself for a vast majority of the swim which is always a bummer so I had no draft for the entire distance. Oh well. When I exited the water I checked my time and was astonished. Astonishment was quickly followed by concern because I have not been swimming enough to swim that kind of time without a draft and not expend some serious amounts of energy. Running into transition I was very concerned I was in for a long painful day because I had failed to pace myself.

All things considered it turned out to be a great swim but I was very worried.
What would you do differently?:

Swim more leading up to the event so that I can feel what pace I am swimming and adjust accordingly. Find some feet!
Transition 1
  • 02m 48s
Comments:

Feet got stuck on my suit. I forgot to grab my emergency nutrition and I had to leave my gloves behing since I forgot to turn them right side out before the race. Given the amount of snot I generated on the bike the gloves would have been nice...I could have wiped my nose on something soft. Aside from that I didn't need them.
What would you do differently?:

Use the wetsuit strippers (my suit got stuck on my heels). Turn my cycling gloves right side out when setting up the transition area. Grab my endurolytes and gels (emergency nutrition) or possibly put the bento box back on my bike so that they are waiting for me when I get on the bike.
Bike
  • 2h 55m 12s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.18 mile/hr
Comments:

1 rode in the aero position for two of the three laps which is amazing for me. It probably also means that had I not I would have been slower on the bike than last year. I was surprised at how comfortable it was...I must be getting used to it.

The bike course was fine the first two laps went relatively smoothly. On the third lap the wind seemed to pick up and I could tell I was getting tired.

On a side note: I'm not quite sure why they started all the quarterman athletes before everyone else it made for some hairy situations on the first lap. The race seemed to have a fair number of large peletons which was a little nervewracking if you were one of the people the peleton was attempting to pass. I understand why people are bunched on the first lap but by the second and third lap there really shouldn't be the large groups that I was seeing, at that point it would seem that people are choosing to draft. I also saw a couple people do the usual look around and then throw something into the bushes. Why? The empty water bottle that weighs basically nothing and was already in one of your cages is not going to slow you down on any type of course especially a flat course. Why not just dump it at the next aid station? Whatever. I guess when you are slower you get all kinds of time to look around and see all this kind of stuff. :)

As usual I was the slowpoke that had everyone flying by him on the bike. The bike leg is definitely something I need to work on and one of the big reasons I have hired a coach. I just don't know what to do to get faster. I can go long but I'm just not that fast compared to all the cycling studs out there.

Nutrition: 2 24oz bottles of water, 1 24oz bottle with 6 scoops perp and 3 scoops endurolyte powder.
What would you do differently?:

Learn to train to go fast on the bike.
Transition 2
  • 02m 21s
Comments:

Porta potties are great! Remembered everything including my nutrition and race belt. Left the perp flask behind intentionally. It was already clear my stomach was not up for it.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing this was a relatively fast transition.
Run
  • 1h 52m 34s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

I passed some people on the run! This had to be a first...I never pass people on the run. I also managed to hold the run together and have a reasonable set of splits.
What would you do differently?:

I don't think I would do anything different. This was the best run I had in me. I'm very happy with it. I guess I could train more but aside from that the run was great.
Post race
Warm down:

I ate a lot of pizza and drank a lot of fluids. Then I drove back to LA which took forever since they were repaving 5 miles of the 10 just outside of Phoenix and had closed the freeway. Ugh. That five miles took a very long time as did the normal traffic in the middle of nowhere once you get into San Bernadino. I'm glad someone came up with the ipod!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I need to train to go fast on the bike. I also need to continue working on my run and get back to swimming. While I seemed to have gotten away with it yesterday I believe that my swimming sets me up to work hard on my bike and run so I need to recommit to making it to swimming. Besides swimming is fun so why not make it to practice...oh yeah it is early in the morning and darker than dark outside. I guess I just need to suck it up.

Event comments:

The race was great. The bike course, while the same from last year, had a lot more room on it since some of the streets that were torn up last year had been fixed. I would recommend the race. It can be hot, like in 2005, but it can also be a perfect temperature like it was this year.

My goal at the beginning of the season was to break 5:30 in the half. I have had a very up and down season and that in combination with getting a stomach virus last week caused me to revise my goal down to just going faster than last year (5:43). So I'm ecstatic, I made not only my race day goal but my beginning of year goal that I had given up on. This was a great way to end the season...now if I could only get faster on the bike. :)




Last updated: 2006-10-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:36 | 2112 yards | 01m 30s / 100yards
Age Group: 10/110
Overall: 71/900
Performance: Average
Avg. hr 154; with a big spike in transition.
Suit: Xterra Vengeance Longjohn
Course: Rectangle
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 02:48
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:55:12 | 56 miles | 19.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 91/110
Overall: 581/900
Performance: Average
Avg. hr 148
Wind: Some
Course: 3 loop course with 3 hairpin turnarounds on each loop.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:21
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:52:34 | 13.1 miles | 08m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 47/110
Overall: 297/900
Performance: Good
mile 1 - 8:08 (150); mile 2 - 8:20 (154); mile 3 - 8:30 (153); mile 4 - 8:24 (156); mile 5 - 8:43 (157); mile 6 - 8:47 (157); mile 7 - 8:35 (158); mile 8 - 8:50 (156); mile 9 - 8:58 (153); mile 10 - 9:11 (152); mile 11 - 8:57 (153); mile 12 - 8:37 (156); mile 13 - 7:14 (157);
Course: 2 loops around Tempe Town Lake.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2006-10-30 11:57 AM

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Veteran
213
100100
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: Soma Triathlon


2006-10-30 12:10 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Expert
709
500100100
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Great race Mike! Congratulations on beating your goal! Sounds like a successful trip/race!
2006-10-30 12:17 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Expert
1169
10001002525
Sherman Oaks, CA
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Great race. Can't believe your drove back right after.

I agree with your analysis of the swim. Being efficient helps on the other legs.

Cheers
2006-10-30 12:21 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon

Awesome, almost 20 minutes off last year.

Welcome to off season

Was that a typo or are you just in one studly AG? 19+ on the bike puts you 91/110?  Ouch

2006-10-30 12:44 PM
in reply to: #583035

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Veteran
213
100100
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Unfortunately, the 91 out of 110 for the bike was not a typo! Ouch.
2006-10-30 12:45 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Master
1920
1000500100100100100
Ann Arbor, MI
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Amazing job on the race! You're such a fish! You totally killed your goal and amazing job on the run! It was soo awesome to meet you- saturday dinner was a ton of fun! I want to try Andy's pre-race guiness routine if it could get me that fast on the bike too! Hope you're feeling great today


2006-10-30 12:58 PM
in reply to: #582993

Member
18

Arizona
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Great race. I would have been one of the guys you passed out there. Great race and hope to see you at it again next year.
2006-10-30 1:12 PM
in reply to: #582993

Extreme Veteran
340
10010010025
Cary, NC
Subject: WHOO HOOO!
Yay! Great race report Mike! What a phenomenal race, considering getting sick and all right before! I'm excited to follow your 2007 year... I'm expecting great things from you...! Hehe.
2006-10-30 1:13 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Mesa
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Guinness is the key to a fast bike. The word is that Guinness has a new TV commercial coming out with those goofball guys about the invention of a machine with 2 wheels that gets you around faster. LOL

Maybe if we swam in Guinness I could swim as fast as you. You should go swim over by the Channel Islands and challenge a school of barracuda to a race!

Good job, saw you at the start there and then you were off and gone!
2006-10-30 5:12 PM
in reply to: #582993

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Elite
2553
20005002525
Tucson, AZ
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon

Awesome race, Mike! You totally smashed your goals, which is so freakin' cool! Keep working on that biking...you'll get to your goal there in no time.

It was great to meet you on Saturday! We had a lot of fun, and hopefully we'll see ya again at future races.

2006-10-30 7:44 PM
in reply to: #582993

Member
45
25
PHOENIX AZ
Subject: RE: Soma Triathlon
Mike...5:24 is fantastic.
You should be proud of beating your goal...
Bike will come with more work...and I think your swim kicked asss.

charlie


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