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5430 Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Boulder, Colorado
United States
5430 Sports Corp.
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 32m 5s
Overall Rank = 172/1171
Age Group = m30-34
Age Group Rank = 38/107
Pre-race routine:

Woke up way too early, had some oatmeal & oj & a banana, loaded up the car & headed for Boulder. I got there pretty early so I was able to get a nice spot on the end of the row with lots of space for my stuff. Hit the bathroom, said hi to a few people & checked out all the cool bikes.
Event warmup:

Did a short run with a few accelerations and then a short ride. Cleared out of transition and headed for the water. I was in one of the last waves to go so I watched the first couple of waves coming in before doing a short swim warmup.
Swim
  • 16m 33s
  • 880 meters
  • 01m 53s / 100 meters
Comments:

Got bumped a bit in the beginning but nothing too bad. For the 1st stretch it was somewhat hard to see since we were swimming into the sun so I just tried to keep people around me. Problem was there were people zig zagging every which way for the first 200m or so, but then it seemed to settle down some. I felt like a was keeping a decent pace but working a little harder than I should, not as smooth as I should be. Rounded the buoys a little wide then found some feet for the home stretch. They weren't very good feet though so I gave myself a little yelling at about my form - about keeping my hips up and lowering my turnover by lengthening my stroke like in the pool. It seemed to work because I felt more slippery & seemed to start going by a few people. I was VERY happy with my time out of the water and alhtough my HR was high I was never dying for breath. I don't remember taking in any big mouthfuls of water but I had a few big burps on the run up to transition.
What would you do differently?:

Not take the buoys so wide. Identify when my stroke is being inefficient and give myself that little pep talk earlier. Otherwise just keep working on my stroke.
Transition 1
  • 01m 24s
Comments:

I don't know what's up with my age group, but I had the 14th best t1 in my AG and that includes putting on socks. I got quite a bit of free time on people here.
What would you do differently?:

Not have the guy racked next to me knock my helmet & sunglasses off my bike.
Bike
  • 46m 7s
  • 17.2 miles
  • 22.38 mile/hr
Comments:

Took it out at a med/hard pace to Jay Rd. & my stomach felt terrible. It didn't affect my pace much but I felt like puking until about the top of the long hill & I was beginning to wonder if/when I would be able to start taking in some fluids other than res water. Ryan passed me right about there so I decided to try & keep with him as best I could. I was able to stay right with him and we even cat & moused a couple of times on Neva & Niwot Rd. By this time my stomach was feeling better & my HR had started to come down (a little bit) and I was able to take in the bottle of accelerade I had with me. Legs felt good & I stayed with Ryan until the turn back to the res - I had a gu here although I didn't have any water to wash it down with & it stickified my mouth. Geared down & tried to spin a higher cadence for the last mile or so into t2. Overall I was very happy with this ride - since I was in one of the last waves I passed a lot of people & at a good clip too which just made me want to go faster. Plus finding out that I could hang with Ryan for a while gave me a boost too.
What would you do differently?:

I seemed to get stuck behind people at just about avery corner and have to hit the brakes. In retrospect I should have eased up a little more (and/or sooner) to get my breathing and stomach a little more settled before the end. I think I should also have taken in some plain water to dilute the stuff in my stomach. I didn't leave anything out on the course though so I couldn't have asked for a better bike, esp. since I took 3' off last year. That will be hard to do again.
Transition 2
  • 01m 1s
Comments:

Went pretty smoothly. Grabbed a couple of gulps of water at my rack & then at the exit.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 26m 58s
  • 3.1 miles
  • 08m 42s  min/mile
Comments:

Legs felt like they are supposed to right away and I took it out at what felt like a comfortable pace. At the top of the hill I seemed to have things under control so I started to up the pace a little. Almost right away a side stitch started in and by the gate it was a sharp pain so I had no choice by to back off the pace. A lot. It started to subside to a manageable level so around the point I tried to go back to a normal pace from the slow pace I was at. This time my whole stomach turned painful and I had to stop and walk. I decided that wouldn't do so I ran at about as slow a pace as I could manage. Thru the turnaround and to the aid station I held a slow but ok pace. The side stitch was still there, but not debilitating. I started feeling a little better across the dam so I pushed the pace a little more. Felt ok for a little while, then- bam - right at the gate it hit again. Managed to hold an ok pace down the hill and into the chute. I had been looking forward to seeing how fast a 5k I was capable of (considering my pace in training runs has come down a lot this year & my PR is 2' faster when I wasn't even pushing it) and this surely wasn't it so I'm a bit disappointed. Especially since when I was able to try & push the pace my legs felt good and my conditioning was there.
What would you do differently?:

I have used accelrade and gu during bricks before but I wonder if I needed to drink more water to dilute them more or maybe not have the gu so close to the end of the bike. I don't think it was a hydration issue though. In hindsight it probably would have been worth it to take it a little easier on the last part of the bike to make sure my stomach and HR were a little more settled when starting the run. On the plus side my severe cramp pace this year is slightly faster than last years severe cramp pace.
Post race
Warm down:

Ran into a whole bunch of people including a guy I used to work with at Copper 10 years ago. After 1/2 hour I could still feel the side stitch. Commisserated with a bunch of the BT people which is always fun, grabbed a beer which is always fun, watched the awards & headed home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

That would be the side stitch and cramping.

Event comments:

I did better than expected in both swim & bike so I am very happy with those times. If I had run at my goal pace (8'/mile) I would only have gained 4 spots although I would have gone under 1:30 which I was hoping to do. This race is so well run everyone feels like a pro and overall considering how competative of a field it is I am very pleased - took off 6' from last years time and still left myself room to improve & had fun too.




Last updated: 2007-01-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:16:33 | 880 meters | 01m 53s / 100meters
Age Group: 62/107
Overall: 545/1171
Performance: Good
Under the arch at 15:40?.
Suit: Xterra full
Course: Out three buoys, over one bouy and then back in. Time includes about 1' run up to transition.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 01:24
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
00:46:07 | 17.2 miles | 22.38 mile/hr
Age Group: 22/107
Overall: 144/1171
Performance: Good
HR was right about 174 all the way up the Rt. 36 hill, the settled a bit.
Wind: None
Course: 1st 5 miles not steep but steady uphill, then some rollers & a fast drop to Neva Rd. Some more rollers then flat & fast. Some more rollers in the last 1/3 back to the res.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 90
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:01
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
00:26:58 | 03.1 miles | 08m 42s  min/mile
Age Group: 69/107
Overall: 583/1171
Performance: Below average
1st mile was high 8's & last 1.1 was 9:33.
Course: Small hill in the beginning then flat, exposed out & back along the dam.
Keeping cool Average Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
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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2007-06-17 5:26 PM

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Master
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Denver
Subject: 5430 Sprint Triathlon


2007-06-17 8:12 PM
in reply to: #847678

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Expert
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Highlands Ranch, CO
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon

Great race.  It was hot out there.

2007-06-17 10:39 PM
in reply to: #847678

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Expert
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Evergreen, Colorado
Bronze member
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Nice job!! Even with the cramping on the run, you managed to take 6' off your time, which is great!  Frustrating when those side cramps come out of nowhere though   Way to kick on the swim and bike!
2007-06-18 7:49 AM
in reply to: #847678

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, North Carolina
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
That was a tough run but such a fun race.  Congrats on taking 6 minutes off your time!
2007-06-18 8:35 AM
in reply to: #847678

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Expert
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Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Great race Drew!!!  Good swim and strong bike.  Side stitches suck though!  You still had a very good race though and when you do it again, you know that you can shave a few more minutes if you can get those stitches ironed out somehow.  Good to see you out there.
2007-06-18 8:47 AM
in reply to: #847678

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Master
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Colorado
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon

Nice race Drew!!  That's a chunk to take off and you know you can still do better.  You bike looks especially impressive! 

I would say try more water with the gu especially.  At such high intensity, it's not as easy to digest as when you are just training.  Also, on a longer race, it's great to take the gu right before getting off the bike, but with such a short race with a high intensity run, I try to take it a tad earlier so it's settled in my stomach before the run.  The energy should last 45' so think of it this way...  you need to take it with about 20' left on the bike.  Then you just need to transition and run in less than 25' - you can do that  

Keep up the great work and you'll rock at the PEAK



2007-06-18 9:04 AM
in reply to: #847678

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Expert
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Wellington, North Island
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
That run was brutal wasn't it. Great race. Sounds like you've had some huge improvements.

I've always heard you should only take gu with water because otherwise it overloads your system trying to process the different sugars and ingredients in the different nutrition sources. I also have started either sticking largely to a diluted sports drink and/or only water and just using gus a little more often for anything under about 2.5 hours. It seems to have worked. Hope you work it out soon. Having such an awesome race while dealing with cramping and nutrition issues is really impressive!
2007-06-18 9:32 AM
in reply to: #847678

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Veteran
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Denver, CO
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Really solid race Drew.  Gotta love improving your time over such a short course by 6 minutes, that's fantastic.  Sorry about the side stitch, those are a breaker, but I'm sure you'll get down to that goal pace soon.
2007-06-18 11:53 AM
in reply to: #847836

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Official BT Coach
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Englewood, CO
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Great race Drew!  Sorry I didn't get to talk to you more.  Side stiches suck!
2007-06-18 12:14 PM
in reply to: #847678

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Extreme Veteran
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Denver, CO
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Well, you beat me by 11 seconds. See, you ARE faster than I am, even with nasty stomach cramps/side stiches and walking on the run portion!!! When did you get so fast on the bike? That was awesome!
2007-06-18 12:16 PM
in reply to: #847678

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Expert
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Denver
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
Great job out there Drew. Without sounding like a dick, I wasn't expecting you to hold on once I passed and was surprised to see you again shortly thereafter. You were doing great on the bike. Now next year how about you try doing the run without severe side cramps?! Good racing.


2007-06-18 12:24 PM
in reply to: #847678

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Pro
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Broomfield, Colorado
Subject: RE: 5430 Sprint Triathlon
You have improved so much Drew....that is so awesome!  Be proud!  Great to see you yesterday.  You in for the series?
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