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Buckeye Lake Triathlon (Oly distance) - TriathlonOlympic


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Millersport, Ohio
United States
HFP
Total Time = 2h 42m 24s
Overall Rank = 54/89
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 9/13
Pre-race routine:

Stayed overnight at the Red Lion in Millersport -- long story as to why I popped for a hotel room for the race that's actually closest to me, but whatever. Up at 6:30, drove to the site by 7, ran around like a chicken with its head cut off for a bit. Pumped up tires, waited in bathroom lines (third time that morning; I had to make a deposit at the Porcelain Bank), got the wrong color of swim cap, all kinds of fun.
Event warmup:

Not much. Rode around the parking lot to check out the bike, got into the wetsuit, streched out, did yoga so the crowd could enjoy the sight of my neoprene-clad butt, that's about it.
Swim
  • 31m 29s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

Here's the back story for this race: I had a horrible, terrible, no-good race to start the season. My first race had a slow swim, a dis-spiriting transition (lonely at the racks when everyone else is gone), an okay bike, a so-so run, and a sad and lonely finish. So I was really concentrating on the swim throughout the last month of training. I switched from the "Endurance" workouts in my Gail Bernhardt's "Swim Workouts (In a Binder) for Triathletes" to the "Force workouts, since I thought that I had the distance down and just needed to work on speed. I bought my first wetsuit. I did a lot of thinking about swimming fast, and mental toughness, and things like that.

So on race day I was really focussed on the swim. Complete, laser-like focus. I had been telling whoever asked me about my previous performance that I had had a bad race, and that I was going to improve.

And I did! This turned out to be a phenomenally good swim for me, though it didn't really feel like it at the time. I went in in the middle of the pack, and thrashed around for the first 200, hitting a lot of rubber. One guy seemed particularly attracted to swimming in the three feet directly in front of me; I'd hit him, then change course, then he would change course to match mine, then I'd hit him, repeat ad infinitum.

So I got out around the first buoy and settled down. I didn't feel fast, per se, but I tried to settle into a good rhythmn. I just swam what I thought to be an average pace -- wasn't the faster turnover that I had hoped for in training, but I figured it was okay. I told myself that I wasn't going to meet my high hopes for the swim, but I was just going to do average. And I didn't let myself look at my watch until the 1st lap was over.

It was at that point that I figured out that I wasn't doing as badly as I had thought -- in fact, I was hitting the halfway point at 15:15, which was my goal for the swim -- a 30 minute total! That would give me an EIGHT MINUTE improvement over my first swim of the season! So, on the second lap, I dug in -- nice, smooth long strokes, stretching out the hand in front of me, brushing my thghs on the back stroke, and a good regular kick. This is when I started feeling fast for the first time in the swim, without clear water in front of me, not many people around me, I just kept on chugging along. Shoulders and arms were clearly more tired than ever before on the swim -- I don't know if it's because I was swimming faster or that thing they say about the wetsuits adding resistance to your strike. Whatever, I felt it then, and I feel it know in my shoulders, 24 hours later. I just grit my teeth and kept going.

I got out of the water 45th overall and 5th in my AG. solid FOMOP, which is pretty good for someone who's worst discipline is the swim and who usually makes up time on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. This was a stunningly good swim for me -- PR, in fact. Maybe work on drafting; I never really saw anyone that would have been a good candidate for a draft.
Transition 1
  • 01m 47s
Comments:

Pretty good for the first time getting out of a wetsuit in a race.
What would you do differently?:

Learn the shoes -on - bike trick.
Bike
  • 1h 09m 24s
  • 21.89 miles
  • 18.93 mile/hr
Comments:

Hmmmm. This should have been a better bike for me. I'm thinking that the bike leg was actually short -- my bke computer doesn't add up with the official tally. The race was advertised as a 40k, which would make it 24 and some miles, but I only got 21.89 on my bike, with an average speed - sigh -- of only 18.2 mph. I was trying for an average of 20mph; I just couldn't seem to do it with the hills on this course. I think I could have done it on the DEAD-FLAT Deer creek course, just couldn't come up with it on this one.

Had a fun ride, though, talked with lots of people, played tag with a 21-year old woman on an ANCIENT cannondale with down-tube shifters who was, mostly, whipping my a$$.

Good nutrition and water on this; ate two fig newtons and a chocolate hammer gel. Gel at 1/4, fig newtons at 1/2; sipped water all the way through until 20 minutes before T2; went through a full Aerodrink and maybe a bit more.

Bit of rough handling on the road; there was a spot that had just been ground for chip and seal, and there was gravel on the road.
What would you do differently?:

Go faster.
Transition 2
  • 00m 57s
Comments:

Okay; better than last race.
What would you do differently?:

Learn the shoes-on-bike thing.
Run
  • 58m 47s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 09m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Wellllllll, this was a crap run. And I'm to blame. I came out of T2 too slow; don't know why, but just didn't have it. picked it up throughout the race, negative splits, but didn't get better than a 8.5min/mile, and that's no good combined with two back-to=back 10 min/miles to start the run leg. Crap.

I saw a guy from my age group go past me, and I just didn't have it in me to give chase. That's just sad. I have to do better. That guy came in 7th in my age group after having a swim that was just as bad as my first of the season. So once again the brutal truth of the triathlon wins out -- it doesn't do any good to have a PR in one of the three disciplines. You have to be good ALL AROUND!
What would you do differently?:

Run faster.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Me.

Event comments:

An excellent HFP event -- inexpensive, efficient, and well-run. I would suggest that HFP put the porta-potties out of the direct line of the race, perhaps on the side of the parking lot rather in the center. But the race got brownie points because there were way more volunteers than there were at this same race last year -- kudos to HFP for digging up some more race supporters.




Last updated: 2007-07-08 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:29 | 1640 yards | 01m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/13
Overall: 45/89
Performance: Good
Suit: Promotion Full
Course:
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:47
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:09:24 | 21.89 miles | 18.93 mile/hr
Age Group: 9/13
Overall: 52/89
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some
Course:
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:57
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:58:47 | 06.21 miles | 09m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 12/13
Overall: 70/89
Performance: Bad
Course: Out-and-back; some brutal sun for the mile at the turn around.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-07-16 9:01 AM

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Subject: Buckeye Lake Triathlon (Oly distance)
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