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Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Flagstaff, Arizona
United States
Mountain Man Triathlon
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 48m 21s
Overall Rank = 115/238
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 15/29
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:00. Had pancakes, eggs and yogurt. Being my first Olympic, my nerves weren't as bad as I thought they would be. I felt pumped leaving the house for Lake Mary.
Event warmup:

I spent too much time arranging my transition area and checking tire pressure, etc. I didn't end up having enough time to warm up. Big mistake.
Swim
  • 38m 51s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 22s / 100 yards
Comments:

I probably should have tried my new wetsuit before the race. I got it on not a minute too soon. I think I didn't pull the arms up on my shoulders as much as I should have. I picked a spot far outside. I waited about 10 seconds and took off. I had tons of room and didn't even make contact with anyone until we got to the first turn. That's when my trouble started, I don't know if I went out too hard, or no warm-up, but whatever it was, I couldn't catch my breath. Shortly after the turn I had to roll onto my back and float for what seemed like a minute. I thought I'd have an advantage at this elevation being a local. But for whatever reason I just couldn't get enough air. Eventually I started to freestyle again, but then my timing chip strap seemed to want to come off. (It seemed too big when I put it on). I decided to stop kicking. This strategy had an added benefit of letting me swim without loosing my breath. The rest of the swim went OK except I was constantly veering left (I can only breathe to the left). On the last leg back to the boat ramp I was swimming really close to shore. I really wanted to walk the last 100 yards in the mud, but I resisted.
What would you do differently?:

More swim training. Try some open water swims in my wetsuit. Take some swimming lessons. Don't put my watch and chip over my wetsuit, it makes it extra hard to get off.
Transition 1
  • 04m 40s
Comments:

I was so ticked off about the swim I walked most of the way up the ramp.
What would you do differently?:

Run through transition.
Bike
  • 1h 11m 9s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 20.96 mile/hr
Comments:

Once I got on the bike and out of the transition area, I felt better. The course felt good. It was fairly crowded, I think I was mixed in with a lot of Sprint distance athletes. I was passing a lot of people. I didn't want to go out too fast and loose it later, so I tried to drink some gatorade every couple of minutes. As the course rolled on I felt better and better. I ate one gel at the turn around. I had read that you should drink water not sports drink with gel. The only problem was that I only had one water bottle and I accidentally dropped it shortly after eating the gel. I drank more gatorade and it didn't seem to cause any stomach issues. I tried to spin easy the last couple of miles to let my legs recover.
What would you do differently?:

I'm going to get an aero bottle so I can drink without having to reach for bottles all the time.
Transition 2
  • 02m
Comments:

I finally saw Amy. She had Zeke in a sling and was shooting some pictures. I briefly told her about my bad swim and good bike. I was really happy to see her. My parents were a little further down the transition area. They were dealing with my other son in his stroller and didn't even see me until I ran right up to them and tapped my Dad on the shoulder.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe I should learn how to take my shoes off on the bike and run barefoot through transition.
Run
  • 51m 43s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

I felt great on the flat section. My knee didn't bother me. Shortly after the first aid station on the hill I got a really bad side stitch. I tried to run through it up to the first switch back. My side really hurt so I walked for a while. Finally it went away and I started running again. I passed a guy that had passed me a few minutes earlier when I was walking. He said "nice recovery" to me which I thought was pretty cool of him to notice. The down hill felt really good (obviously) and I passed a couple of people. The flat section back to the finish was really painful but in a good way. My legs didn't hurt, I was just hurting from exhaustion and I pushed as hard as I could all the way to the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Not much other than I need to put in more training miles.
Post race
Warm down:

I didn't really warm down. I went to my family and carried my son around for a few minutes as he was having a breakdown. He was happy to see me and we checked out the cactus that he nearly fell into.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

With a newborn son and a two-year old, I don't have a lot of time to sleep and/or train. I don't really need to go any faster to have fun.

Event comments:

The race was a blast. If I can just figure out this swimming thing...




Last updated: 2007-07-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:38:51 | 1640 yards | 02m 22s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 0/238
Performance: Bad
Suit: Orca Full
Course:
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:40
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:11:09 | 24.85 miles | 20.96 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 0/238
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:51:43 | 06.21 miles | 08m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/29
Overall: 0/238
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-07-23 11:41 PM

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Veteran
186
100252525
Flagstaff, AZ
Subject: Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance


2007-07-23 11:50 PM
in reply to: #898346

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Master
2216
2000100100
Subject: RE: Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance

Nice report!  You really burned up the bike and run.  I feel your pain with the swim, as the same thing happened to me halfway through.  It's a tough trying to get all three events going smoothly.  I think that's what makes it such an interesting sport!

Good job though.  Flagstaff is beautiful!! 

2007-07-25 9:46 AM
in reply to: #898346

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Elite
3602
20001000500100
Mesa, AZ
Subject: RE: Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance
WOW!!! AWESOME RACE!!! I agree with Chris you really smoked the bike and run, the swim was super tough for me too. It was a tough course all over (my first Oly as well). So you live in Flag? AH so jealous! What do you do there? Again AWESOME RACE you should be VERY proud of that sub 3 hour time!
2007-07-26 12:36 AM
in reply to: #900507

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Veteran
186
100252525
Flagstaff, AZ
Subject: RE: Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance
Thanks a lot for the props! It's been cool checking out everyone else's race reports as well. I lucked out to be born in Flag. This time of year I bet everyone in the valley is jealous. I've got a pretty good job as an estimator for a construction company here in town. It pays the bills. (At least it used to before I had two kids and a nasty triathlon habit...talk about a double whammy)
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