Square Lake Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Stillwater, Minnesota
United States
Front Runner
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 17m 46s
Overall Rank = 54/174
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 17/34
Pre-race routine:

Typical breakfast of Special K with strawberries and a bagel, along with coffee for the road. I had loaded up the night before with my neighbor John, who was riding over to Stillwater with me. Race morning set up was typical, though a little chilly. (at least not as cold as the day before, when it was in the low 40s). Ran into some of the BT favorites, Pete and Carl pre-race and chatted a bit.
Event warmup:

No real riding or running to speak of. Swam maybe 200 yards, then tried some stretching.
Swim
  • 35m 8s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 40s / 100 yards
Comments:

Started out fast, as I usually do, to try to avoid getting caught in the wash (I was in the lead! Hooray!!) The lake was pristine, calm, and perfectly clear. However, I think that initial burst really burned me out, as I felt rather exhausted after the first few hundred yards, especially in the shoulders. I also felt that I couldn't catch my breath as well as usual. Perhaps I didn't get the wetsuit pulled up well enough, or wasn't quite in the shape I need to be to fit into it properly. At any rate, the swim felt really long, and by the half-way point of the second lap, I was ready to be done. On the finishing leg, I finally found someone to draft, and followed him in for the rest of the way.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure if it was a wetsuit issue, fitness issue, or adrenaline issue that made me feel wiped after such a short distance. Certainly my lack of swimming over the summer has hurt, but I didn't expect it to be quite this bad.
Transition 1
  • 02m 40s
Comments:

It's a long run from the water to transition, up a long flight of stairs. I took a lot of time setting up my phone/cyclemeter so that my wife could follow along on facebook. My friend John was 30s ahead of me in transition, so I was hoping I would see him out on the bike.
What would you do differently?:

In the future I'm going to race to race, not to make sure my family has a good time. While having the pacing info was helpful later in the race, I need to just go with feel and HRM and go.
Bike
  • 2h 48m 35s
  • 54 miles
  • 19.22 mile/hr
Comments:

My primary goal here was to finish comfortably and go too fast on the bike so I could have a good run. At Liberty, the heat obviously played a role, but I definitely got into racing too much, instead of going at my own pace, and commonly ran my HR too high. I never caught up to John again (in fact, didn't see him until near the turn-around on the run), meaning that he was moving a fair amount faster than me. Overall, I did everything right on the bike. Good pace, stuck perfectly to my nutrition plan, and I felt great coming off the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. A little more fitness would always help and I was dissappointed at my relative placement, but I executed this perfectly.
Transition 2
  • 02m 38s
Comments:

I was surprised to find my wife running through transition during the race (don't they keep spectators out of here?). Then I remembered that this was a Randy race and let it go. My wife wasn't going to steal anyone's stuff... Again spent time switching the phone over for the run, and also stopped to go pee, which probably added nearly a minute.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. Efficiency here was pretty good, just had to deal with the bathroom break.
Run
  • 1h 48m 7s
  • 13.2 miles
  • 08m 11s  min/mile
Comments:

Overall this felt great! The first couple of large hills out of transition were painful, but once I got beyond that, I settled in at comfortable pace and ran. I tried to focus on good form and fore foot striking to avoid the IT band issues of the past. I saw John and Pete prior to reaching the turn-around, and then Carl on the way back. Coming into the finish was great! My wife and kids were waiting, and all of the kids came running down the chute with me.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. The run started hurting a lot toward the end. The rollers were putting my quads on the verge of cramping. I think the run was executed about as well as it could be.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretched a little, jumped in the lake to cool down, then pieced together transition.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overall fitness and a marginal swim were my only limiters. A better swim might have saved me only 1-2 minutes though. Overall I was very happy with the performance

Event comments:

I don't recall seeing a course marshall at the turn onto 95 on my second lap. Given the amount of traffic on 95, that would be an important detail. Otherwise everything went fairly well. While I don't know if I'll continue to do HIMs, if I do this will definitely be on the list.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-01-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:35:08 | 2112 yards | 01m 40s / 100yards
Age Group: 9/34
Overall: 39/174
Performance: Below average
HR was in the low 160s overall
Suit: Tyr Hurricane 3
Course: Two laps of a rectangle
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:40
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:48:35 | 54 miles | 19.22 mile/hr
Age Group: 20/34
Overall: 72/174
Performance: Good
Target a HR of 150 for the ride, which I pretty much was right on. Two laps were at nearly identical pace, slowed slightly for the second lap
Wind: None
Course: Two loops of scenic, rolling hills, farmland, and down the bluff of the St. Croix. Beautiful course that was generally in great condition
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 82
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:38
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:48:07 | 13.2 miles | 08m 11s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/34
Overall: 55/174
Performance: Good
Started in high 150s to low 160s, stuck it there. Held same pace for much of the run. Probably closer to 9:00 for the first mile or two (big uphill segments here) then down closer to 8:00 for much of the mid portion
Course: Out and back on rolling (and some larger) hills
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4