Quartermax - TriathlonOther


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Innsbrook, Missouri
United States
Ultramax Events
88F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 50m 39s
Overall Rank = 36/131 F
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 13/32
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4 (ugh). Made a mango smoothie with vanilla yogurt, OJ, pineapple juice and a scoop of Slim-Fast soy protein powder (chocolate). Made two pieces of toast with honey, a bottle of salted Gatorade (both NaCl and KCl), and a cup of white tea. Ate/drank that stuff on the way to the race. Left at 4:35 to pick up Jim and Joe, were on the road by 5.
Event warmup:

Biked for two minutes to make sure everything was working and I was in an appropriate gear.

Swam for two or three minutes. I can't remember (literally -- I'll have to go back and look it up, I think it was a couple of weeks ago) the last time I swam.
Swim
  • 18m 35s
  • 984 yards
  • 01m 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

Beginning was hard because I was stuck behind slower people (this ALWAYS happens to me. I need to learn how to seed myself!) so I paddled along trying to find an opening for awhile. Caught a draft and hung onto her for a minute or two, then lost her. I was having a lot of trouble navigating -- I kept veering off to the right (away from buoys) then I would overcorrect and end up inside the buoy line and have to swim back out again. Very inefficient. The people I tried to draft behind were pretty bad navigators too, which was part of the problem. That was why I eventually gave up the draft.


What would you do differently?:

Seed myself farther forward in the pack. In addition to being more efficient, that would also keep me from having a weird, choppy stroke as I try to pass people and not get kicked in the face. I had to keep my head up a lot to watch where people's feet were, and that's a bad way to swim.
Transition 1
  • 01m 58s
Comments:

This was a great transition! Last year at this race, my T1 time was 4:38! So I took off over two and a half minutes here! Yay!!! Ran to my transition area, removing cap and goggles as I ran. Sat down and dried the sand off my feet with a towel, put my socks (rolled mostly inside out so I could just stick my toes in and roll them up -- GREAT idea) on, put on my bike shoes (haven't practiced leaving them clipped in.....and as hilly as Innsbrook is, I'm not sure that would work so well), fastened my race belt, put on my Camelbak, sunglasses and helmet, and ran my bike to the mount line.
What would you do differently?:

I still need to practice transitions, because this one could be faster, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. It was a HUGE improvement over last year. :-)
Bike
  • 1h 25m
  • 25.6 miles
  • 18.07 mile/hr
Comments:

Crashed about two miles in! I was putting my bottle back in the cage and was being very careful to ride on the far right side of the road because people who block REALLY tick me off, and I got a little too close and my front tire went off the road. I fought it and skidded and went down on my left side. Caught myself with my hands, which was DUMB, but just got a bloody scrape on my elbow and a patch of road rash on my left hip. Bike was fine.

On the roads outside, I took corners too wide and slowly, being afraid to skid out. I should work on that. Was good about watching my gears and cadence, trying not to cross-gear, rode in my aerobars for most of the ride. I think I pushed just the right amount.

Drank most of my Camelbak of water, 3/4 of my bottle of Gatorade + Accelerade + NaCl (1/4 tsp) + KCl (1/4 tsp).

My calves were threatening to cramp during the last mile or two, and then into the first mile or two of the run. I had to exaggeratedly pull my toes up every time I struck to stretch my calf so it wouldn't cramp.
What would you do differently?:

Work on cornering. Not run off the road. :-)
Transition 2
  • 01m 51s
Comments:

Another good transition! I am so proud of myself! This one was around 2:00, and I ran my bike to the rack, took off my helmet, took off my Camelbak, switched shoes, and was off! I could have gone a little faster, I think a good T2 time is around 1:00, but I'm happy with the improvement.
What would you do differently?:

Get Yankz or something similar so I don't have to tie my shoes. That wasted 20 seconds, probably.
Run
  • 1h 02m
  • 6.5 miles
  • 09m 32s  min/mile
Comments:

I was pretty unprepared for this run (the whole race, actually) having been not running due to a heel injury for a couple of months, and being in kind of a training funk as a result. I've just been slacking, is what it comes down to. So I was not in running shape, especially for these hills. I walked up all the hills, which I think is a good idea even if you ARE in shape because they're so steep that I could walk up them almost as fast as people ran up them, and then I was MUCH less tired at the top and passed the people who had run up.

I had problems with side stitches, which was the main problem. Oh -- first of all, just like last year, the muscle between my glutes and hamstring but closer to my inner thigh was KILLING me when I got off the bike. Hurt to run a little, hurt more to walk. Also, that giant gross blister I got at the Liver Run was acting up a little bit, nothing too bad; and my heel was bothering me after a couple of miles. But the side stitches were the main thing: I stopped at mile 1 for water and a quarter of a banana, and almost immediately got a bad side stitch. Had to walk while it subsided. Stopped for liquid at the turnaround (mile 3+) and was okay with that. Around mile 5 I stopped for an orange wedge and water, and this time the stitch was so bad that I couldn't really run again for the rest of the race! I'd run 50 feet and be in so much pain that I'd hobble along bent over for the next few minutes. As a result, I got passed in the CHUTE by a girl I'd been way ahead of at mile 4. GRRRR.

Overall, it was a pretty bad run. I averaged 8:00/mile last year, and **9:40** this year. That's atrocious. Part of the problem may have been that I pushed harder on the bike, but I don't know. I also think the course was short last year and I didn't really run that fast, and it was a little long this year, I would bet. But still -- I was definitely significantly slower this year.

What would you do differently?:

Well, apparently eating fruit was a bad idea. It's never bothered me in races before, but maybe next time I should try eating more on the bike and less on the run.

Also, um, TRAIN.
Post race
Warm down:

Stand around waiting for friends to finish, ate half a PB sandwich, got my elbow cleaned and gooped up in the medical tent. Had a bag of grape Energice hydration drink, which was GREAT!!! I love that stuff!

Stretched a little, went for a quick dip in the lake to rinse off, changed into dry clothes, loaded up the car, ate a baked potato with chili, cheese, broccoli, and bacon -- YUM!!!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of training. Pure and simple. I wasn't really keeping logs on BT last summer, but if you look at my paper-based training log from last summer, and my log from this summer, they're like two different people's logs. I've had chronic running injuries for the last three or four months, which has severely limited my running, and partly due to that I've just been LAZY. Nothing is keeping me from swimming and biking, I just haven't been doing it.

Event comments:

This is a really good race. I highly recommend it to everyone. The Livesays put on a very well-organized, smoothly run, high-quality event, and of the four different triathlons I've done so far (including the Spirit of Racine Half last summer), this is by FAR my favorite. The run course is very difficult, and really requires hill training. But the swim is great, and the bike is very nice too.




Last updated: 2005-07-31 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:35 | 984 yards | 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 14/32
Overall: 0/131 F
Performance: Average
Suit: Bike shorts, pink running bra
Course: Counterclockwise rectangle in a calm lake. Good buoy markings.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 83F / 28C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:58
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:25:00 | 25.6 miles | 18.07 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/32
Overall: 0/131 F
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Clockwise loop, first 5 miles or so in the resort, and a little hilly (several very short, slightly steep climbs). Mostly flat with gently rolling hills after that, some wind (not too bad) and a final significant (but not bad) climb at the end. It was supposed to be a 28 mile course, and was really only 25.6 miles (from three independent cyclocomputers). So my "official" pace is fabulous -- 19.8 mph! I wish! :-)
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 98
Turns: Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:51
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:02:00 | 06.5 miles | 09m 32s  min/mile
Age Group: 13/32
Overall: 0/131 F
Performance: Bad
Miles 1&2: 18:28 Mile 3: 9:34 Mile 4: 9:54 Mile 5: 9:35 Mile 6: 11:03 (I think this mile was long) Mile 6.5: 4:15
Course: HILLY. Holy cow. It was at least as bad as I remembered, if not worse. Gravel roads, scattered shade, good aid station frequency, and HILLS.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
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