Michigan's Triathlon and Duathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Waterford, Michigan
United States
3D
55F / 13C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 55m 57s
Overall Rank = 42/75
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 4/7
Pre-race routine:

Light sleep like normal - never sleep well the night before a race. Got up at 5, showered, had a bowl of cereal and a cup-o-joe, packed the rest of my gear and took off.
Event warmup:

Not much, some light stretching and the short walk to the beach - feet were pretty numb from the cold by the time I got to the water.
Swim
  • 38m 5s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 19s / 100 yards
Comments:

Apparently my subconscious goal was to swim twice as far as I needed to..After the race I was talking to a bunch of the awesome Greyhounds and mentioned what I'd done..."Oh, so you're the one that was so far off course! Even the announcer was commenting on it." Ya, that'd be me!

This was absolutely abysmal. To set the stage, the out and back buoys really weren't far from each other - the course was like a pretty narrow rectangle, maybe about 150 yds wide. Was doing great up past the sprint turn buoy, actually passed a bunch of people and then my goggles starting fogging. The next buoy was pretty far out, not close together like the first ones and stupid me I ended up sighting on the wrong buoy - the one on the other side of the course. I was going along real good and saw a jet skiier next to me waving - I was thinking "how ya doing" and kept going, then all of a sudden it dawned on me...I stopped and looked and about died- I was a probably a good 100yds off course. So I took a diagonal line to get back on track and then started going far right. Finally made it around the island and my navigation abilities kicked in again and I veered to the right. I didn't go very far off course this time, but I was weaving a lot - not sure if maybe there was a current there helping (or not helping).

In any case, this was my worst performance of the season. All of my previous avg times, including Steelhead, were around the 2 min mark. Based on this avg I figure I swam a good 200yds further that I needed to.
What would you do differently?:

Swim straight!!! I remember back in high school when I played sports, prior to each play I'd go over the different things that could happen and have a plan ready for each one. I really need to do that here. In this case, I should have really studied the layout of the buoys - if I'd done that I would have realized that that last buoy before the island was long distance from the other and I'd likely have a hard time sighting it. I should have disregarded the buoy and focused on the island itself. Not sure how I can fix my sighting - I always have a hard time getting my vision focused in the split second I have to see and if my goggles are a little fogged its even harder. I see a splash of color and go for it. Next time I'll have to make damn sure what I'm swimming towards.
Transition 1
  • 03m 13s
Comments:

This time included a fairly long run up the beach and into T1. I was actually only 3 seconds behind the guy who was the AG winner, so I think I did pretty good. I also took time to put on socks and throw on a Northface pull-over. I figured since it was cold out that I'd need it.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 1h 19m 10s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 18.83 mile/hr
Comments:

This was a good ride for me. I decided my goal was to try to end up with an avg of 18mph, so I met that. I started out easy and didn't push it much for the first 13 miles and was averaging about 17mph. For most of the first half the course was pretty much uphill, a lot of small rollers, but enough to burn me out if I didn't watch it. The last 12 miles I started picking up the pace and hitting the remaining hills harder. Plus the return was mostly downhill, which helped, so I pushed it there.

I was actually only passed by 2 other people and I passed a whole bunch...think a lot of this had to do with the fact that practically everyone in the race was already on their bikes while I was still floundering around out in the lake :)

My Garmin had the course as just under 24 miles, so not sure whether its off or the course was just short. Also, my Garmin had me at 1:18.

Nutrition was good. I took a GU as soon as I got on the bike, had about half my water and half of the GEF on the entire ride and then took another GU when I was about 2 miles from the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Not much - felt pretty good. I just need a lot more time in the saddle for conditioning. Having only started riding this year though, I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to do.
Transition 2
  • 01m 21s
Comments:

Violated the first rule of racing and that's to not try something that you haven't practiced for. I wasn't really thinking and before I knew it, I was dismounting like I used to as a kid. As I was coming up to the dismount line, I unclipped my right foot, swung it over the saddle and rode to the line standing on my left foot. Twisted my left foot out of the clip, hopped off and ran. Worked beautifully! While I was a lot slower than the AG winner (he was 0:47) I was second out of T2- the next guy was at 2:13. Also, I had to take time to take off the Northface shirt, and then my hands were fairly numb, so tying my shoes wasn't the easiest. I also decided to take a few slugs of GEF before heading out.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 54m 11s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

Decent run for me. I didn't really have any goal here other than to try to keep a good pace so that when I came to the finish I'd have nothing left. In that, I think I did well. Everytime I started feeling comfortable in my pace, I'd try to pick it up. I figured if I was comfortable then I was running too slow.

Saw Trish on the run which was cool!!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Post race
Warm down:

Saw Sue and Sarah at the finish and introduced her to the Greyhounds. Then headed over to Trish's for some great food and beer!!!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Inability to swim in anything resembling a straight line.

Event comments:

Aside from the swim this was a pretty good race for me. My goal on the bike was to pace myself better than I had at Steelhead and I accomplished that.




Last updated: 2009-08-14 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:38:05 | 1640 yards | 02m 19s / 100yards
Age Group: 6/7
Overall: 56/75
Performance: Bad
Suit: Sleeveless
Course: Out around an island and straight back into shore.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Average Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 03:13
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:19:10 | 24.85 miles | 18.83 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/7
Overall: 40/75
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course:
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:21
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:54:11 | 06.21 miles | 08m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/7
Overall: 42/75
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3