Elephant Man Triathlon Long Course - TriathlonLong Course


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Elephant butte, New Mexico
United States
Chasing3
Sunny
Total Time = 7h 14m 34s
Overall Rank = 54/71
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 1/1
Pre-race routine:

We decided to make a long weekend of it in New Mexico and drove down Friday. We were camping at the state park and actually getting to use our camper. With Tina away all the time using our camper is a rare thing indeed. About a 1/3rd into the drive I realized I forgot my Heed. UGH. Guess that means I am living off the course. Can I tell you all how much I hate Gatorade? At least I remembered the cookies.

Packet pickup was interesting. I was there the same time as another girl and she got a loud cheer as she picked up her packet. I thought that was kind of odd. Then I got a large cheer. Apparently with only 71 entered into the long course (first year for it) they were cheering for everyone doing the long course.

Woke up early to get in some coffee and breakfast. I was camping at the same state park that the race started from. The plan was to bike down to the race start, which was only 1.5 miles away. However, at 5:30AM there was no moon and it was dark as crap. I did not feel safe biking even with the headlamp so put on my best whine voice and begged Tina to drive me down. She hadn't planned on going down closer to the race start time.
Event warmup:

Quick little swim.
Swim
  • 50m 25s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 23s / 100 yards
Comments:

I made a very last minute decision to wear the wetsuit. I wasn't going to right up until the time I left transition to go warmup and then I decided to grab the suit. I wasn't sure if it would be too hot or not. Turns out it was a cool morning so despite the hot water the swim was not too hot.

My swim continues to suck. I do think a lot of this one was my horrible sightening skills though. I swam a lot extra. And I had to correct so badly in some cases it really just never get me into a flow. There was one dude swimming near me that I easily was passing when I was in my flow and then I'd mess up and have to correct and he'd get next to me again.

Oh, and I think I really hate wetsuit swimming.
What would you do differently?:

Um, swim a direct line. And probably more time in the pool would help a lot. I can swim the distance but I need to work on improving.
Transition 1
  • 03m 49s
Comments:

They had wetsuit strippers and those guys had the suit off in no time. I was expecting my T1 time to be quite a bit longer as it involved a rather long run up a hill which I am sure is in the T1 time and not the swim time. They had someone there with a hose to clean your feet off which was totally needed.
What would you do differently?:

nothing really.
Bike
  • 3h 40m 45s
  • 56 miles
  • 15.22 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike course is hilly, no doubt about it. But all in all doable. If you didn't train on hills though this course was going to beat you easily. The first 15 miles are mostly rolling hills with one longer steeper one thrown in for good measure. Then you can let loose for about 5 miles and get speed. But then that ends and we leave the Oly course and head out for our 15 mile out (and back), which was into the wind, mostly a gradual uphill (with some major climbs thrown in for good measure). It's the only spot I wish I had aero bars and race wheels.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, I trained on hills and I think I handled the big ones fine. I would have loved to have been at a lighter weight so that the minor ones were easier but well, it is what it is.
Transition 2
  • 02m 21s
Comments:

#W%$#$%#%@!@ I was pretty pissed to get into T2 to find someone racked in my spot. It wasn't like we could just grab another spot. I asked some guy from the oly who was done to grab a race official. He started to do so and then realized it was his bike in my spot. Grrr. Other then that it went ok. As I left T2 I headed to the bathroom for my one and only bathroom stop. That time is on my run though.
What would you do differently?:

Kill the little prick that racked in my spot?!?!? Not allowed? Ok, then nothing.
Run
  • 2h 37m 14s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 12m  min/mile
Comments:

Well, not quite the run I was expecting. Not the course I was expecting. Way more hills then I thought. I would have totally trained different had I had a better idea of this run. That being said, I did have a better run then my last long course. Although it was slower that is due to the course more then me. I held it together and kept running. I started to walk on a long uphill and this lady came running past me. That kind of motivated me to keep running again. So from then on out I kept a pretty steady pace. We went back and forth a few times but in the end I was able to pull away from this person. I knew there were two people pretty close behind me near the end and so I just used that as motivation to keep on trucking.

The run course was interesting, with lots of dirt, hills, and weird sections in it. For example, at one spot we had to run around a building on the golf course and then later an out and back in a neighborhood. Clearly trying to get the miles in but it made for an interesting run
What would you do differently?:

The heat did get to me on this run even though I have run in the heat a lot. Not normally when the sun is fully out though. I think for my next HIM I will get more runs in while the sun is fully out and not just stick to morning runs
Post race
Warm down:

I was pretty spent at the end of this race. It took a lot of out me. I couldn't really eat, not even cookies. WHAT? I took a bite or two and handed it to Tina.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of swim training. I need more intensity on the bike as well. And more hills on the run. But, I was trained. It would have been a much longer day if I hadn't trained as hard as I did. I clearly train for having a good race and not for a podium spot as I am not that fast and don't want to put the time in to get fast. But I do want a steady race. Losing some weight will help as well

Event comments:

This is the first year for the long course and I think they did ok but could do with some changes. I was VERY disappointed to find that the transition area was torn down already and no one was watching my bike. They hadn't even finished the Oly awards yet, let alone starting on the lc and they already had transition torn down? Really? Then stand there and guard my bike please.

Food was not what I was wanting after such a long day on the bike. I could have used something lighter to eat, like a small piece of bagel or something. They had sandwiches and cookies. I heard a rumour there was fruit but they were out when I got there. From what Tina said a lot of spectators where chowing down. Either they need to control that or have extra out for when the bottom of the pack finishes the lc.

The volunteers were AMAZING. They had nearly as many volunteers as they did racers (both oly and lc combined). They cheered loudly, were super friendly, and were generally a pleasant group. There was no lack of aid stations in this race. Every 10 miles on the bike for the lc and about every mile on the run. At mile 8 they started with the coke. Loved that.

Although they did not start on time, for either the race nor the mandatory meeting the day before they were not horribly off schedule.




Last updated: 2011-03-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:50:25 | 2112 yards | 02m 23s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/1
Overall: 0/71
Performance: Bad
Suit: Zoot full sleeve
Course: A T shaped course, out to a set of bouts, take a right, head down to another set to swim around then back across the lake before turning around another set of buoys and coming back down the shoot to the finish
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 78F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:49
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:40:45 | 56 miles | 15.22 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/1
Overall: 0/71
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: This is one challenging bike course... the first 20 miles of the course are shared with the Intermediate distance course which travel up and out of the new state park entrance, north through the city of Elephant Butte and along the perimeter of the lake. At mile 10 athletes will descend down into Monticello Canyon and then proceed by climbing for the next 3 miles up Big Daddy. The course then crosses over I-25 and turns back S on the frontage road until mile 20 where athletes will turn R (west) onto NM 52. This is a 15 mile out and back section (30 miles round trip) through the town of Cuchillo and into the foothills outside of Winston NM... the wild wild west at its best with some big climbs thrown in to keep you focused. At mile 50 athletes will turn back onto the frontage road (again a shared portion with the Intermediate course), turning Left onto 195 S through the switchback descent back into the City of Elephant Butte, thru the main entrance to the park and back to T2.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:21
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Bad
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:37:14 | 13.1 miles | 12m  min/mile
Age Group: 0/1
Overall: 0/71
Performance: Average
Course: traveling out across the beach on graded trail, up the Dam hill and out across the Dirt Dam and Elephant Butte Dam, at the 3 mile mark, long course athletes will be directed up and around the winding road park and will descend back into Damsite Recreation area where misting tents will await... a short trail run along the back side of the Damsite Restaurant will return athletes to HWY 177 and back across both dams. Once athletes cross Dirt Dam they will continue to climb up HWY 195 (past the turn off back down the Dam Hill) until intersecting with Country Club Rd (there will be approximately .3 miles where athletes returning from the bike portion will be south bound on this section so runners should stay on the graded area to avoid cyclists thru this section). Athletes will turn L down Country Club and enjoy one mile of down hill... turning R at Hallmark and then diverting onto Golf Course Roads. Once on Sierra del Rio roads.. athletes will travel on Rim Rock Dr across Turtleback Pkwy (the main entry road to the resort) across the mesa (on what used to be the main roads to Elephant Butte). Runners will be greeted by a water station at Turtleback Mountain Resort's President's residence and continue down hill to make a lap around the back side of the beautiful restaurant and club house. It is then a climb up and out of the resort with a small out and back section thru Villa Toscano (water awaits here along with amazing views). Continued climbing will take athletes out of the resort via Stagecoach Rd and Roadrunner (power line graded trail road). This road dead ends into NM 179 at which point athletes will turn L and tackle this last hill until it intersects with NM 195. A right turn at 195 will take athletes back to the Dam Hill and the final run portion along graded beach roads.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4