3 Disciplines Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Man - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
East Tawas, Michigan
United States
3 Disciplines Racing
65F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 46m 36s
Overall Rank = 36/102
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 7/15
Pre-race routine:

Hit transition shortly after 6 and found it was a free for all for racking spots, Ben found me and said there was opening's next to his bike on the first rack at the bike out. I was happy to see that. Otherwise set up my transition area and headed back to the trailer for a snack and coffee, etc.


Event warmup:

Did some stretching near the boardwalk from the campground while pre race announcements were being made on the beach.
Swim
  • 35m 9s
  • 1931 meters
  • 01m 49s / 100 meters
Comments:

During the announcements the Kenny from 3D announces the course is accurately measured from the yellow start buoy to the last orange buoy. I was standing there thinking why the hell are we starting on the beach having to run out a couple of hundred yards to the start point, and the same goes for the exit. The course should be measured from the beach or have a water start at the yellow turn/start buoy if that's where the measurement is taken from.

I had swam this course on Thursday and Friday for short swims and did my landmark search on where to adjust course direction,etc. The course has been pushed out further since last years event allowing those of us that embrace the swim get to deep water and avoid the walkers. Last years crash and injury prevented me from racing so I had to have new site marks.

I followed my plan and trotted easily out to the swim start when the gun went off and got into deep water and swam. There were lots of others but I managed to have minimal contact. Had to work my way around some and did my usual of swimming away from the buoys to avoid the mess once out a ways I was on my own the way I like it except for the occasional swimmer with really bad navigation skills who swim all over the lake.

The water was real nice and calm to start but I noticed a little chop developing at the turnaround area but it didn't cause any issues for me.

Pretty much kept my pace nice and easy and used my normal bilateral breathing.


What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Transition 1
  • 03m 55s
Comments:

T1/2 was a bit further then other years but only added 20-30 seconds to total time. I like the setup better.
Bike
  • 3h 01m 29s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.51 mile/hr
Comments:

I knew the winds would be blowing out of the NW and have ridden this course enough to know where it would be tough and where to make up time. I rode this course well for my lack of training. I knew riding out Monument and coming back on River Rd that it would be tough with the wind, once I was heading back to town I'd have it a bit easier. When we made the turn around on River Rd I was surprised how tough the wind actually was as I didn't feel as I was getting a real great push while riding the other way. To prevent the blow up of my legs on the run I dialed things back and just rode the small ring for the most part on River Rd. My lack of riding was evident and I wanted off the bike ASAP.
What would you do differently?:

Actually train more. Overall I thought I paced this well for my conditioning.
Transition 2
  • 01m 55s
Comments:

Nice quick T2. Didn't see my running hat so I found that had blown down several spots, so K on my way out.
Run
  • 2h 04m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

Just kept this nice and steady throughout and figured if I had any gas left I'd pick things up on the way in after making my last turnaround. Once I did get to this point I was happy with just keeping it steady. Aid stations had only a couple of volunteers each but they were kids from the local cross country team and did a real nice job. With the two loop setup my second loop was only 3 seconds slower then the first. Steady as she goes.

This was the first year the run distance was dead on. The other two years it was off considerably.
What would you do differently?:

Do more training. Seems to be the theme of this report.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt somewhat crappy when I finished, which is normal for me. Ate an apple, drank a Muscle Milk and a Starbucks iced drink of some sorts. Grabbed my stuff with K and headed back to the trailer.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

After being busy with volunteer work for a week and then another week of training for work I hadn't done much work for this race and wasn't to concerned about it. I knew I'd finish, it was a matter of how long and painful would it be, that was what had me concerned before the start as it had been a good 4 weeks since any solid training and that wasn't even that solid due to some on and off knee tendinitis.

Besides the wind this would've been a pretty good day for a PR.

Event comments:

Love this race course and it was nice to have friends and family around for the weekend. The Tawas area is very nice and I hope we can make it back next year. 3D of course didn't have any officials on the bike course. There excuse this year was the volunteer motorcycles didn't show up, I doubt it was ever setup. I only noticed a little bit of blatant drafting and not the pace lines of years past. The numbers for the race looked to be the lowest since the first year. I think that 3D is charging more and really not offering much more for the money, thus the 3 star rating and not a 4. The after party is nice due to all the prizes and we always win a little something there.




Last updated: 2012-08-19 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:35:09 | 1931 meters | 01m 49s / 100meters
Age Group: 3/15
Overall: 19/102
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: The usual swim to Wal Mart and back along shore. The last two years the course has been pushed out to deeper water which is nice for those that actually want to swim.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:55
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:01:29 | 56 miles | 18.51 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/15
Overall: 56/102
Performance: Below average
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course:
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:55
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:04:10 | 13.1 miles | 09m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/15
Overall: 57/102
Performance: Good
Course: Usual flat course they've used the last three years.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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