Aloha Triathlon - Triathlon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Lees Summit, Missouri
United States
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 14/57
Age Group = 3539
Age Group Rank = 1/3
Pre-race routine:

*Ok, I waited over a week before putting this down, so this race report is not as thorough as I would like it to be. Also, because it was a quintathlon, the race report format doesn't exactly work. *

The kids were gone so the wife and I woke up early and made a fairly quick exit out of the house. I ate an english muffin with peanut butter, coffee and some water.

Loading up the bikes, I discovered that wife's rear brake was catching a bit. Rather than tinker with it in the driveway, we decided to head to the race site and go straight to the bike tech tent. Good decision.

We arrived at the race site and went to the bike tech. He quickly adjusted the brake and she was good. I brought my tire pump and started to pump my tires when my valve extender blew off and I lost all my air. Fortunately, it had just become unscrewed and I was able to use the tech's stand to put it back on.

We racked bikes and went down to the beach for a pre-race talk.
Event warmup:

The beach was open so I got in to feel the water and swam just a bit. Not much of a warmup, but it was already muggy so the water felt good. Soon afterward, we were ready to start.
Swim
  • 17m 13s
  • 800 meters
  • 02m 09s / 100 meters
Comments:

Not much to say about the swim. Still felt like the adrenaline rush impacted me negatively. I fell behind early but noticed on the end of the 1st lap and 2nd lap I started passing people.
What would you do differently?:

Need to just work on my swim and improve.

16/57 overall rank
Transition 1
  • 01m 12s
Comments:

Transition went ok. I slowed up a bit because I briefly lost track of my bike. I had planned to put on my socks, because decided to skip it because my feet were too wet and I figured it would take too much time. I decided to just mount the bike and go. I forgot to start my watch out of transition, so the first bike picture shows me hitting the button with my chin.
Bike
  • 00m
  • 27 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Bike Leg #1:

This bike was fun. Because it was a small race, I knew I had come out of the water with probably less than 10 people ahead of me. As I exited the park, I spotted a guy in a black tri-suit and an aero helmet up ahead. I locked in on him to try to chase him down. On the first portion of the course, there were orange cones on the side of the road. It was unclear where these were there. The original course correspondence advised to "keep right" but the guy in front of me was riding on the wide shoulder. I didn't want to do that, but wasn't sure what to do. I kept following him on the shoulder and was quickly gaining. After seeing broken glass and then a tree branch in the shoulder, I decided that was enough. I went back on the road and passed the guy and stayed there.

Next, I spotted another rider up ahead and tracked him down. I did this a few times and was having alot of fun chasing. Haven't had too much experience with this. Finally, I passed a guy on a Slice and the course diverted on the main street to a few sharp corners where the course looped. I took these corners slow and Slice guy passed me up. After we got back on the main road, I quickly overtook him. At this point, the road surface started getting pretty sketchy. There was a very large, steep downhill. I love bombing on these, however the road was uneven, and I spotted several dips and potholes. I did not want to bury my bike in one of these at 40MPH so I had to control my descent. That's a shame because I could have really spaced things out here.

At one point, the race volunteer started screaming at me "7! 7! 7!" and holding up her fingers. I looked at my watch and were were near mile 12, so I knew it wasn't the mile mark and the street we turned onto wasn't 7th. I finally determined she was telling me I was 7th at that point. This was encouraging and I moved forward and soon caught 3 more people (I think).

After a few climbs and then a more technical descent, Slice-guy passed me again. It became obvious that I could outgun him on pure bike strength, but he had an obvious handling advantage and could go faster in areas that I had to slow down.

As we neared the 14.5 mile mark, the course re-merged with the sprint racers. At this point, I made some bad decisions. There were a number of slow riders, mountain bikes, etc. I got a little nervous as the course had more traffic and I didn't' want to wreck. At one point, I literally had to scream at another cyclist to move to the right to get out of my way, after he didn't move after my first 3 requests. At the closing of the first bike leg, Slice-guy and I entered transition within a few seconds of each other.

Before reading the rest of this, move down to the first part of the run, before returning to Bike #2.

Bike Leg #2:

Bike leg #2 went pretty well. I expected to be a little stronger as this leg did not have as many hills, but still had some more bike traffic. Also, I lost most of my rabbits on the run, so I was not chasing at the front. At this point, I was just focusing on laying out power and I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I spotted Slice guy at the turnaround and I estimate that he had a 3 minute or so lead on me.
What would you do differently?:

No fear! I just ride so much indoors, that I don't have tons of on-road experience so I gave up time there.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

T2 went well.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. Can get a little better with flying dismount, but I'm not leaving lots of time in transition.
Run
  • 37m 59s
  • 7 kms
  • 05m 26s  min/km
Comments:

Run leg #1:

It took me a bit to get my legs under me (as usual). I saw Slice guy run out of transition alongside of me and he quickly dropped me. About .25 miles into the run a lady caught me and she hung on my shoulder throughout the rest of the run leg (she was a short course runner). We were roughly the same pace so it worked ok, however in looking at it in hindsight, I probably should have worked harder to drop her. Pretty uneventful run. I was not pushing mainly because I knew I had another bike/run leg ahead of me.

Run leg #2:

After hopping off the bike I knew I only had a little over a mile left. I had visions of hammering this with an overgrown sprint, but I didn't have the fitness to do it. I just tried to keep a steady pace.
What would you do differently?:

Run just a bit quicker.
Post race
Warm down:

After finishing, I put on a t-shirt and stood by transition to cheer on the cyclists. I got to see Jamie through transition and ran with her most of her run leg.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I didn't really prepare for this race that way I would if it was an "A" or even "B" race. So, I could have probably been a bit quicker with a good taper and race prep. However, overall I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Event comments:

I went into this race with pretty much no expectations. It was purely for fun and because it seemed to be an interesting format. Also, because I am in the middle of my training plan for a 70.3 in October, I decided to "train through" this race without any sort of taper. Basically, I tried to just adjust my training schedule to incorporate this race distance.

With that said, I'm pleased with the race outcome. I won my age group!! While there were only a few of us, I'm still pretty happy as I could have easily NOT won. I AM improving.

The race organization was quite good, especially for a first-time event. There were a few aspects of the race that I think could improve (such as marking the bike course better), but overall I give it 2 thumbs up. I will do this race again, provided it fits with next year's training schedule.






Last updated: 2014-05-23 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:17:13 | 800 meters | 02m 09s / 100meters
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 16/57
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: The course was basically a rectangle that went counter-clockwise, two laps. At the end of the first lap, swimmer exited the lake, ran across the beach and re-entered.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:12
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:00:00 | 27 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/3
Overall: 0/57
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course: Because it was a quintathlon, with two bike legs, I'm going to cover both sections here. Bike leg #1 -19 miles - 56:13 - 20.3mph A modified out-and-back on an open traffic course. At the 5.5 mile mark, the course looped through a neighborhood before continuing on to lots of hills and corners. Bile leg #2 - 11 miles - 36:24 - 18.1mph An out and back that followed course #1, but turned around at the loop.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:37:59 | 07 kms | 05m 26s  min/km
Age Group: 0/3
Overall: 0/57
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back shaded course on loosely packed gravel. Run leg #1: 27:09 (8:44 per mi) Run leg #2: 10:50 (8:43 per mi)
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4