Coeur d'Alene Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
United States
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 37m 14s
Overall Rank = 192/617
Age Group = 40+ Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 5/19
Pre-race routine:

Only got about 4 hours sleep after working Friday evening. Got up, took a quick shower, ate a chocolate chip muffin and had some chocolate milk. Drove to the race, set up transition, then chatted with my brother John (soretaint) and other athletes that I know. Did a little warm up run with my brother...actually trying to keep warm. It was in the mid-50's this morning!
Event warmup:

Didn't do a whole lot. Swam about 50 yards, got back to the beach, and away we went.
Swim
  • 28m 27s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim went as well as I could have hoped. I'm not sure why, maybe losing more weight, but my swimming has improved a lot the last month or so. Started out at the front of the crowd and had a few people swim over/around me but it wasn't too bad. The first 1/3 of a mile was pretty crowded then after the first turn buoy it thinned out a bit. Got around the second turn buoy, headed for shore and then things got interesting. I had been passing people who started in the wave ahead of me and then really started to catch a lot of swimmers. This turned into a bit of a problem with trying to get around them. Probably cost me a bit of time but not a whole lot. About 100 yards from shore my left hamstring cramp on me and continued to cramp a bit the rest of the way. Had to stop and stretch it out as soon as I got out of the water. I hoped it wouldn't bother me for the rest of the day.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Maybe get through the slower swimmers better but not sure how to do that other than just swim around them and keep going.
Transition 1
  • 02m 6s
Comments:

My hammy was still tweaking a little bit so I didn't run that fast to my transition. Got the wetsuit off quickly, into shoes, and headed for the bike mount line.
What would you do differently?:

Not cramp up my hamstring.
Bike
  • 1h 12m 44s
  • 23.4 miles
  • 19.30 mile/hr
Comments:

Here's where my race kind of hit a hiccup. When I got to the bike mount line my front tire was flat! I couldn't believe it. I had ridden my bike yesterday and pumped up my tires about 15 minutes before the start of the race. They were both fine then but sometime during the swim it managed to go flat. Fortunately it was the front wheel so I got it changed fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it cost me 4 minutes and 15 seconds to do it and by the end of the race this would be costly.
The first few miles of the bike are mostly flat with a little climb on Lakeshore Drive. Out along the Ironman CDA course to Higgins Point turn-around then back toward town. Kept a pretty good pace, 21-24mph along here except for the hill, and getting warmed up as it was still pretty chilly, especially in a wet tri suit. Passed a ton of people along here, including one of the Docs I work with who was doing the race on his old single speed bike! Pretty cool! Somewhere about 8 miles into the ride the course turns off Lakeshore Drive and into a pretty good climb. Maybe two miles total and it gets pretty steep at the top. I passed quite a few people going up the hill and was feeling pretty good, except I was still bummed about the flat. The course flattens out and then a bit of downhill for a couple miles then a couple more climbs and a couple short downhills. They had to shorten the course 2.5 km here due to some ill-timed road maintenance but it was not that big a deal. More ups and downs back to a pretty good, long downhill back to Lakeshore Drive. Maxed out at 48+ mph here. Got back to Lakeshore Drive and started to put the hammer down. Held 24-26mph for the next couple miles then got back to town. Still kept the pace above 22.5 mph through town to T2.
Even with the flat, I had a good bike I think. I figure that the time I lost on the bike would have been pretty close to what it would have taken me to do the 2.5km that they cut off the course so I still would have been about 1h 12m for the 40km. As it was, for the 23.4 miles I was 1h 8m and change of actual riding time. With as many hills as this course has, I was really happy with that.
What would you do differently?:

Not flat out!
Transition 2
  • 01m 59s
Comments:

Pretty uneventful.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing except run faster.
Run
  • 51m 57s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 22s  min/mile
Comments:

Took off on the run and didn't feel like I was really going too fast. My legs felt ok though after about the first 3/4 mile. Hit the 1 mile mark at around 8:50, and felt good so decided to just go for it. Saw several of my fast friends who were ahead of me and got to see my brother when he was at about the 4 mile mark. He looked really strong and was running well! Climbed the hill behind Starbucks and passed the 3 mile mark at a good time and decided to try and pick up the pace on the way back. Actually started passing people from time to time over the last 3 miles and felt pretty good the whole way. Got passed a couple times as well but not as much as I thought I would. Saw John a few yards from the finish and got a high five! Capped off a good race!
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Before the race I figured the run would be my weak point, as it was, but it wasn't nearly as slow as I thought it would be so I've got to be happy with it. Probably could have pushed a little harder but I always feel that way.
Post race
Warm down:

Slow walk back to transition, found John and we congratulated each other. He had just hammered his race and I was really proud of him! Waited around for awards and had some BBQ and drank lots of water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The flat didn't help, obviously, and I need to work on my run but overall I was really happy with the race.

Event comments:

Without the flat I would have finished at about 2:33 and roughly 45 places higher than I did overall. Still, it was a huge PR for me over the only other Oly race I've done, by about 30 minutes so I'm really pleased with it.
The other thing the flat did for me was keep me out of the bling! In my AG (over 40 Clydesdale) 2:33 would have been good for 2nd place. As it was, I missed second by 2 minutes and third by 50 seconds. So, I wasn't too happy about that but it's all part of the game. I haven't ever flatted during a race before so I guess I was due. Just wish it would have been a race when it didn't cost me!
Still had a great time, great weather, got to race with my brother and several of my friends and co-workers so it was all good!




Last updated: 2007-08-12 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:28:27 | 1640 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/19
Overall: 0/617
Performance: Good
Suit: Orca Speedsuit
Course: Clockwise triangle. Starting point and water exit are the pointy end of the triangle.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:06
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:12:44 | 23.4 miles | 19.30 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/19
Overall: 0/617
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Mostly flat the first 8 miles or so, along the IMCDA course. Then a big climb, followed by some rollers, more climbs, downhills, the flat back to town.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:59
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:51:57 | 06.21 miles | 08m 22s  min/mile
Age Group: 2/19
Overall: 0/617
Performance: Good
Course: Flat with a few little rollers and a decent climb near the 3 mile mark. First mile is along the IMCDA run course.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
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? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4