Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Duathlon


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Benton Harbor, Michigan
United States
CAPRI Events
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 53m 15s
Overall Rank = 643/1890
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 94/194
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Benton Harbor Thursday night and pulled into the hotel right around 11:00 Eastern time. Checked in, got unloaded and watched a little TV with Danielle and my parents. Ride was uneventful with only a little traffic in Chicago, but much better than it can be. Slept alright the first night woke up around 8 and went out to breakfast with my dad as the women got ready for the day. Headed over to the race site around 10:00 to meet up with other BT'ers for a swim. Got to the park and ended up waiting until around 11 when gregkl and his wife showed up and after my dad started chatting with them realized they were part of BT. Around 11:15 we decided to start swimming even though we were the only 2 there. After a short while the rest of the group showed up and we headed back out and swam for another 15-20 or so. I know I would miss somebody if I listed all the names, so I will leave it at great to meet you all. Ended up going to eat with Birkie, mbmoran, and the gregkl's at Tosi's which was a great place to eat. After lunch we headed back and picked up my race packet and dropped off my bike and get body marked. Went back to the hotel to get cleaned up, take a nap and then had an early dinner and went to bead around 9:45 or so after getting everything set up for the AM. Woke up around 3:45 and ate some toast and started drinking some Perp and headed over around 4:30 so that we could get a spot in the lots and get on a shuttle over to the transition area. Got there early and set everything up and chatted with Whizzz, Trixie, Birkie, RKrueser and others. Finally headed down to the water around 6:45 to take a peak and planned on getting in. Got the wetsuit on and was standing around when my parents, who were over by transition called my wife and told her that the swim was cancelled. When she told me that I was like "you are effing kidding me, not again". Well shortly after everyone was talking about it and I asked an official who confirmed it. Well at this point I am really hacked off as the water did not look all that bad and the swim is my strong suit. After having another tri turn into a du just a few weeks prior I didn't even think it would happen again, but it did. After about 10 minutes of being pissed I decided that I had paid good money for this weekend and I was going to make the most of the experience and just try to have fun. Headed back to transition to get into my running shoes and figure out where to go.
Event warmup:

Walked probably 2 miles while trying to figure out where I needed to head for the run start.
Run
  • 16m 8s
  • 2.1 miles
  • 07m 41s  min/mile
Comments:

Waited what seemed like forever to get this run going. Since the swim was cancelled the pushed the start back to 8 so that they could get the course ready and all the mats moved. I was in the second to last wave, so even when they did finally start the first wave it took forever for my wave to start. Just stood around and chatted with a guy who was racked close to me and waited and waited. Finally it was our turn to get to the starting line and I planned on keeping it in the mid 8's so that I didn't kill myself right away. Took off running and fell into a pace that was a little faster than I had planned but I felt comfortable, so I just went with it. Run was uneventful and I just wanted to get back to T1 and get on my bike and ride.
What would you do differently?:

Not have to replace a swim with a run.
Transition 1
  • 01m 27s
Comments:

Decided to run with my shoes on, but should have left them on the bike as there was a long run to the bike mount line. I thought this was faster, but I guess I was taking my time a little. Helmet went on good though and I just wanted to make sure that I had everything.
What would you do differently?:

Leave shoes on bike.
Bike
  • 2h 27m 16s
  • 54 miles
  • 22.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Took off after the first run and was more than happy to be done running. As soon as I started I could see that this was going to suck as far as trying to get around people. Started riding and was trying to get into a groove. I guess the only way tha tI could put this is that all I did was pass. 1900 people over 56 miles is too many. I was passing people in wave 5 by the end of the ride. Every time I tried to pass someone and get back over to the right I would ride up on the person in front of me, so I just went to pass them. There were really no hills compared to WI, and on the one spot that I could possibly count as a hill I passed close to 40 people in less than .25 miles just because I saw the hill coming, hammered a little leading up to it and then shifted at the right point so that I would have the pace to get up it. Heart rate was high during this time as all I did was pass, so I did not drink enough or take in enough nutrition during the ride which as you will see will come back to haunt me later.
What would you do differently?:

Not do a race with this many people over 56 miles. Also make sure that no matter what I stick with my nutrition plan and not just hammer to pass.
Transition 2
  • 02m 14s
Comments:

This a little long, but all parts of T2 were good in my opinion.
What would you do differently?:

Not much
Run
  • 2h 06m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

Started out at a decent pace, in the low 8's and it felt good. First 6 miles were in the low to mid 8's and as with the first mile I felt good at this pace. Tried to stay on top of the water and nutrition, but my HR was still high off of the bike, so I don't think that I was taking in enough calories. Right around mile 6 I started to feel sluggish and out of it and my pace started droping off. First into the upper 8's, then into the low to mid 9's. Decided that if I could hold in the low 9's for the rest of the run that I would set a decent time on the run and overall for the race. Kept it up until mile 9 when out of the middle of nowhere my left hamstring decides to knot up. Had to stop running completely and walk for a short stretch until the cramp dissappeared. Started running and felt alright for a little while longer, but then the cramp started up again. Cramp continued to come and go for the last 4 miles which really killed my times. Went into the 10-11 minute per mile range the last 4 and had to get myself over the fact that I wasn't going to get the time that I wanted. Ended up joking around with a lot of people and started chearing people on as they passed me while I was walking. Ended up chearing on a lady with around 1.4 miles left who was trying to massage out a cramp and I kept running. Less than .2 miles later my cramp kicked in again and I had to walk. The lady that I had cheared up grabbed me by the arm and made me run with her to the end.
What would you do differently?:

Stay on top of the nutrition a little better and not push as hard on the bike.
Post race
Warm down:

Felt like hell right after the finish and it took a little while to get to the point that it didn't feel like I was going to die. Got some food and some water and coke in me and I felt much better. Jumped in the lake for a while to cool down and see how the waves/current were.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not having a swim and not staying on top of my nutrition on the bike and run with the resulting cramps.

Event comments:

Overall I thought this was a good race. It seemed organized and the volunteers were great. I think there were a few hundred too many people in the race which caused a lot of headaches on the bike.




Last updated: 2008-08-05 12:00 AM
Running
00:16:08 | 02.1 miles | 07m 41s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/194
Overall: 0/1890
Performance: Average
Course: Slightly hilly with one decent size hill about .5 miles in or so.
Keeping cool Average Drinking
T1
Time: 01:27
Overall: Good
Run with bike? Good
Jump on bike? Good
Getting up to speed and into shoes:
Biking
02:27:16 | 54 miles | 22.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/194
Overall: 0/1890
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: I would call this flat with just a couple of rollers, but nothing like I used to.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Too hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:14
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:06:10 | 13.1 miles | 09m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/194
Overall: 0/1890
Performance: Below average
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
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? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3