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Galena Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Galena, IL
www.galena.org/triathlon
72F / 22C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 36m 16s
Overall Rank = 47/647
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 11/104
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 6:00am. Ate a toasted bagel with jelly, glass of orange juice, glass of milk, and glass of water. Ate 1 banana about 1.5 hours before race start.
Event warmup:

Swam with Coredump for about 20 min or so to loosen up. Practiced sighting and drafting. I did some backstroke and breast stroke as well.
Swim
  • 08m 3s
  • 660 yards
  • 01m 13s / 100 yards
Comments:

shore to shore time was 8:03. official time was 9:18, which included the 150 meter or so run from shore to T1 mat.

Seeded myself about 4 people back. slugged it out until the first buoy until weaker swimmers "died" out. Found some feet but were not right speed. Swam w/o draft, then picked up some other feet. Stayed on those for a little but lost them.

I realized that halfway through the swim my RPE was about 70% so I decided to pick it up since...after all...this IS a sprint race. Picked it up to about 80% in last 200 yards.
What would you do differently?:

Swim much faster. I didn't swim even CLOSE to "full throttle" contrary to my coach's instructions. I don't know why I didn't go all out...I guess my head wasn't right at the beginning of the race...oh well...
Transition 1
  • 03m 27s
Comments:

T1 was WAY TOO LONG. I hate this race because you have to "pack your bags". Essentially makeing sure all your belongings are securly stuffed into a small bag before exiting T1. The race directors then bus your T1 bag to the finish. If I didn't have to go packing, I would have cut this T1 time in 1/2 EASILY.

Dumb race.
What would you do differently?:

Wetsuit didn't come off quickly enough. work on that. Also would bring a towel since T1 was 100% gravel (OUCH!) and I used my neighbor's towel a bit (sorry).
Bike
  • 50m 38s
  • 16.8 miles
  • 19.91 mile/hr
Comments:

Definately the hillyest course I've raced by far.

A bike mechanic completely screwed up my rear/high limit screw so I dropped the chain into the spokes the day before the race !!!

Ended up getting it fixed enough (by a different mechanic of course) to race but I still couldn't use gear 7 or 8 (cassette was bent up too much). Gears 7 and 8 would have been slighly useful in climbing the hills (can you sense my sarcasm?).

In addition to No 7 or 8 gear, I also couldn't drop into my 11 tooth ring so that limited my top end speed by probabaly 7-8 mph easily.

So I was effectively racing on a 12 speed ! !

If I had all my gears I definately would have had a faster bike split...no question.

Regardless, I biked strong, didn't get passed once, hit a top speed of 44mph and passed a ton of athletes on the climbs.

With an average of 20mph on a crippled 12-speed bike, I am definatley happy with my bike split.

I was also happy that my cadence technique training paid off with my 97rpm avg cadence.
What would you do differently?:

Not go back to the stupid mechanic that doesn't even know how to adjust limit screws. Can you believe that?
Transition 2
  • 01m 32s
Comments:

T2 wasn't slow as molasses too because we had to zip tie all our gear in a bag to the bike rack. so instead of having everything laid out like usual, I had to fish out all my stuff after breaking the zip tie...can you say "waste of time"?

Saw coredump exiting T2. It was nice to see him, it energized me and made me smile/laugh...which is exactly what I needed before Heartbreak Hill.
What would you do differently?:

go to T2 in the morning, break open the zip tie and lay out my stuff.
Run
  • 31m 24s
  • 4.3 miles
  • 07m 18s  min/mile
Comments:

Damn, they are not joking around with that freggin' hill out of T1. I swear it felt like my V02 max test! Seriously! Same grade and same exertion effort running...er...joggin up the 10%-12% grade. CRAZY!

After that I concentrated the rest of the entire run leg on good cadence and optimal form.

I ran all the way up to diaphram cramping, then backed off just a tad. It worked like a charm. I definately found out the fastest running speed I could hold using this method. Diaphram cramping occured at right about 170-171 bpm.
What would you do differently?:

Train on some hills...that's for sure. I was a little weakling on the hills as evidenced by my Mile 1 split vs my Mile 3 split!

That hill kicked my @ss for sure.

Before the race I said to myself that if I could average 7:30min/miles considering the hills, I would be happy. My 7:18 pace made me smile!
Post race
Warm down:

Couldn't get into T2 to get my Ultragen so I had to just drink water a bit of gatorade and a banana...oh well.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

In order of importance:

(1) A dumb bike mechanic
(2) My mind not right at start of swim
(3) No run training on 10% grades

Event comments:

Even though the race was well run, it's a clusterf*ck of a race. You have to be a Logistics officer to figure out how to navigate the pre-race and post-race shuttles, T2/T2, gear bags, parking areas, etc.

I will definately NEVER do this race again. It's too short for how far of a drive it is, have to drive 87 miles on a 2 lane road, a logistical nightmare, and has wussy race directors that were going to cancel the 600 meter swim because the water might have been below 60 degrees.

In my 8 years of racing, I've never been to such a race.

The good thing about the race is the bike course. Stagecoach Road is smooth as glass...like riding on a pool table with some great climbs.




Last updated: 2005-05-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:03 | 660 yards | 01m 13s / 100yards
Age Group: 13/104
Overall: 58/647
Performance: Average
Suit: vortex full-suit
Course:
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 61F / 16C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:27
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:50:38 | 16.8 miles | 19.91 mile/hr
Age Group: 7/104
Overall: 28/647
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: PTP for 16.8 miles
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 97
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Bad Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:32
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Bad
Running
00:31:24 | 04.3 miles | 07m 18s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/104
Overall: 84/647
Performance: Good
Mile 1: 8:11 min (166 HR avg) Mile 2: 7:27 min (163 HR avg) Mile 3: 6:38 min (168 HR avg)
Course: 10%-12% grade right out of T2 for about 1/4 mile, levels off for about 50 meters then up another 10%-12% grade for about 250meters. then slightly rolling hills. Out and back so you get to run back down the hills. Pretty fun but freggin hard on the thighs as they tend to want to give out at each step running down a 10%-12% grade.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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] 1

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2005-05-21 10:38 PM

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Elite
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Chicago
Subject: Galena Triathlon


2005-05-22 12:41 PM
in reply to: #161150

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Pro
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St Charles, IL
Subject: RE: Galena Triathlon
You had an awesome race man! A 7:18 pace with that mongo hill is killer.

Glad I provided some inspiration to you coming out of T2.

I agree about the race. It was fun and well organized, but the logistics just brought it down. There are other sprints around that are just as much fun, and not quite such a logistical problem. Though they may not be quite as scenic as Galena. If you want to do this race, you just need to be ready in advance for a lot of waiting around.

It was great to be able to meet up at the race. It's definitely a *lot* more fun of an experience when you know other people at the race.

-Chris
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