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Peterborough Half Ironman Aqua/Bike - Aquabike


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Peterborough, Ontario
Canada
Trisport Canada & Subaru Triathlon Series
30C / 86F
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 21m 19s
Overall Rank = 37/45
Age Group = 50-59
Age Group Rank = 3/4
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4:00 a.m. Made a time-line the night before right down to the minute so we could stay on track, and not end up being rushed. Wanted to be at the race site by 5:45. Everything worked according to plan and I was in transition at 5:55. Someone (a 20-25yr old boy) had already taken the spot I wanted but Ken and I got the next best spots facing the exit with each of us on either side of where the bars join so we only had one cyclist beside us. We were the 2nd rack in from the SWIM IN and right at the lane to run out to the BIKE OUT.

Usual breakfast for me with a slight change - one xtra egg. After checking the stats last race realized that it was not enough calories or carbs for Oly so for sure not enough for 1/2 iron distance. Felt really good with what I had so need to log it and see what the numbers were for next long race.
1/2 cup cooked steel cut oats, 1/8 c raisins; 1/2 oz walnuts; 2 poached eggs mixed into oatmeal; 1tsp dark brown sugar; 1/2 orange cut up into oatmeal. Was finished eating by 5:00 a.m. Harry says I should be finished by 4:00, but am not getting up that early.

Put sunscreen on at the hotel before dressing which works alot better than doing it at race site.

Stayed at Quality Inn - 10 min from site.

Had alotted from 6:00-7:00 for transition set up; body marking at 6:30a.m.; last bathroom break at 7:00 then walking to beach and getting wetsuit on by 7:20 to be in water by 7:25. Had 1/2 gel at 7:45 with water after w/u swim.
Event warmup:

I have decided that I will stick to my routine of no bike w/u. Seems to work well for me. Have tried it once and didn't seem to make any difference other than added stress about losing spot on rack and/or running out of time.

Walked around to loosen legs up and did a few easy stretches beside the car in the parking lot on a towel. More body sensing than anything and things were feeling good.
Swim
  • 46m
  • 2000 meters
  • 02m 18s / 100 meters
Comments:

Despite freaking out the first time I did a mass start last year, there are a couple of positives - I am no longer afraid of them and there are so many people swimming head to head with me for 1/2 to 3/4's of the course that it builds my confidence and I feel like a part of the swim. With the wave starts, I am always in the last group of 50 or so and alot are faster than me so I feel like I am last and I think that is de-motivating.

I passed people with 3 different colour caps; plus people that were breast-stroking and was able to draft a few times but am reluctant to do that because of possibly getting off course and sometimes they are slower, then I had to swim to the left or right to pass them.

I did what I tell everyone NOT to do and that is get caught swimming on the inside of turn rounding the bouys. It was rough there with people pulling me down and pushing and shoving so I had to really sprint and I kicked hard to get people off of me so HR got up a bit but it wasn't too bad this time settling back into stroke. I was with people right up to the exiting for the 2nd loop and realized that some of them (Len Guish, Wolfgang and another guy were finishing their 2nd loop when I was just starting mine. :)

I walked the beach and walked into the water until able to swim for a total of 1'10" on beach and 30" walking in water. I suppose some day I should learn to dolphin. This was an event to train and not to place but to judge my swim performance,i.e. not how fast I could run the beach or up to transition so the Sportstats totals for the swim do not tell the whole story.

Second lap felt good as well and sighting seemed to be working well. It didn't seem that I was 'stopping' or slowing when sighting. The 2nd loop was lonelier than the first and felt longer, maybe because I didn't have all that traffic to focus my attention on so I was focussing on my stroke and the fact that I was still feeling strong, especially the lats and was still able to 'finish' the stroke. I could feel and see the glide and although there weren't alot, I slowly picked off people ahead of me and with the last 250-300 meters left I could see a mass of 50 or so people which was actually encouraging because I knew they weren't that far ahead of me.

On both loops I swam right in until my hands touched, stood up and exited. It was a 1'40" walk up to transition. I got my wetsuit off to the hips quite easily, and this time pulled it down over the hip bones (usually leave it at the hips and it is a bit tougher to get off in transition); Saw the photographer at the swim in so pretended I was running on the off chance I might have a decent picture. There was another photographer immediately as you turned into transition which was a bit of a shock so I can imagine what that looks like.

Had I run the beach and run the transition and started swimming right away, my sportstats swim time should have been better by about 2'.





Despite being one of the last swimmers of the aqua/bike group I had a great swim and was so happy. The people that do this race are 95% long time ironman people who are tuning up for full half ironman races and/or ironman races - this time for Placid; several for 70.3 in September and some for one in Michigan in a couple of weeks. Point is, I am racing with some stiff competition and why I have learned to judge my performance against me and not others. But I still do.

Last year 50" to start swimming - This year 30" to start swimming
Last year beach run -47"; Plus 30" to start swimming
This year beach walk - 1.10"; Plus 30" to start swimming
LAST YEAR LOOP 1 - 20.58;
LAST YEAR LOOP 2 - 21.42;
Last year I got off course on first loop and had to take goggles off on both loops because they were so fogged I couldn't see anything - leaked once. Announced course was short.

THIS YEAR LOOP 1 - 22.47
THIS YEAR LOOP 2 - 23.13
Had no troubles with goggles or sighting this year.

Last year's transition - 2.41 - This year's transition - 1.21. I thought maybe this year's T1 was faster because I walked from beach to T1 (1'40") but it turns out that last year took me 1'56" to get to T1 from the beach - talking to my brother and more or less walked it as well. So I did have a better T1 this time.

In the Aqua/Bike I was 42/45; had I ran would have been 39/45
Adding in the folks from the full 1/2 who I swam with, I beat a total of 25 people; If I had run I would have beaten at total of 49 people, with another 11 less than a minute faster.







What would you do differently?:

Handle rounding the buoys a little better.

Run the beach and transitions when I know my knee is 100%. Would like to run Muskoka but won't risk it. Fortunately, there is no beach run and the distance to T1 is really short.
Transition 1
  • 01m 22s
Comments:

Really good transition - 2/45.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Bike
  • 3h 30m
  • 90 kms
  • 25.71 km/hr
Comments:

First 45 km - average speed 27.8 VERY HAPPY WITH THAT.
27.5 at 55km and 26.2 at 70km. Once I hit 55km and saw my speed I said OK, let's just finish this race strong with no injuries and pulls/strains.

There really was not much wind to speak of - about 4-6 W on the way out but by the time we turned around it was 15km/hr SW which did make a difference, for sure.

Also, you would think that both directions the challenges would be the same in terms of climbing, etc. but it really isn't. The return trip had much more challenging climbs than on the way out. Although the overall change in meters is the same, the grades are quite different.

I remembered what SteveB said about the small circles, and what SteveA said about getting down low like a turtle and kept at it. Never felt like saying when is this going to end. Amazed at how fast the ride goes.

On some of the tougher return climbs, especially after the 55km mark, I got out of the saddle more. I do like the standing climbs, and on some hills would alternate standing a few seconds, sitting a few seconds to use the different muscles.

I was in aero for most of the ride and even on the hills I remember Steve? saying that people get out of aero too early on the hills.

I pretty much flew by everyone on the hills. That would get my HR up and I would slow a bit at the top and took advantage of the downhills as recovery, especially out to the 45km mark. Max speed out was 57.7 and max speed back pedalling downhill was 46. Often though I found that the speed was alot faster just coasting down the hill and resting the legs but I think I remember something about it being important to pedal down hill sometimes after really hard hills to help the legs somehow?

NUTRITION: Per SteveB - took 1 gel at 20', then 45', then 45'; then I decided to try my fig newton but couldn't nibble at it - just wolfed it down and took some water. Sat perfectly on my stomach and was a refreshing change from the gels which were starting to taste pretty sweet; took the other fig at 45' after. Thought about leaving it at that, but at the last 10km decided to take another gel to get me home strong and I am glad I did. Finished very strong - never below 36km/hr and did my usual dismount and did run a short distance to the timing mat.

The highlight of this ride was the fact that I never had an ache, pain, twinge, tightness, achy hip - you name it. I could have ran off the bike but probably only 5km. I do believe the heat killed (not literally) a number of the runners today. I know alot bailed on the run.

Amazing to me how many people take LONG transitions between bike and run - they eat, put on sun screen, chat, stretch - all kinds of things, but I guess it is important to be able to have a good run.


I stopped 3 times - once at the turn around to switch bottles around - took the empty one out and moved it back to the right and moved the back right bottle to the left. When an empty bottle is on the left/back side it eventually falls out.

Then I stopped on the return trip water bottle exchange to fill the bottle in front cage plus the empty one in the back.

Last stop was when my chain came off just starting a climb. Not sure what I did - my fault I am sure. I stopped by to see the guy who fixed my bike last night and told him and he made another tiny adjustment.


What would you do differently?:

I should have been practicing reaching around back and drinking out of the bottles behind me and then putting water bottle back into cage but for some reason I have started trying to bring the full bottle up to the front cage, and moving the empty bottle to the back which is awkward at best. I have no idea why I started doing this.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat with Ken for a bit in transition. The heat and sun were brutal. Ken had a towel over his head. We were both dizzy and almost fell over when we stood up. Ate a Power Bar recovery bar, drank lots. Walked around alot, got something to eat from Pig Out - provided by Trisport for all 1/2 participants - ate the German sausage but shouldn't have; pretty greasy. Didn't stay for draw prizes or awards - wanted to stop off in Oshawa to visit family.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not yet sure just how far to push it. Have had limited speed training this year to this point but week before Guelph and since then have started to push the intensity. Although I wore HR monitor I only looked at it about 4 times to see if the numbers correlated to my RPE which it did. Seeing the end HR of 135 which is about 10 beats slower than my LT, I know I can push it some more and not worry about my legs giving out due to lactic acid build up. The RPE for the bike felt comfortable on the flats and the rollers and hard on the hills, but not too hard. I could have done them all sitting, but stood on the steep ones on the return trip to keep the speed up.




Last updated: 2010-06-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:46:00 | 2000 meters | 02m 18s / 100meters
Age Group: 4/4
Overall: 42/45
Performance: Good
2 loops of 1000 meters each with a beach run that was actually longer than Guelph Lake. This year the course length was accurate according to Trisport. Last year they announced it was short of 2000 meters. Don't think it was intentional. Swim out to almost end of lake with 3 bouys on left then across maybe 100-150? meters then left back to shore with 3 bouys on left again. There was a green wooden buoy on right for the boaters that helped to keep you on course. Trisport had a huge white blow up 'balloon' on shore that was about the only thing you could spot for sighting. The swim exit is in black and you couldn't see it at all. Don't know the water temp but it was WARM, but the wetsuit felt good. I didn't really look but I think everyone had wetsuits.
Suit: Yes
Course: 500 people mass start which included the relay swimmers, full 1/2 participants; and aqua/bike participants. They gave more leeway to people than they allowed at Guelph and they let people spread out so you didn't have a little funnel of people trickling into the water and they also let people get into the water for 30 meters. I still stood at the back, in line with the buoys and the house on the hill at the end of the lake (which was right in line with the orange markers)with a white triangle face front that I was using for sighting. It was still 30 seconds before I had room to start swimming but much better than Guelph.
Start type: Wade Plus: Shot
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 01:22
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:30:00 | 90 kms | 25.71 km/hr
Age Group: 3/4
Overall: 38/45
Performance: Good
Avg HR 135; Max 153; Calories burned not quite 2100 at 25% fat. Last year avg speed - 26.1 for an 85km, easier course with the winds at our back helping us home. Came 3rd in age 50-59. Good friend Jill Fisher who is turning 50 this year, came first. She is 6'+ and a strapping girl who is SUPER strong on the bike - generally averages 31-32. 2nd place was Donna Pounder who has been racing since 1997 and doing Ironman's since 2001. Very strong cyclist. Then there's me. Counting all athletes doing to 90km, I beat 47 plus I might have beat another 10 had I not made my stops (that's stretching but what the heck). A couple of years ago I noticed that all the strong cyclists also do 1/2 and full ironmans and marathons and rightly or wrongly came to the conclusion that it must be an important part of the development to get to faster bike times. And I think I am right because when I took a look at the sprint results both Ken and I would have fared very well.
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: There is a link to the bike course on my blog. This was a much tougher course than last year (last year was also only 85km) but so much more fun and so scenic. Lots of police at the intersections to get us through. Drivers were very courteous. Only at one spot on the return trip coming into Keene which is a steep descent and big climb was there a problem. I was going 45km/hr up the hill when 4 cars passed me and they ALL stopped due to some slower cyclists climbing the hill but the cars didn't stop one behind the other, they spread out ACROSS the road blocking the oncoming traffic and leaving me no option but to stop mid hill - thought about getting onto the sidewalk but there was a sewer drain? running down the street that was impossible to jump/ride over. Was not real happy about this. After being back in transition about 10 minutes, a girl went by me and said 'you're the girl that kept passing me - I saw what you had to go through in Keene. I was a ways behind you.' Other than that incident, all was good.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
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] 5

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2010-07-05 10:21 AM

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Subject: Peterborough Half Ironman Aqua/Bike
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