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XTERRA Muleshoe Bend Off Road Triathlon - Triathlon


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Spicewood, Texas
United States
Race Revolutions
82F / 28C
Total Time = 2h 21m 38s
Overall Rank = 29/87
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 2/7
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5:45 race morning had a bowl of oatmeal with some chia seeds for breakfast then hopped in the car and drove out to Muleshoe Bend. After doing packet pickup, setting up my gear in transition I ate an Apple and cinimon Power Bar around 8:00.
Event warmup:

Warm up was just some brisk walking to scope out how the start of the run course looked with some arm swings to loosen up my upper body for the swim.
Swim
  • 19m 56s
  • 800 meters
  • 02m 29s / 100 meters
Comments:

This was my first non-wetsuit race. Going into it I was confident that I could complete the distance and my plan was to relax, stay calm and simply focus on trying to swim with good technique without working too hard. As the swim started I felt good and felt like I was executing my plan fairly well. When I rounded the buoy at the halfway point I mostly noticed the people in front of me heading toward the finish and didn't really see anyone still on their way out. This was really just a quick glance and the group in front of me was not far off so I simply continued my swim and stuck with my plan. As I approched the final buoy before making the quick swim to shore I noticed the crowd in front of me had thinned and at this point I still felt good and pushed a little harder round the buoy and into shore. When I got out of the water I did something that I have not previously done at my other races and looked behind me to see how many people were still in the water. I didn't count them but my heart sunk when it looked like roughly 15 people were left and I realized I was at the back.
What would you do differently?:

I think there are a couple things here that I need to do differently. First I need to improve my swimming technique but even with my current skills I think I could have swam harder and been a little faster. Lastly I don't think I should have looked back to see how many people were left in the water. This shattered my confidence and I immediately thought about all of the people I would need to pass on the bike and run to finish where I wanted to finish.
Transition 1
  • 01m 18s
Comments:

Transition went smoothly. This time I did not put my number belt on for the bike which I think is a win.
Bike
  • 1h 24m 52s
  • 14 miles
  • 9.90 mile/hr
Comments:

Coming out of my slow swim and knowing that I would need to pass a lot of people to make up time I started the ride hard. I immediately managed to pass a couple riders on the jeep road but as soon as I hit the single track I found myself behind a chain of 7-8 riders. This group was slower than I wanted to go on the downhills yet it was not really possible to pass because everyone was so close and the trail was tight. It seemed like nearly every hill or obstacle we hit caused one persone to dismount which then caused us all to dismount. With each hill or obstacle I would either run or pedal past one or two riders. When I made it past the last rider in front of me and we were maybe a quarter of the way through the first loop. At this point I realized that I had been working so hard to pass people that my heart was racing and I felt like I was about to throw up. I immediately eased off a little to keep my breakfast down and get my heart rate under control. Once my heart rate settled I realized the mistake I had made. My legs felt like jello and I still had about 1.5 laps to go plus the run. I still remembered that most of the field was still in front of me and readjusted my expections to simply finish the race and to have a good time.

The rest of the bike was mostly a mental battle. My body felt weak and I had basically given up on placing well so I wasn't very motivated to push. I had to keep telling myself that I still needed to do the best I could or I would likely regret not pushing harder later. I continued to slowly pass riders and toward the end of my second lap I got passed by Jordan Janes who I'd met earlier. He gave a word of encouragement and I tried to hang on his tail for as long as I could but he was simply stronger on the bike and lost me pretty fast. I knew this was his first triathlon and made a mental note that I should try to catch him on the run.

What would you do differently?:

Looking back at my GPS times I was 2.5 minutes faster on the second loop compared to the first. I also had a lower average heart rate and felt like I used less energy for the second loop. I don't know how much time I lost in the bottleneck at the beginning but I know that even when I managed to get past those riders it continued to hurt me for the rest of the bike. I think I made a big mistake pushing as hard as I did in the beginning of the bike. I think if I would have taken it easy and simply took the passes when they became available it may have taken a little longer to get past those guys but I would have been able to finish the rest of the bike much stronger and probably saved time overall.

Ideally I think a better bike would have started with a better swim. If I would have been out of the water sooner I might have avoided that bottleneck completely. if I didn't know I was in the back of the pack I might not have fought so hard to pass right off the start.
Transition 2
  • 00m 50s
Comments:

Transition went smooth to start. Gloves were off as I approched the dismount. Bike shoes came off and pre-tied Merrell Trail Glove shoes quickly went on. I took a quick shot of gel grabbed my number belt and started to run. After a could of steps away from the bike I realized I was still wearing my helmet and had to quickly take it off and drop it back nex to my bike. Probably lost about 5 seconds with the helmet mistake.
What would you do differently?:

Take my helmet off before I leave.
Run
  • 34m 42s
  • 3.7 miles
  • 09m 22s  min/mile
Comments:

Since the run was an out and back as I started my run some of the finishers were already coming in. Even though my legs felt weak on the bike they actually felt pretty good on the run and I quickly continued to catch and pass runners. I kept my pace pretty strong up through the first rocky jeep road and single track and continued strong down the dirt road. When it got the the lollipop loop at the top I was forced to slow down purely because of the technical nature of the trail, but it would be tough not to slow down there. When I returned to the dirt road I caught a glimpse of Jordan Janes who passed me on the bike and I thought now is my time to catch him. Despite being a nice clean dirt road the climb and the heat from the lack of shade really slowed me down running up the hill and Jordan slipped off into the woods before I could catch him. Now the remainder of the run was downhill but again the rocky single track capped my speed to keep me from twisting an ankle. Still right as the trail opened up to the jeep road I finally caught and passed Jordan. At this point is was basically a sprint to the finish. The final run to the finish felt great, perhaps too great as I felt like I could have kept that pace going and maybe I left too much in the tank.
What would you do differently?:

Since I finished so strong it makes me think I could have gone harder on the run. At times my pace was slowed because of terrain and not fitness so it is hard to tell if I really could have gone faster in areas and made up a little more time.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Starting the bike near the back of the pack and then going too hard at the start of the bike.

Event comments:

Overall I had a good time on the race. The course was fun and the event was well run. It is hard to complain about a 2 out of 7 age group win but I'm not very pleased with my overall performance. Next time at the very least I'll race smarter and hopefully I can improve my swim as well.




Last updated: 2014-06-12 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:19:56 | 800 meters | 02m 29s / 100meters
Age Group: 4/7
Overall: 68/87
Performance: Below average
Suit: Desoto Forza, Sugoi top
Course: The Course was essentially an out and back running parallel to the shore. GPS showed .48 miles so course seemed pretty much dead on or perhaps a little short.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 84F / 29C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:18.4
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:24:52 | 14 miles | 9.90 mile/hr
Age Group: 2/7
Overall: 32/87
Performance: Below average
Wind:
Course: Course was a two loop course of roughly 7 miles. There is a short stretch of jeep road before you hit the single track, but once the single track starts there is some climbing and several technical rocky ledges and a loose hill.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:50.3
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:34:41.6 | 03.7 miles | 09m 22s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/7
Overall: 15/87
Performance: Good
Course: The course was an out and back with a lollipop loop. The trail was a mix of jeep roads, dirt road, and singletrack.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
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

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2014-06-24 7:57 AM

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Austin, Texas
Subject: XTERRA Muleshoe Bend Off Road Triathlon
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