Background: Reeds Lake last year was my second triathlon ever, and it is a race that I love for many reasons: The course is awesome, it's in my hometown, I went to college less than 2 miles from the race course (Calvin), my family almost always does very well at this race (Brad White, Jenny (Los) White, and Bruce Los), and because of its convenient location I get an awesome cheering section (20+ people at a sprint). This season I've trained a fair amount and did 9-10 races this year, including Steelhead which is the longest distance I've done yet. Since Steelhead (Aug 2nd) I've done almost no training due to a partially torn left hamstring (from the bike), one easy 20 mile bike ride and at most 2 runs per week (4-9 miles total). I have no excuse for not swimming more other than the fact that I suck at it and don't enjoy it.
My goal for the race this year was to improve on my time from last year, and if possible beat my friend Alex that I had recruited to race his first triathlon (we are about even on the bike but he's a much better runner). Given my hamstring injury and lack of real training for a month I was uncertain about the likelihood of either goal.
800m swim: The water was warm and fairly clear, a pretty fog was lingering over the water and the sun was just starting to rise over the lake. It was a perfect morning! Since I am a weak swimmer, I started off the back and to the outside of my wave to avoid getting swam over too many times in the first 100m. I quickly fell into as much of a "rhythm" as I can get into and kept reminding myself that this was only a warm-up for the bike and run. Out of the water in PR 19:59 I can't complain about my time since I hadn't been swimming much for the past month.
18.15 mile bike: Given that my hamstring injury was from biking too hard at Steelhead my strategy for this race was to just flatten the course as much as possible and stay away from the pain threshold very carefully to avoid aggravating the injury. During the race I felt like I stuck to this strategy very well and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for my bike execution, I went easy up the hills, harder down them, and maintained a comfortable pace without slacking off completely. Having forgotten my PT head unit at home I did not get a power file for this race so I have no objective means of knowing how well I actually did at flattening the course.
4.9 mile run: My plan for the run was to hopefully run around a 7:15/mile pace, but since I hadn't run this fast in over 2 months I wasn't too optimistic that it would work out that way for me. This leg of the race felt slow to me because I really felt good and was not feeling much pain from my legs. Throughout the race I kept working at increasing my pace because I was feeling too good and wasn't hurting nearly enough. Since he didn't catch me on the bike I was fully expecting my friend Alex to catch me in the first 2 miles of the run since his plan was to run a sub-6:30/mile pace. I pushed through to the finish feeling strong, but I still felt too good, I felt like I could have run 2-3 more miles at that pace without suffering much. Because I hadn't turned my stopwatch on until a few minutes into the swim I didn't know what my finishing time was until I looked at the results.
NOTE: The bike course was about 1 mile longer in 2008 than it was in 2007.
2007
Clock Time 1:55:09
Chip Time 1:55:09
Overall Place 444 / 1011
Gender Place 366 / 696
Division Place 30 / 51
Time Back 35:53
Swim Rank 851
Swim Time 21:14
T1 Time 01:55
Bike Rank 401
Bike Time 51:29
T2 Time 02:00
Run Rank 367
Run Time 38:27
2008
Clock Time 1:46:17
Chip Time 1:46:17
Overall Place 139 / 989
Gender Place 122 / 666
Division Place 16 / 56
Swim Rank 637
Swim Time 19:59
T1 Time 01:51
Bike Rank 124
Bike Time 49:40
T2 Time 00:56
Run Rank 89
Run Time 33:48
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Steelhead Race Report
Whirlpool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead Triathlon presented by Pizza Hut
Planned: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
Actual: 2.1 mile run, 55 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
I had planned to write this race report much earlier than this but never worked up the motivation until now. Perhaps it had something to do with my conflicted feelings about the outcome of this race.
The Wednesday before the race I drove down to Benton Harbor to settle into the house that I was staying in with some members of the Chicago Tri Club. They had rented 3 houses about 2 miles from the race course for the week before the race and had a couple of extra rooms available, so they posted them on the Slowtwitch forums which is where I found out about it. The cost was $200 regardless of whether I stayed the whole week or just the night before the race, so I opted to stay a few nights to enjoy the beach and get settled in so that I would be well rested and adjusted to the bed before the race. The accommodations were amazing, I had my own room in a house that overlooked a beach at Lake Michigan!!
Race morning came with my alarm going off too early for my liking at 5:00AM. I made my way down to transition and set everything up for the race, then I made my way over to the RV that some friends from the Ann Arbor Tri Club were staying in right by the transition area. Just as we were having our pictures taken before walking down to the swim start we heard an announcement that the swim had been canceled. Further inquiry revealed that there was a strong rip-tide and the wind and currents were making it difficult for the rescue kayaks to stay on course.
With the swim canceled the race director adjusted the course a little to allow for a 2.1 mile run to replace the swim leg. This delayed the race start by an hour because the transition area needed to be reopened and everyone had to switch from wetsuits to running shoes. It was pretty entertaining noticing how long the lines got for the porta-jons; it seems many people were planning on "warming up" their wetsuits in the water.
Once we had all changed, we walked down to the run start to prepare to start the race with our respective waves. The initial run went off without a hitch and I ran the 2.1 miles very comfortably in 13:35. T1 was smooth and fast, (especially since I didn't need to take my wetsuit off) and I was out on the bike in 1:14.
The bike course was fairly flat with a few rolling hills and no real climbs to mention. My bike seat was (still is) warped somehow which made it necessary for me to shift my position around to stay comfortable and avoid cramping in my right leg. I felt pretty strong on the bike and rode pretty hard without feeling like I was really hammering it. My race wheel setup was a rented ZIPP 808 clincher on the front, with a Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tire and my Mavic Open Pro PT rear with a wheelbuilder.com wheel cover (same tire as front). Unfortunately my excitement level was a little too high on the bike and I rode harder than I had planned, ending with an average power output of 168 watts, NP = 183w, TSS = 197.2. My average speed for that power output was 21 mph which brought me in with a time of 2:34:34. T2 went very smoothly as practiced and I was fairly fast despite "feeling" slow, I was out on the run in 1:12.
Within the first mile of the run I was mentally kicking myself for messing up my bike pacing so badly, running hurt and it was a struggle to not walk in the first mile. Knowing that there was decently large hill to run up in the first mile, I resolved not to walk until I got to the first aid station after that hill. Soon after passing the aid station I was passed by Tom Fitzsimmons which surprised me because I thought that he had passed me on the bike since he's so much faster than I am. His brother Mike was close behind him though I must have passed him at some point during the race because he had started before me. When he caught up Mike fell in step with me and said that I was running a good pace for him and that we would run together. I must have looked pretty awful because from the start Mike kept telling me that our only goal for the run was to not walk at all. Mike pulled me for the first 4 miles and allowed me to draft off of him when we had a head wind, then I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything in a while and I was getting hungry so I ate two caffinated Clif Bloks and immediately started feeling better. By mile 5 I was feeling much more comfortable and no longer needed to be pulled along as much. Around mile 8 Mike was beginning to tire out so I had him draft off of me going into the wind and began encouraging him to keep running. At mile 12 Mike told me that he was cramping up and was going to have to walk but that I should go ahead and finish the run without him, so I took off and ran my fastest mile of the day to finish strong. With my flying leap across the finish line I ended the run in 2:00:45 for a total race time of 4:51:20.
Here is the breakdown of my rankings:
Overall: 602/1890
Gender: 512/1379
20-24 Age Group: 54/96
For anyone interested here is the power file for the bike portion of the race:
Duration: 2:35:57
Work: 1574 kJ
TSS: 197.2 (intensity factor 0.872)
Norm Power: 183
VI: 1.09
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 54.428 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 580 168 watts
Cadence: 32 183 97 rpm
Speed: 0 33.3 21.0 mph
Pace 1:48 0:00 2:52 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 259 55 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 725 148 lb-in
Planned: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
Actual: 2.1 mile run, 55 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
I had planned to write this race report much earlier than this but never worked up the motivation until now. Perhaps it had something to do with my conflicted feelings about the outcome of this race.
The Wednesday before the race I drove down to Benton Harbor to settle into the house that I was staying in with some members of the Chicago Tri Club. They had rented 3 houses about 2 miles from the race course for the week before the race and had a couple of extra rooms available, so they posted them on the Slowtwitch forums which is where I found out about it. The cost was $200 regardless of whether I stayed the whole week or just the night before the race, so I opted to stay a few nights to enjoy the beach and get settled in so that I would be well rested and adjusted to the bed before the race. The accommodations were amazing, I had my own room in a house that overlooked a beach at Lake Michigan!!
Race morning came with my alarm going off too early for my liking at 5:00AM. I made my way down to transition and set everything up for the race, then I made my way over to the RV that some friends from the Ann Arbor Tri Club were staying in right by the transition area. Just as we were having our pictures taken before walking down to the swim start we heard an announcement that the swim had been canceled. Further inquiry revealed that there was a strong rip-tide and the wind and currents were making it difficult for the rescue kayaks to stay on course.
With the swim canceled the race director adjusted the course a little to allow for a 2.1 mile run to replace the swim leg. This delayed the race start by an hour because the transition area needed to be reopened and everyone had to switch from wetsuits to running shoes. It was pretty entertaining noticing how long the lines got for the porta-jons; it seems many people were planning on "warming up" their wetsuits in the water.
Once we had all changed, we walked down to the run start to prepare to start the race with our respective waves. The initial run went off without a hitch and I ran the 2.1 miles very comfortably in 13:35. T1 was smooth and fast, (especially since I didn't need to take my wetsuit off) and I was out on the bike in 1:14.
The bike course was fairly flat with a few rolling hills and no real climbs to mention. My bike seat was (still is) warped somehow which made it necessary for me to shift my position around to stay comfortable and avoid cramping in my right leg. I felt pretty strong on the bike and rode pretty hard without feeling like I was really hammering it. My race wheel setup was a rented ZIPP 808 clincher on the front, with a Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tire and my Mavic Open Pro PT rear with a wheelbuilder.com wheel cover (same tire as front). Unfortunately my excitement level was a little too high on the bike and I rode harder than I had planned, ending with an average power output of 168 watts, NP = 183w, TSS = 197.2. My average speed for that power output was 21 mph which brought me in with a time of 2:34:34. T2 went very smoothly as practiced and I was fairly fast despite "feeling" slow, I was out on the run in 1:12.
Within the first mile of the run I was mentally kicking myself for messing up my bike pacing so badly, running hurt and it was a struggle to not walk in the first mile. Knowing that there was decently large hill to run up in the first mile, I resolved not to walk until I got to the first aid station after that hill. Soon after passing the aid station I was passed by Tom Fitzsimmons which surprised me because I thought that he had passed me on the bike since he's so much faster than I am. His brother Mike was close behind him though I must have passed him at some point during the race because he had started before me. When he caught up Mike fell in step with me and said that I was running a good pace for him and that we would run together. I must have looked pretty awful because from the start Mike kept telling me that our only goal for the run was to not walk at all. Mike pulled me for the first 4 miles and allowed me to draft off of him when we had a head wind, then I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything in a while and I was getting hungry so I ate two caffinated Clif Bloks and immediately started feeling better. By mile 5 I was feeling much more comfortable and no longer needed to be pulled along as much. Around mile 8 Mike was beginning to tire out so I had him draft off of me going into the wind and began encouraging him to keep running. At mile 12 Mike told me that he was cramping up and was going to have to walk but that I should go ahead and finish the run without him, so I took off and ran my fastest mile of the day to finish strong. With my flying leap across the finish line I ended the run in 2:00:45 for a total race time of 4:51:20.
Here is the breakdown of my rankings:
Overall: 602/1890
Gender: 512/1379
20-24 Age Group: 54/96
For anyone interested here is the power file for the bike portion of the race:
Duration: 2:35:57
Work: 1574 kJ
TSS: 197.2 (intensity factor 0.872)
Norm Power: 183
VI: 1.09
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 54.428 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 580 168 watts
Cadence: 32 183 97 rpm
Speed: 0 33.3 21.0 mph
Pace 1:48 0:00 2:52 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 259 55 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 725 148 lb-in
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Taper time!
Well there are 4 days to go before my first 1/2 Ironman race, the Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon presented by Pizza Hut. On Sunday I did my last long run, an 11 miler at 3PM to try to continue my heat adaptation. It felt pretty good but I was definitely a little tired on Monday, I think that I may be overdue for a rest day...so why not start the taper!
Here's the plan:
Lots of sleep all week!
Monday - swim 1000-1500m easy, focus on just being comfortable in the water and keeping my stroke mechanics solid.
Tuesday - run 7 miles fairly easy (8:15-8:45 pace).
Wednesday - run 5 miles in the AM, swim for 30 min in Lake Michigan in the PM
Thursday - bike 30 miles easy (18 mph) with a couple of sprint intervals or fast climbs, swim 20-30 min easy in Lake Michigan.
Friday - bike 13 miles easy (the Steelhead run course), run 20 min easy with three 1 min race pace intervals, swim 20-30 min easy.
Here's the plan:
Lots of sleep all week!
Monday - swim 1000-1500m easy, focus on just being comfortable in the water and keeping my stroke mechanics solid.
Tuesday - run 7 miles fairly easy (8:15-8:45 pace).
Wednesday - run 5 miles in the AM, swim for 30 min in Lake Michigan in the PM
Thursday - bike 30 miles easy (18 mph) with a couple of sprint intervals or fast climbs, swim 20-30 min easy in Lake Michigan.
Friday - bike 13 miles easy (the Steelhead run course), run 20 min easy with three 1 min race pace intervals, swim 20-30 min easy.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
New York City Triathlon Race Report
7/20/08 New York City Triathlon. 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike, 10 kilometer run.
Where to start with this race...Well on Friday morning I left Ann Arbor with Julie Parrish, my training partner, on a long road trip to NYC. We made pretty good time, despite getting slightly lost (thank goodness for iPhones!!!) and settled into our hotel. Saturday was busy with race preparation, we had the mandatory pre-race meeting, the expo, packet pickup etc. Then we had to take our bikes down to transition and rack them for the night. I got really lucky and happened to have the 2nd best rack position in the entire transition area which I was really excited about. We grabbed some food from a corner grocery store and ate on our way back to the hotel and then promptly went to bed once we arrived since we would be waking at 4:00AM the next morning.
Race day came too early for my liking. But we were up ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal, 1/2 of a Clif bar, a banana, and some Naked juice and then we were headed out of the hotel by 4:45AM. After a long wait for the shuttle bus we finally made it to transition by about 5:30AM which gave us about 15 minutes to get setup before the transition areas closed at 5:45AM. Thankfully I'm a transition minimalist so setup was a breeze and I was out by 5:45 with no problem.
I watched the Pros finish their swim and then walked up the Hudson to swim start. My wave wasn't until 7:03 so I waited around a bit and then put my wetsuit on about 15 minutes before the start. The first surprise of the day for me came the second that I jumped off the barge into the water: the Hudson is brackish. I'm not a fan of sea water so this was an unwelcome development. My second surprise of the day was equally bad, in what is billed as the fastest USAT 1500m swim in the country there was no current at all due to the incoming tide. This was very disappointing to me as I was hoping to finally have a quick swim. The next surprise was even worse, about 500m into the 1500m swim I received my first ever jellyfish sting...right to the face. Being allergic to wasp stings I was justifiably concerned about what might happen so I quickly swam over to one of the rescue kayaks and asked what I should do. I was told to just finish the swim. Well I decided that I would hang onto the kayak for a couple of minutes to make sure that I wasn't going to have an allergic reaction and drown. Once I started swimming again I got stung a few more times including once more to the face. Finally I made it to the end of the swim and made my way out of the water. 30:34 was NOT what I was hoping for. My face was still burning like hell from the jellyfish stings.
There was a bit of a run from the swim exit to T1 but I made the transition to the bike in a very respectable 3:53 which was the 7th fastest in my age group. Then I was out onto the West Side Highway for the bike. The course was a bit more rolling than I was expecting, most of it was hills though none of them were particularly bad, I would say that it was a moderately difficult course. I was feeling really strong and had passed quite a few people in my age group in the first half of the bike course. Then about 1/4 mile from the turn-around at the half-way point my rear tire went flat. I'm still not entirely sure what caused it but I was not happy at all. My wheel cover had slid a bit so I ended up struggling with that for a while to get it realigned with the valve so that I could inflate the tire. Once I had the new tube in and the wheel mounted up 12 minutes had passed (according to my bike computer) which was incredibly frustrating to me because I can usually change a clincher tire in about 3-4 minutes. Once I was back on the bike I was still feeling strong so I pushed pretty hard back to T2. Bike split was 1:25:06, not what I was hoping for but given the flat tire and the amount of time that cost me I can't complain about my performance when I was actually pedaling.
Came into T2 and my beautiful transition spot was occupied by a photographer, he wasn't just in front of it, he was IN it with his camera bag and a huge tripod sitting EXACTLY where I needed to rack my bike. As I ran in I yelled for him to get out of my way and literally had to push my way past him to get to the bike rack. On with the running shoes, grab the visor and race belt and head out onto the race course. T2 took me :56 and would have certainly been faster had the photographer not been in my way. But I can't complain too much as my T2 time was in the top 10 for the entire race (excluding Pros and Elites). Looks like my transition practice is paying off!!!
The run was HOT and HUMID. It really felt awful. The course was a little more difficult than I expected, like the bike course there were almost no flat sections. Very rolling but no really big hills. The heat took a major toll on me and I ended up running an 8:22 pace to finish in 51:59
Overall time for the race: 2:52:26. Not pretty.
Doing the race was a "good" experience for me, and by "good" I mean it probably built character or something. I did NOT have a good experience of the race and I am unlikely to do it again. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.
Where to start with this race...Well on Friday morning I left Ann Arbor with Julie Parrish, my training partner, on a long road trip to NYC. We made pretty good time, despite getting slightly lost (thank goodness for iPhones!!!) and settled into our hotel. Saturday was busy with race preparation, we had the mandatory pre-race meeting, the expo, packet pickup etc. Then we had to take our bikes down to transition and rack them for the night. I got really lucky and happened to have the 2nd best rack position in the entire transition area which I was really excited about. We grabbed some food from a corner grocery store and ate on our way back to the hotel and then promptly went to bed once we arrived since we would be waking at 4:00AM the next morning.
Race day came too early for my liking. But we were up ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal, 1/2 of a Clif bar, a banana, and some Naked juice and then we were headed out of the hotel by 4:45AM. After a long wait for the shuttle bus we finally made it to transition by about 5:30AM which gave us about 15 minutes to get setup before the transition areas closed at 5:45AM. Thankfully I'm a transition minimalist so setup was a breeze and I was out by 5:45 with no problem.
I watched the Pros finish their swim and then walked up the Hudson to swim start. My wave wasn't until 7:03 so I waited around a bit and then put my wetsuit on about 15 minutes before the start. The first surprise of the day for me came the second that I jumped off the barge into the water: the Hudson is brackish. I'm not a fan of sea water so this was an unwelcome development. My second surprise of the day was equally bad, in what is billed as the fastest USAT 1500m swim in the country there was no current at all due to the incoming tide. This was very disappointing to me as I was hoping to finally have a quick swim. The next surprise was even worse, about 500m into the 1500m swim I received my first ever jellyfish sting...right to the face. Being allergic to wasp stings I was justifiably concerned about what might happen so I quickly swam over to one of the rescue kayaks and asked what I should do. I was told to just finish the swim. Well I decided that I would hang onto the kayak for a couple of minutes to make sure that I wasn't going to have an allergic reaction and drown. Once I started swimming again I got stung a few more times including once more to the face. Finally I made it to the end of the swim and made my way out of the water. 30:34 was NOT what I was hoping for. My face was still burning like hell from the jellyfish stings.
There was a bit of a run from the swim exit to T1 but I made the transition to the bike in a very respectable 3:53 which was the 7th fastest in my age group. Then I was out onto the West Side Highway for the bike. The course was a bit more rolling than I was expecting, most of it was hills though none of them were particularly bad, I would say that it was a moderately difficult course. I was feeling really strong and had passed quite a few people in my age group in the first half of the bike course. Then about 1/4 mile from the turn-around at the half-way point my rear tire went flat. I'm still not entirely sure what caused it but I was not happy at all. My wheel cover had slid a bit so I ended up struggling with that for a while to get it realigned with the valve so that I could inflate the tire. Once I had the new tube in and the wheel mounted up 12 minutes had passed (according to my bike computer) which was incredibly frustrating to me because I can usually change a clincher tire in about 3-4 minutes. Once I was back on the bike I was still feeling strong so I pushed pretty hard back to T2. Bike split was 1:25:06, not what I was hoping for but given the flat tire and the amount of time that cost me I can't complain about my performance when I was actually pedaling.
Came into T2 and my beautiful transition spot was occupied by a photographer, he wasn't just in front of it, he was IN it with his camera bag and a huge tripod sitting EXACTLY where I needed to rack my bike. As I ran in I yelled for him to get out of my way and literally had to push my way past him to get to the bike rack. On with the running shoes, grab the visor and race belt and head out onto the race course. T2 took me :56 and would have certainly been faster had the photographer not been in my way. But I can't complain too much as my T2 time was in the top 10 for the entire race (excluding Pros and Elites). Looks like my transition practice is paying off!!!
The run was HOT and HUMID. It really felt awful. The course was a little more difficult than I expected, like the bike course there were almost no flat sections. Very rolling but no really big hills. The heat took a major toll on me and I ended up running an 8:22 pace to finish in 51:59
Overall time for the race: 2:52:26. Not pretty.
Doing the race was a "good" experience for me, and by "good" I mean it probably built character or something. I did NOT have a good experience of the race and I am unlikely to do it again. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Really???
Backstory:
During the NYC triathlon this past weekend I started to feel the need to pee. I didn't end up having to go until after the race but the experience got me thinking about Steelhead...If I'm properly hydrating should I have to pee at some point during the race? If I don't have to pee does that mean that I might be getting dehydrated? So naturally I took my question to the internet and posted on the Slowtwitch forum.
Answer:
The overwhelming conclusion was that, yes, I should have to pee at some point during the race or I may be dehydrating myself.
Follow-up:
With that question answered I moved along to the next obvious question along this line of thought and asked: "How and where I should answer the inevitable call of nature?"
Answer:
The collective brain trust at Slowtwitch (men and women alike) advised that I just let loose and pee on myself during the bike and/or run, providing the caveat that I may need to stop pedaling or slow to a walk in order to perform the deed but under no circumstances should I actually stop.
Follow-up #2:
Hmmm...I've not peed on myself since I was toilet training so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the ramifications. Next question: "Supposing I do decide to "take the race seriously" as one respondent put it, and pee on myself as recommended, how do I keep from smelling like urine when I cross the finish line? Particularly, how do I keep my shoes from acquiring this odor?"
Answer(s):
Apparently folks have thought this through: "It's mostly water at that point, the sweat will overwhelm any smell." and "Splash some water on yourself at the aid stations on the run, then the runners behind you won't know what you're doing and it will dilute the urine."
Conclusion:
I can't believe I'm actually considering this...I may have reached a new low.
During the NYC triathlon this past weekend I started to feel the need to pee. I didn't end up having to go until after the race but the experience got me thinking about Steelhead...If I'm properly hydrating should I have to pee at some point during the race? If I don't have to pee does that mean that I might be getting dehydrated? So naturally I took my question to the internet and posted on the Slowtwitch forum.
Answer:
The overwhelming conclusion was that, yes, I should have to pee at some point during the race or I may be dehydrating myself.
Follow-up:
With that question answered I moved along to the next obvious question along this line of thought and asked: "How and where I should answer the inevitable call of nature?"
Answer:
The collective brain trust at Slowtwitch (men and women alike) advised that I just let loose and pee on myself during the bike and/or run, providing the caveat that I may need to stop pedaling or slow to a walk in order to perform the deed but under no circumstances should I actually stop.
Follow-up #2:
Hmmm...I've not peed on myself since I was toilet training so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the ramifications. Next question: "Supposing I do decide to "take the race seriously" as one respondent put it, and pee on myself as recommended, how do I keep from smelling like urine when I cross the finish line? Particularly, how do I keep my shoes from acquiring this odor?"
Answer(s):
Apparently folks have thought this through: "It's mostly water at that point, the sweat will overwhelm any smell." and "Splash some water on yourself at the aid stations on the run, then the runners behind you won't know what you're doing and it will dilute the urine."
Conclusion:
I can't believe I'm actually considering this...I may have reached a new low.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Kensington Valley Triathlon Series #2 Race Report
Kensington Triathlon Series #2 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 4 mile run.
This race was part of a series being sponsored by Cadence Cycle which is my local bike shop and a sponsor of the Ann Arbor Tri Club. Jon Sherman, the owner of Cadence, had lent me his personal set of Pro-Lite race wheels to use for the race since he would not be racing, which I thought was super nice of him to do. The night before the race I mounted the wheels and went for a test ride to make sure everything was adjusted right and also to test the new Spiuk Chronos aero helmet that I got for my birthday. The next morning it started raining just as I arrived at the race. Obviously the rain wouldn't be a factor in the swim and I actually really enjoy running in the rain, but I was a bit worried about the bike leg. As usual I was in the first wave of swimmers to head out, the swim went alright and I was able to find someone to draft again just as I had done at Flag City. I came out of the water at 20:27 (rank 103/179) which I can't complain about as it is 2 minutes faster than I swam at Lake Macatawa. T1 took me 1:18 and then I was out on the bike. The course was mostly rolling hills with a couple of bigger climbs. At mile 1 I had to stop to adjust my rear wheel because apparently the set screws that keep the wheel from rubbing the seat tube had vibrated in which allowed the tire to rub the frame. I would have to stop to pull the wheel back from the frame 2 more times during the course of the race, this probably cost me about 2-3 minutes altogether on the bike. The rain was also an issue as the road seemed a little slick. As I mentioned before I was on borrowed wheels which felt a bit unfamiliar and I could feel the breeze pushing me around a little bit with the rear disk wheel I was using. The wheels were nice and fast though and despite the rain, rubbing rear tire, and wind I was able to finish the bike course in 45:34 (rank 59/179) for an average pace of about 20 mph which is significantly better than the 18.2 mph that I did on the course, in much better conditions, last fall during the Great Pumpkin Duathlon. T2 went well and I was out on the run after only :46. My legs felt great going out for the run and the rain was really refreshing at this point. I managed to pass a number of people while only being passed by one person myself so that felt pretty good. By mile 2 my right Achilles was nagging at me again but with only 2 miles to go I just pushed through and it didn't really slow me down. I completed the run in 28:03 (rank 32/179) for about a 7:01/M pace. It was fun to note that nobody that finished after me ran faster than me, which tells me that I need to speed it up on the swim and bike portions of the race. I was able to get 2nd in my age group, but even more exciting to me was the fact that my time was good enough to have gotten me 3rd in the much larger 25-29 age group...I guess there is hope for me next year after all!
This race was part of a series being sponsored by Cadence Cycle which is my local bike shop and a sponsor of the Ann Arbor Tri Club. Jon Sherman, the owner of Cadence, had lent me his personal set of Pro-Lite race wheels to use for the race since he would not be racing, which I thought was super nice of him to do. The night before the race I mounted the wheels and went for a test ride to make sure everything was adjusted right and also to test the new Spiuk Chronos aero helmet that I got for my birthday. The next morning it started raining just as I arrived at the race. Obviously the rain wouldn't be a factor in the swim and I actually really enjoy running in the rain, but I was a bit worried about the bike leg. As usual I was in the first wave of swimmers to head out, the swim went alright and I was able to find someone to draft again just as I had done at Flag City. I came out of the water at 20:27 (rank 103/179) which I can't complain about as it is 2 minutes faster than I swam at Lake Macatawa. T1 took me 1:18 and then I was out on the bike. The course was mostly rolling hills with a couple of bigger climbs. At mile 1 I had to stop to adjust my rear wheel because apparently the set screws that keep the wheel from rubbing the seat tube had vibrated in which allowed the tire to rub the frame. I would have to stop to pull the wheel back from the frame 2 more times during the course of the race, this probably cost me about 2-3 minutes altogether on the bike. The rain was also an issue as the road seemed a little slick. As I mentioned before I was on borrowed wheels which felt a bit unfamiliar and I could feel the breeze pushing me around a little bit with the rear disk wheel I was using. The wheels were nice and fast though and despite the rain, rubbing rear tire, and wind I was able to finish the bike course in 45:34 (rank 59/179) for an average pace of about 20 mph which is significantly better than the 18.2 mph that I did on the course, in much better conditions, last fall during the Great Pumpkin Duathlon. T2 went well and I was out on the run after only :46. My legs felt great going out for the run and the rain was really refreshing at this point. I managed to pass a number of people while only being passed by one person myself so that felt pretty good. By mile 2 my right Achilles was nagging at me again but with only 2 miles to go I just pushed through and it didn't really slow me down. I completed the run in 28:03 (rank 32/179) for about a 7:01/M pace. It was fun to note that nobody that finished after me ran faster than me, which tells me that I need to speed it up on the swim and bike portions of the race. I was able to get 2nd in my age group, but even more exciting to me was the fact that my time was good enough to have gotten me 3rd in the much larger 25-29 age group...I guess there is hope for me next year after all!
Flag City Triathlon Race Report
6/14/08 Flag City Olympic Triathlon 1500m swim, 22 mile bike, 10k run.
Well this was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I went with the Ann Arbor Tri Club travel team (of which I am a member) that is working to win us the USA Triathlon (USAT) Mideast Region Championship Race Series (MERCRS) for clubs which are endorsed by USAT. Going into the race I was most worried about the swim, particularly given my abysmal time at Lake Macatawa the previous week. The setup of this race was a little unique in that the transition areas were in two different locations, about a mile apart, unfortunately this proved disastrous for my training partner and teammate Julie Parrish. While carrying her wetsuit on her bike over to T1 where the swim start would be held, her wetsuit got sucked into her front wheel and fork flipping her onto her head and shoulder instantly. She had a fairly major concussion, a dislocated shoulder resulting in a torn rotator cuff, and a variety of other bumps, bruises, and road rash. Anyway, back to the race. I went out with the first wave for the 1500m swim, it was two rectangular laps. After the first lap I checked my watch and was surprised to see that I had completed it in 16:00 minutes, this boosted my confidence and kept me motivated through the second half. During the second lap I found someone that I could draft behind which kept my pace from degrading too far and got me out of the water in a total time of 32:43. The swim clearly went much better than I was expecting but it also left me feeling much more tired than I typically am coming out of the water. T1 was pretty quick and soon I was out on the bike course. Jon Sherman the owner of my bike shop, Cadence Cycle, was doing the race and was a vendor as well and he happened to have an extra disk wheel in his trailer that he wanted to lend to someone so before the race we had put that onto my bike for me to demo, so I was pretty excited about that. The course was fairly flat, mostly closed to traffic, and otherwise fairly unremarkable...except for the railroad tracks which caused my water bottle to eject early on in the race. This proved to be bad for me. No Gatorade, no water, bright sun, steadily climbing temperatures and me on a bike is not a recipe for success. The bike went okay, but it could have been better, I finished in 1:11:19 for an average speed of 18.5 mph. Not what I was hoping for with a flat course, especially when I was testing a disk wheel that should have saved me a few seconds. Anyway, the lack of Gatorade on the bike didn't bother me too much while I was actually biking, where it came back to bite me was on the run. By time I was off the bike I was really really thirsty so I drained Julie's aerodrink bottle of whatever it was she had in there as I was putting my shoes on and then I headed out for the run. It was two laps of a 5k course. I grabbed some water at each aid station to try to get rehydrated. But it was too little, too late, and I paid for it with an added minute on my run pace and with a nagging injury to my right Achilles. The 10k run took me 52:17 for an 8:26/M pace. My overall time was 2:36:19 and I placed 40/59 overall. Not a good race for me. I'm still paying for the dehydration with an irritated and sore right achilles tendon which I will likely have to baby until the NYC Triathlon and Steelhead.
Well this was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I went with the Ann Arbor Tri Club travel team (of which I am a member) that is working to win us the USA Triathlon (USAT) Mideast Region Championship Race Series (MERCRS) for clubs which are endorsed by USAT. Going into the race I was most worried about the swim, particularly given my abysmal time at Lake Macatawa the previous week. The setup of this race was a little unique in that the transition areas were in two different locations, about a mile apart, unfortunately this proved disastrous for my training partner and teammate Julie Parrish. While carrying her wetsuit on her bike over to T1 where the swim start would be held, her wetsuit got sucked into her front wheel and fork flipping her onto her head and shoulder instantly. She had a fairly major concussion, a dislocated shoulder resulting in a torn rotator cuff, and a variety of other bumps, bruises, and road rash. Anyway, back to the race. I went out with the first wave for the 1500m swim, it was two rectangular laps. After the first lap I checked my watch and was surprised to see that I had completed it in 16:00 minutes, this boosted my confidence and kept me motivated through the second half. During the second lap I found someone that I could draft behind which kept my pace from degrading too far and got me out of the water in a total time of 32:43. The swim clearly went much better than I was expecting but it also left me feeling much more tired than I typically am coming out of the water. T1 was pretty quick and soon I was out on the bike course. Jon Sherman the owner of my bike shop, Cadence Cycle, was doing the race and was a vendor as well and he happened to have an extra disk wheel in his trailer that he wanted to lend to someone so before the race we had put that onto my bike for me to demo, so I was pretty excited about that. The course was fairly flat, mostly closed to traffic, and otherwise fairly unremarkable...except for the railroad tracks which caused my water bottle to eject early on in the race. This proved to be bad for me. No Gatorade, no water, bright sun, steadily climbing temperatures and me on a bike is not a recipe for success. The bike went okay, but it could have been better, I finished in 1:11:19 for an average speed of 18.5 mph. Not what I was hoping for with a flat course, especially when I was testing a disk wheel that should have saved me a few seconds. Anyway, the lack of Gatorade on the bike didn't bother me too much while I was actually biking, where it came back to bite me was on the run. By time I was off the bike I was really really thirsty so I drained Julie's aerodrink bottle of whatever it was she had in there as I was putting my shoes on and then I headed out for the run. It was two laps of a 5k course. I grabbed some water at each aid station to try to get rehydrated. But it was too little, too late, and I paid for it with an added minute on my run pace and with a nagging injury to my right Achilles. The 10k run took me 52:17 for an 8:26/M pace. My overall time was 2:36:19 and I placed 40/59 overall. Not a good race for me. I'm still paying for the dehydration with an irritated and sore right achilles tendon which I will likely have to baby until the NYC Triathlon and Steelhead.
Lake Macatawa Triathlon Race Report
6/7/08 Lake Macatawa Triathlon 1/2 mile swim, 22.8 mile bike, 4.8 mile run.
This was a memorial race for Rachel's cousin Ryan Los who tragically passed away earlier this spring. There was a wonderful turnout of family and friends there to show their support, many of us wearing white t-shirts with Ryan's #43 on them which was his number last year when he did this race. My family was there as well as Rachel's family and many of her relatives on the Los side, this made for an interesting experience on my part as I have never had that many people out cheering for me at a race, it was fun. The swim was predictably bad, my typical glacial pace was evident in my 22:06 time (rank 114/168) and I was dodging dead/disintigrating Carp along the way which was kinda gross. T1 went fine and I was quickly out on the bike and back to having fun. Unfortunately I'm still adjusting to my new Cervelo P2C and still dialing in my position to maximize my power and comfort in the aero position so my time was quite a bit slower than I had hoped. The bike leg took me 1:06:51 for an average of 20.5 mph (rank 43/168). After a quick T2 I was out on the run and ready to make up some time. As usual it took about a mile for me to get my legs under me and get up to pace but I was feeling great and ended up running negative splits for each mile of the race. The run took me 35:03 for a 7:18/M pace (rank 40/168), and I'm pretty sure that my last mile was a bit closer to 6:45/M as I was able to put out a really strong kick to catch a guy that I thought was in my age group. The whole race took me 2:04:02 which I was fairly happy with, I knew that I had spent more time in the water and on the bike than I needed to but for my first tri of the season I couldn't complain too much. I was alone in my age group so I took home a really cool set of little Dutch wooden shoes for 1st place in the 20-24 age group. My overall place was 54/168.
This was a memorial race for Rachel's cousin Ryan Los who tragically passed away earlier this spring. There was a wonderful turnout of family and friends there to show their support, many of us wearing white t-shirts with Ryan's #43 on them which was his number last year when he did this race. My family was there as well as Rachel's family and many of her relatives on the Los side, this made for an interesting experience on my part as I have never had that many people out cheering for me at a race, it was fun. The swim was predictably bad, my typical glacial pace was evident in my 22:06 time (rank 114/168) and I was dodging dead/disintigrating Carp along the way which was kinda gross. T1 went fine and I was quickly out on the bike and back to having fun. Unfortunately I'm still adjusting to my new Cervelo P2C and still dialing in my position to maximize my power and comfort in the aero position so my time was quite a bit slower than I had hoped. The bike leg took me 1:06:51 for an average of 20.5 mph (rank 43/168). After a quick T2 I was out on the run and ready to make up some time. As usual it took about a mile for me to get my legs under me and get up to pace but I was feeling great and ended up running negative splits for each mile of the race. The run took me 35:03 for a 7:18/M pace (rank 40/168), and I'm pretty sure that my last mile was a bit closer to 6:45/M as I was able to put out a really strong kick to catch a guy that I thought was in my age group. The whole race took me 2:04:02 which I was fairly happy with, I knew that I had spent more time in the water and on the bike than I needed to but for my first tri of the season I couldn't complain too much. I was alone in my age group so I took home a really cool set of little Dutch wooden shoes for 1st place in the 20-24 age group. My overall place was 54/168.
Dexter-Ann Arbor Run 1/2 Marathon Race Report
6/1/08 Dexter-Ann Arbor Run 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles)
This was a really fun race. I'd never done a half-marathon before so I was a little nervous but I had trained plenty for it so I wasn't really concerned about not being able to finish, it was just a matter of how long it would take me. With the Steelhead 70.3 race coming up in August I figured that it would be a good idea to have race 13.1 miles before doing it at the end of a Half-Ironman. The morning was perfect, just a touch on the cool side at the start and just a little warm at the finish, the course was beautiful, safe, and very well accomodated. A couple of my friends, Brian Dorsey and Heather Huggins (they are married), ran this race with me which really made it a ton of fun. As usual Heather was off like a bat out of hell as soon as the gun went off at the start and she was not to be seen again until the turn-around 11 miles later. This was a pretty big race with about 2500 competitors so the course was pretty packed, but the road was closed to traffic so we had plenty of space. The best part about this race for me was the fact that Brian and I ran stride for stride the exact same pace for the entire thing, including the sprint to the finish. Brian and I have raced before and train together regularly with the Ann Arbor Track Club and historically neither of us has had any qualms about leaving the other behind in a race if possible, so had either one of us been able to run away from the other I'm sure that it would have happened. But on this day we ran exactly together. Brian had a printed pace chart bracelet to keep us at our goal pace of 7:45/M and we kept to it almost exactly. At the finish I initiated the sprint, hearing a muttered "damn you Dave!" from Brian as I did. We both hit the timing mats at exactly 1:41:25, though the pictures at the finish line show my toe slightly ahead of Brian's. :) I took 29/89 in my age group and Brian took 48/188 in his, we both finished in the top 400 racers overall. It was a great race and I felt great afterward which was a real confidence booster as I prepare for Steelhead.
This was a really fun race. I'd never done a half-marathon before so I was a little nervous but I had trained plenty for it so I wasn't really concerned about not being able to finish, it was just a matter of how long it would take me. With the Steelhead 70.3 race coming up in August I figured that it would be a good idea to have race 13.1 miles before doing it at the end of a Half-Ironman. The morning was perfect, just a touch on the cool side at the start and just a little warm at the finish, the course was beautiful, safe, and very well accomodated. A couple of my friends, Brian Dorsey and Heather Huggins (they are married), ran this race with me which really made it a ton of fun. As usual Heather was off like a bat out of hell as soon as the gun went off at the start and she was not to be seen again until the turn-around 11 miles later. This was a pretty big race with about 2500 competitors so the course was pretty packed, but the road was closed to traffic so we had plenty of space. The best part about this race for me was the fact that Brian and I ran stride for stride the exact same pace for the entire thing, including the sprint to the finish. Brian and I have raced before and train together regularly with the Ann Arbor Track Club and historically neither of us has had any qualms about leaving the other behind in a race if possible, so had either one of us been able to run away from the other I'm sure that it would have happened. But on this day we ran exactly together. Brian had a printed pace chart bracelet to keep us at our goal pace of 7:45/M and we kept to it almost exactly. At the finish I initiated the sprint, hearing a muttered "damn you Dave!" from Brian as I did. We both hit the timing mats at exactly 1:41:25, though the pictures at the finish line show my toe slightly ahead of Brian's. :) I took 29/89 in my age group and Brian took 48/188 in his, we both finished in the top 400 racers overall. It was a great race and I felt great afterward which was a real confidence booster as I prepare for Steelhead.
Buffalo Trails Race Report
5/24/08 Buffalo Trails Triathlon (AKA the Ann Arbor Triathlon Club's Great Kentucky Adventure). 1/2 mile swim, 22 mile bike, 3.05 mile run.
This was to be my first tri of the year and we had a good group of people from the Ann Arbor Tri Club make the long trek down to Maysville, KY. It was not a good race for me. The swim was canceled due the the bacteria levels in the Ohio River being 6x higher than is safe for swimming. The swim was replaced by a .5 mile run to spread people out going into T1. I actually enjoyed the little sprint to T1, coming in at 2:38, I made it out of T1 in :39 seconds and that was the high point of the race for me. 8 miles into the bike leg I was feeling great, biking strong and I had the race leaders in sight. Then I got the first of 3 flats that I would get during the course of the race. After the second flat I wasn't really 'racing' anymore and was just planning to finish the race to get a few MERCERS points for the club. The 22 mile bike leg took me 1:41:09 instead of the <1:05:00 time that I was planning on. So I eventually made it to T2 and set out on the run which went fine, I wasn't really mentally racing anymore so my time wasn't blazing but I put out a respectable (for me) 22:21 and managed to pass a few people along the way. My total time was 2:07:22 which I hope to never see again for a sprint of that distance!
This was to be my first tri of the year and we had a good group of people from the Ann Arbor Tri Club make the long trek down to Maysville, KY. It was not a good race for me. The swim was canceled due the the bacteria levels in the Ohio River being 6x higher than is safe for swimming. The swim was replaced by a .5 mile run to spread people out going into T1. I actually enjoyed the little sprint to T1, coming in at 2:38, I made it out of T1 in :39 seconds and that was the high point of the race for me. 8 miles into the bike leg I was feeling great, biking strong and I had the race leaders in sight. Then I got the first of 3 flats that I would get during the course of the race. After the second flat I wasn't really 'racing' anymore and was just planning to finish the race to get a few MERCERS points for the club. The 22 mile bike leg took me 1:41:09 instead of the <1:05:00 time that I was planning on. So I eventually made it to T2 and set out on the run which went fine, I wasn't really mentally racing anymore so my time wasn't blazing but I put out a respectable (for me) 22:21 and managed to pass a few people along the way. My total time was 2:07:22 which I hope to never see again for a sprint of that distance!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Transition Thoughts
Introduction
I never put much thought into transition strategy until this past weekend. Just go fast right? Run in, do your stuff, run out. It seems pretty basic. Watching the Willow Duathlon in New Boston, MI this past weekend I learned otherwise. In fact it seems I've been missing quite a bit. This was actually the first race that I've ever just watched in person and wow was it an eye-opening experience for me!! I'm definitely a newbie to multisport. With absolutely zero background in any endurance sports I started triathlon training about 9 months ago and since then have competed in 5 multisport events. So maybe my amazement is just a function of my inexperience. But watching the leaders at the Willow Duathlon (WD) go through transition was incredible!
Sure I'd practiced a bit, particularly getting my wetsuit off fast, and I definitely saw the benefit to leaving the shoes on the bike going into T2. But rubber bands for holding the shoes in place in T1?!?! Genius!! Now I think that I really need to put some hours into really practicing, flying mounts and dismounts in particular. The guy (Richard Swor) that led the whole race dismounted the bike going faster than I would have previously thought possible, he hit the ground at the dismount line at a full-on sprint...that just blew my mind.
My personal performance in the transition area is terrible, which is what prompted me to begin thinking about this. So take all of this with a grain of salt and if I say something incorrect feel free to correct me, this is about learning. I clearly have a lot of room for improvement so I've tried breaking this down into different components that I can work on individually. A little of what follows comes from my personal experience and quite a bit comes from what I observed at the WD.
Strategy
As with all parts of multisport training, I think that it is key to have a strategy for transition training and execution on race day. For me the key to the strategy will be simplicity. Trying to do too many things in the transition area was probably the biggest factor that slowed people down when I was watching at the WD. The leaders came into T1 dropped their running shoes, put on their helmets, and ran out to the to the mount line with their bikes in hand. None of them changed clothes, drank anything, ate anything, put cycling shoes on, put socks on, or any number of other things that I saw later athletes doing. The simple fact is: The less you do, the less time it will take.
Practice
Again, multisport is all about training and practice so that you can meet your goals on race day whether that's completing your first race, setting a new personal best, placing in the top 3 of your age group, or winning overall. It would be pretty foolish to attempt a multisport event without any training in the required disciplines. Unfortunately most people do not practice for transitions, which was clearly evidenced at the WD! Obviously you won't need to spend nearly as much time practicing transitions as you will swimming, biking, or running, but it's not something that should be entirely neglected. So once I have my strategy set for the transition area I will need to practice transitioning on a regular basis so that it becomes a natural routine before race-day.
Setup
Whether practicing or racing, the way that you setup the transition area can make a big difference. At the race this past weekend I noticed that the leaders of the race had the minimum amount of stuff possible around their bikes. They knew exactly what they would need and kept the rest of the clutter out of the way. No bags, no extra water bottles, no Clif bars, no extra socks, etc, etc. Helmets were waiting on the aerobars of the bike with sunglasses, cycling shoes were already clipped into the pedals and small rubber bands held the shoes in place for a quick mount. Everything was arranged such that they barely had to stop moving from when they entered the transition area until they left. From my own experience it is also key to memorize very carefully what rack you put your bike in, at some races you can even mark the rack by hanging a t-shirt off the end or by tying a balloon near your bike, but check with the race director before you do any of those things. Trust me it really sucks to forget where you racked your bike!!!
T1
Because triathlons are my primary sport I'll focus on the swim-bike transition. From my experience, as you reach the end of the swim you'll want to swim until your hands hit the bottom, then as you rise out of the water begin removing your wetsuit immediately, trust me it comes off much much easier if there is still some water in it, and whatever you do don't stop moving while you do this, keep running/walking the whole time. As you leave the water you should have your wetsuit down to your waist as you run up into T1. When you reach your bike you should have a towel to stand on to wipe the bottoms of your feet on. Some people also like to have a small bucket of water waiting so that they can rinse the sand from the beach off of their feet before getting on the bike. At your towel, pull the wetsuit down as far as you can quickly and then when only your lower legs and ankles are in the wetsuit you should step on it right next to your foot, grab your leg and pull it out quickly, then repeat with the other foot. I like to spray a (non-petroleum based) non-stick cooking spray on my lower legs to help them come out of the wetsuit more easily, many other people use products like BodyGlide in the same way.
Once your wetsuit is off grab your helmet off the bike and put it on, don't forget to clip it right away or you will get stopped as you leave the transition area. Put your sunglasses on and grab the bike off the rack. If you don't keep your shoes on the bike this is the time to put them on, don't worry about strapping them unless they are particularly difficult to do. Run out past the timing mat to the line where volunteers will tell you that you may mount the bike. I'm going to learn how to get on the bike with the shoes already mounted so I'll quickly describe that process. With the shoes already on the bike, you are running toward the mount line, once you reach the line you will step onto the top of the shoe closest to you and swing your other leg over the bike onto the other shoe and begin pedaling. Once you are up to speed and clear of the other athletes mounting their bikes you can then slip your feet into the shoes and strap them down (velcro straps really make this a lot easier).
T2
At the WD I noticed that all of the race leaders left their shoes on the bike coming into T2. To do this as they approached the dismount line they would unstrap their shoes, pull their feet out, and begin pedaling with their feet atop the shoes much like they did leaving T1. This seems like the best way to handle the shoes in T2 because I noticed many other people struggling to unclip from their pedals, slipping on their shoes, swerving into other athletes, falling over, etc. As one guy said to me "it's like there are a ton of drunk cyclists on expensive bikes playing pinball in a confined area with no awareness of what is going on around them."
Most of the race leaders also dismounted on the fly, as they approached the dismount line they would swing one leg over the back of the bike so that they were balancing on one pedal, then they would brake to a running speed and as the hit the dismount line they would jump off the bikes at a run as they entered T2. Once they were back in the transition area they quickly racked the bike, pulled the helmet off and dropped it on the ground, grabbed their running shoes, pulled them on, and started out on the run while clipping on their race belt with bib number attached. Simplicity and smoothness in action is just beautiful!
Conclusion
This little writeup is a little like an academic theory paper for me. I think that I have a fairly sound strategy to move forward with in practice but only race-day results will tell. One confounding issue is the fact that my observations and strategy center around racing like a pro, which I am not. In a perfect world things would go the way that I have them laid out above, I wouldn't feel like crap coming into either transition and I'd just be able to fly through them with minimal hassle rather than greedily using them as a chance to rest and catch my breath. But I the way I look at it is like this: There is no way I'll ever swim, bike, or run like a pro, but what is there to stop me from transitioning like one? One person commented to me on an online forum that he beat 7 people in a Half-Ironman distance race simply because his transitions were faster than theirs, that is not insignificant!! Another way to look at it is: Which is easier, shaving 30 seconds off your transitions or 7-9 seconds off your 5k race pace? Personally I think that it will be much easier and less painful to get faster at transitions. Oh and if you get a chance go check out a local multisport event, cheer the athletes on and see what kinds of things you can learn from watching them race (including the race through transition!).
Below are a few links to useful YouTube videos about transitions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
2008 Steelcase Grand Duathlon
Well thank goodness spring has arrived! I've been able to get outside for more of my running and biking which really helps bring the joy back to the sport for me. I've trained moderately through the winter, not as much as I would have liked, but not nothing either. My overall fitness is probably not too far off from where it was at the end of the season last October for my last races but I don't think that I made too many gains (other than in swimming).
My first race this year was the Steelcase Grand Duathlon in Kentwood, MI on 4/27/08. It was a sprint distance, with a 5k run, 30k bike, 5k run, so I figured it would be a nice easy way to start the year. It was a new race and a new course to me so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I'm pretty comfortable with those distances so I knew that I wouldn't have any problem finishing. The race was put on by 3Disciplines, a local USAT endorsed race organization, which incidentally supports the Ann Arbor Triathlon Club by giving us discounted race entry fees through their 'Clubs First' program.
On to the details: We were a little late arriving but didn't have any problem checking in at registration and getting my number, chip, etc. Since I have learned not to overdo my transitions (like I did in the past) I was able to quickly set up and then jog around a bit for a 5-10 minute warm-up. My standalone 5k PR is 21:36 (6:57/mi) so my goal for this race was to do both run legs at a 7:30/mi pace for a total of about 47 minutes running. I figured that I could hold 18-19 mph on the bike for the duration so I assumed that the bike leg would take me about 60 minutes. Adding a few minutes for transitions I was hoping to finish the race in around 1:50.
The first 5k run started at a brisk pace and I missed the first mile marker so I couldn't gauge the pace that I was running very well (I'm terrible at pacing myself by perceived exertion). At what I thought was the first mile marker my watch read 7:38 and there were a lot of people ahead of me so I was feeling very very slow. Toward the end of the first run leg I was not feeling very well, my stomach was tightening, I was getting a headache and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hell so many people were in front of me!!! I figured that I was just paying for allowing myself to get dehydrated the day before at a beer festival, but I decided that I would push on anyway and finish the race in whatever amount of time it took. I never glanced at my watch again until I hit the timing mat at T1, to my surprise it read 21:45! I had run a 7:00/mi pace but I still felt like crap. I took time to drink and catch my breath in T1 and ended up spending about 2 minutes doing so (oops!).
Then it was on to the bike. A few weeks ago I picked up a beautiful new Cervelo P2C race bike and this was the first time that I was going to really get to put it through the paces to see if my improved position would make me any faster. I had done a few training rides on it but was still adjusting to riding in the "aero" time-trial position. Unfortunately the transmitter for my bike computer must have gotten jostled during the loading/unloading process because I noticed right away that I wasn't getting any readout for speed or cadence. The first bit of the bike leg was through an industrial park and then it was out onto the street. Once we hit the street the wind came into play, it was 20-30mph and almost straight out of the west meaning that we would spend a little under half of the distance going into a nice (read: nasty) little head wind. I didn't really focus on the wind but just went to work trying to catch some of those fast runners. By about 20k I figured that I had passed most of the people that I would easily catch and should focus on just slowly catching the girl ahead of me that seemed to be riding nearly the exact same pace as me. I caught her about 5k from the end of the bike and decided that rather than trying to put some time between us I would just go with my normal strategy of dropping some speed in favor of higher cadence to 'freshen' my legs a little for the bike-run transition as I had felt my left calf threatening to cramp a little on the bike. I tend to forget about my watch during races so I didn't take notice of my time going into or coming out of T2, but I felt pretty good getting off the bike.
On the way out of T2 I knew that I was in trouble. I could feel my calves twitching and starting to cramp. Within the first 1/4 mile I had to stop and rub them down quickly in hopes of keeping them from locking up entirely as they have in the past. My dad was watching me and he said that he could visibly see my calves knotting and cramping up as I was running. Not fun. I decided that I would just HTFU and finish the race: only 5k to go, it couldn't hurt that bad! If the first 5k felt slow the second one felt like I was moving at a glacial pace. I felt like I was just out there plodding along, not racing, not running, just jogging at a painfully slow pace. Within a mile I was passed by the girl that I had chased down on the bike and by the 2 mile mark I was being passed by a 50 year old lady which, no disrespect to her at all, was just depressing for me. But I kept putting one foot in front of the next and eventually finished, meeting my family at the end of the finisher's chute.
Here is the breakdown of my performance:
124 Finishers
5k run -
Time: 21:45
Rate: 7:00 min/mile
Rank: 58/124
T1: 2:09
30k bike -
Time: 53:57
Rate: 20.7 mph
Rank: 54/124
T2: 1:04
5k run -
Time: 24:02
Rate: 7:45 min/mile
Rank: 69/124
Overall:
Time: 1:42:23
Overall Rank: 61/124
Gender Rank: 52/90
AG Rank: 6/8
124 Finishers
5k run -
Time: 21:45
Rate: 7:00 min/mile
Rank: 58/124
T1: 2:09
30k bike -
Time: 53:57
Rate: 20.7 mph
Rank: 54/124
T2: 1:04
5k run -
Time: 24:02
Rate: 7:45 min/mile
Rank: 69/124
Overall:
Time: 1:42:23
Overall Rank: 61/124
Gender Rank: 52/90
AG Rank: 6/8
Overall I can't be too disappointed with my performance, I beat my goal time by almost 8 minutes but I still didn't feel too good about how I did relative to the rest of the field. But I figure that at least I didn't lose too much fitness over the winter so now it's just a matter of building up to the Steelhead 70.3 race in August.
Lessons learned from this race: 1) I have to figure out what the heck is up with my calf cramps 2) I need to practice my transitions very very badly so that I can cut that time by at least half. My next post will be on the topic of transitions and what I learned by watching a local duathlon (instead of racing in it).
2007 Great Pumpkin Duathlon
On 10/7/08 I completed my first duathlon race which was an interesting experience. There were two distances to choose from, a sprint (5k run, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and an olympic distance (5k run, 24 mile bike, 10k run). I chose to do the longer distance because most of my races this year have been sprint distances of varying length and I wanted to push it a little further.
The weather started out great for the initial 5k run and I took it a bit easy finishing in 22:24 for a 7:13 pace which felt pretty good. The bike leg started out alright but the humidity and temperature were both climbing and after the first 10 miles my stomach started acting up and not feeling the greatest. The actual bike course was really boring and surprisingly slow, though that could have been due to the fact that I wasn't feeling well for the second lap of the course. I finished the bike leg in 1:15:35 for a pace of 18.3 mph which was a bit disappointing.
By time I was starting the final run leg the temps were in the upper 80's with very high humidity and I wasn't feeling well at all. The course was primarily criss-crossing grassy fields which made it a bit boring and tedious since it's very difficult to see bumps and holes in the ground when you're running on grass. Grass is my least favorite running surface for that very reason, I would much rather run on a trail where I can see the roots, rocks, holes, etc that I need to dodge. Since I wasn't feeling well after getting off the bike I decided to take an energy gel just before getting to the water station at mile 1 in hopes of keeping my energy going for the rest of the run. I made it about 1/2 mile after the water station and then puked. Sadly puking didn't make me feel any better and I had to finish the last 5 miles feeling pretty sick and partially dehydrated. The run course was terribly psychologically too in that you had to run past the finish line 3 times before you could actually run down the chute, it was entirely in the sun which also took a toll, and there were very few people in the race so, after passing a couple of people and getting passed by one guy, I was alone for most of the run which also made it boring. That 10k took me 1:02:07 to run putting me at exactly a 10 minute pace which is SUPER slow and hopefully the slowest I'll ever run in a race.
There were 27 people that did the long distance race and I finished 17th overall and 3rd in the 20-29 age group with a total time of 2:41:39. I was very glad to be done with that race and I can honestly say that there is almost no chance that I'll do it again next year because the course sucked so bad.
2007 Autumn Colors Triathlon
On 9/23/07 I participated in the Autumn Colors Triathlon at Holly State Park in Michigan, it was the final Michigan triathlon of the year. After completing my "A" race for the year, the Reeds Lake Triathlon, a couple of weeks previous I came into this one with less mental pressure to perform my "absolute best" and with a mindset of just having fun at the event. In fact I wasn't even certain that I wanted to do this race but, after some consideration, I determined that I was unlikely to regret doing the race but later in the winter I might regret NOT doing the race; so once I was sure the weather was going to be decent I went ahead and registered for the event.
My normal method for determining how I should perform is to look at previous years' results and, having a pretty good feeling for what my middle-of-the-pack status is, extrapolate my times base on the times of other people. It's a little complicated but it seems to work pretty well for me (see my Reeds Lake race report). Based on what I saw in the previous years' results I could tell that both the bike course and the run course must be significantly more difficult than those at Reeds Lake, the fastest bikers were averaging around 21 mph, and the fastest runners were right around a 7 minute pace. My goal was to place close to the level that I had achieved for the Reeds Lake race, placing a little more emphasis on the bike and run since most of my last two weeks' training time has been in those two disciplines. Based on my performance at Reeds Lake and the results from the previous year I calculated/estimated that the race should take me about 2:35 to complete.
I know the swim is my limiting event but, with the optimal weather for outdoor training in Michigan about to disappear, I want to spend as much time enjoying it as possible before I get stuck on a trainer and treadmill. I'm planning to join the local masters this winter and really put in some long yardage in the pool in hopes of shoring up my lack of skill in that discipline.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent...So for this race I made sure to be there with plenty of time to spare so that I wouldn't end up rushed and unprepared like I was at Reeds Lake. I found that taking my time and getting help with putting on the wetsuit made a huge difference in fit and mobility, I was using the same one as I had for Reeds Lake and this time it worked like a dream (not that my swim time reflected it but I was much more comfortable).
So the swim started and surprisingly it didn't feel too bad, the distance was 1000m and I was certainly one of the slowest swimmers there, but I was able to hold form longer than I previously had, and I spent significantly less time "recovering" with the backstroke than before. That said, when I got out of the water, I felt like it had been really slow relative to Reeds Lake, but there was no timer at the water and I had forgotten to start my stopwatch so I couldn't tell how long it had been. At some point during the swim, my poor stroke technique caused me to tweak my previously injured shoulder, but this is not uncommon during my swims so I didn't worry about it. T1 went smoothly but felt a little slow.
The bike course was certainly MUCH MUCH more difficult than Reeds Lake, or any other course I've ridden in my limited experience. It was 3 laps around a 6 mile loop. On the far end was a parking lot that we turned around in that had about 1/8th of a mile which was flat, the rest of the course was hills. There was also one false-flat that wasn't too bad, but the rest of the course was hills, including a couple that some people had to walk their bikes up. Oh, and it was a fairly winding course so there were some sharp turns at the bottom of tall hills which kept things interesting, especially when passing in those spots. My shoulder started bothering me on the first lap and was a constant source of annoyance but I was largely able to push it out of my mind. Overall, I felt pretty good about the effort that I put out, obviously being a slow swimmer most of the bikers were out on the course when I arrived and I fully expected to get passed by the race leaders coming around on their second and third laps. But I was only passed by 3 bikers during the entire race, and I passed quite a few more than that, maybe 12-15 total. T2 was slow.
Once I got out onto the run course I figured out why even the fast runners were slow on this course. It's a very hilly 5.75 mile trail run. So I felt the normal bike-run transition crappyness in my legs for about the first mile but then I started feeling really good. I was passing lots of people (many walking) and I was only passed by 2 guys. There were only going to be 3 aid stations so I had opted to take a Fuel Belt water flask and carry it in my jersey pocket, which turned out to be a great idea as there were a few times when that water was just what I needed to stay strong mentally.
Overall I felt really good during most of the race and met my goal of having fun. It was wonderful that my family made the 2.5+ hour drive out to watch me (seriously for a sprint?!?)
Here is the breakdown of my performance:
162 Finishers
1000m swim-
Time: 28:17
Rank: 133/162
T1: 1:34
18 mile bike:
Time: 1:00:05
Rate: 18 mph
Rank: 47/162
5.75 mile trail run:
Time: 51:08
Pace: 8:54
Rank: 46/162
Overall Time: 2:22:32
Overall Rank: 64/162
Gender Rank: 57/119
Age Group (20-24) Rank: 4/7
So overall I was very pleased with my performance, I had estimated a 2:35 finishing time and beat that by nearly 13 minutes. As expected the swim was by far my worst event and surprisingly, again, as at Reeds Lake, the run was my strongest. I would have expected my bike to be strongest since I admittedly have spent very little training time running relative to the amount that I spend biking. Based on my percentile ranks in each discipline (calculated but not included) I can infer that either the quality of competition was a bit stiffer at Reeds Lake (most likely) or my performance improved a bit on a tougher course (possible but unlikely in 2 wks). But I can't complain, it was a fun event and one that I'll probably want to do again next year.
My normal method for determining how I should perform is to look at previous years' results and, having a pretty good feeling for what my middle-of-the-pack status is, extrapolate my times base on the times of other people. It's a little complicated but it seems to work pretty well for me (see my Reeds Lake race report). Based on what I saw in the previous years' results I could tell that both the bike course and the run course must be significantly more difficult than those at Reeds Lake, the fastest bikers were averaging around 21 mph, and the fastest runners were right around a 7 minute pace. My goal was to place close to the level that I had achieved for the Reeds Lake race, placing a little more emphasis on the bike and run since most of my last two weeks' training time has been in those two disciplines. Based on my performance at Reeds Lake and the results from the previous year I calculated/estimated that the race should take me about 2:35 to complete.
I know the swim is my limiting event but, with the optimal weather for outdoor training in Michigan about to disappear, I want to spend as much time enjoying it as possible before I get stuck on a trainer and treadmill. I'm planning to join the local masters this winter and really put in some long yardage in the pool in hopes of shoring up my lack of skill in that discipline.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent...So for this race I made sure to be there with plenty of time to spare so that I wouldn't end up rushed and unprepared like I was at Reeds Lake. I found that taking my time and getting help with putting on the wetsuit made a huge difference in fit and mobility, I was using the same one as I had for Reeds Lake and this time it worked like a dream (not that my swim time reflected it but I was much more comfortable).
So the swim started and surprisingly it didn't feel too bad, the distance was 1000m and I was certainly one of the slowest swimmers there, but I was able to hold form longer than I previously had, and I spent significantly less time "recovering" with the backstroke than before. That said, when I got out of the water, I felt like it had been really slow relative to Reeds Lake, but there was no timer at the water and I had forgotten to start my stopwatch so I couldn't tell how long it had been. At some point during the swim, my poor stroke technique caused me to tweak my previously injured shoulder, but this is not uncommon during my swims so I didn't worry about it. T1 went smoothly but felt a little slow.
The bike course was certainly MUCH MUCH more difficult than Reeds Lake, or any other course I've ridden in my limited experience. It was 3 laps around a 6 mile loop. On the far end was a parking lot that we turned around in that had about 1/8th of a mile which was flat, the rest of the course was hills. There was also one false-flat that wasn't too bad, but the rest of the course was hills, including a couple that some people had to walk their bikes up. Oh, and it was a fairly winding course so there were some sharp turns at the bottom of tall hills which kept things interesting, especially when passing in those spots. My shoulder started bothering me on the first lap and was a constant source of annoyance but I was largely able to push it out of my mind. Overall, I felt pretty good about the effort that I put out, obviously being a slow swimmer most of the bikers were out on the course when I arrived and I fully expected to get passed by the race leaders coming around on their second and third laps. But I was only passed by 3 bikers during the entire race, and I passed quite a few more than that, maybe 12-15 total. T2 was slow.
Once I got out onto the run course I figured out why even the fast runners were slow on this course. It's a very hilly 5.75 mile trail run. So I felt the normal bike-run transition crappyness in my legs for about the first mile but then I started feeling really good. I was passing lots of people (many walking) and I was only passed by 2 guys. There were only going to be 3 aid stations so I had opted to take a Fuel Belt water flask and carry it in my jersey pocket, which turned out to be a great idea as there were a few times when that water was just what I needed to stay strong mentally.
Overall I felt really good during most of the race and met my goal of having fun. It was wonderful that my family made the 2.5+ hour drive out to watch me (seriously for a sprint?!?)
Here is the breakdown of my performance:
162 Finishers
1000m swim-
Time: 28:17
Rank: 133/162
T1: 1:34
18 mile bike:
Time: 1:00:05
Rate: 18 mph
Rank: 47/162
5.75 mile trail run:
Time: 51:08
Pace: 8:54
Rank: 46/162
Overall Time: 2:22:32
Overall Rank: 64/162
Gender Rank: 57/119
Age Group (20-24) Rank: 4/7
So overall I was very pleased with my performance, I had estimated a 2:35 finishing time and beat that by nearly 13 minutes. As expected the swim was by far my worst event and surprisingly, again, as at Reeds Lake, the run was my strongest. I would have expected my bike to be strongest since I admittedly have spent very little training time running relative to the amount that I spend biking. Based on my percentile ranks in each discipline (calculated but not included) I can infer that either the quality of competition was a bit stiffer at Reeds Lake (most likely) or my performance improved a bit on a tougher course (possible but unlikely in 2 wks). But I can't complain, it was a fun event and one that I'll probably want to do again next year.
2007 Reed's Lake Triathlon
Well here is my first attempt at a race report: On 9/8/07 I completed the Reeds Lake Triathlon. It was wonderful having so many friends and family there to cheer me on! I was placed in the first wave which meant that I was among the first in the water. The swim portion of the race felt the worst, the rented wetsuit that I was wearing was a size too small and severely restricted the movement of my arms making it very difficult to swim well. However, my training and the added buoyancy of the wetsuit helped me complete the 1/2 mile swim in just over 21 minutes, which was only 1 minute slower than my "best case scenario" time, so I was happy. I had been worried about getting out of the wetsuit since it can sometimes be quite a pain, but the Pam that I sprayed on my lower legs helped it to slip off my feet with no problem. My Transition 1 (T1)time was 1:55, which is REALLY fast for a total newbie like me (top 15% of the field for this event). The bike section felt really good, the error that I made was in not pushing myself harder at the beginning, I was trying to preserve energy for a big hill that I knew would be in the second half of the ride; as it turns out I had plenty of energy for the hill and some to spare at the end of the bike despite pushing hard for the rest of the distance after the hill. I finished the 17.2 mile bike course in just over 51 minutes which was still only 1 minute slower than my "best case scenario" time for that event as well. Coming into Transition 2 (T2) I had a clean bike dismount but then I ran my bike past my rack and had to backtrack which cost me at least 30 seconds, probably more. I started the run and it felt really slow, my weeks of 'brick' workouts paid off and my legs were able to handle the transition from bike to run without any problem, but I just felt like I was jogging. The whole run I felt really slow, but I focused on just running my own pace and picking "rabbits" in front of me to run down, most of the time I kept telling myself "it's all mental, just run faster." Well something must have worked because, despite feeling slow, I managed to finish the 4.9 mile run in just over 38 minutes which was 2 minutes faster than my "best case scenario" time.
Here is a breakdown/summary of my performance:
1011 Finishers
½ mile swim –
Time: 21:14
Rank: 851/1011
T1: 1:55
17.2 mile bike -
Time: 51:29
Rank: 401/1011
Rate: 20.12 mph
T2: 2:00
4.9 mile run –
Time: 38.27
Rank: 367/1011
Rate: 7:45/mile
Overall time: 1:55:09
Overall Rank: 444/1011
20-24 Age group rank: 31/50
Before the race I had determined that, based on my "best case scenario" times of 20 min swim, 50 min bike, and 40 min run, I should be able to finish the events in 1hr 50 min, but I failed to factor in transition times which meant my finishing time was almost exactly what I predicted based on my training. Clearly my swim has the most room for improvement and hopefully joining my local Master's swim program will go a long ways in helping me, but I also feel that just a little more bike training and a better bike race strategy could help me shave a few minutes off as well. The run will just take time and training to improve my pace, for this event I was very happy with how it went.
Ann Arbor Triathlon Club
The Ann Arbor Triathlon Club is here to promote the sport of triathlon - that means swimming, biking and running. We aim to help out established and aspiring triathletes with training events and social activities that encourage a healthy lifestyle. (Yes, ice cream is good for you!) This organization is a Club, not a team. Racing is not our main objective and we don't care if you've never participated in a triathlon (and don't have any plans to either!) However, many of our Club members do compete in triathlons and other races. We're a non-profit group run exclusively by volunteers and we strongly urge your participation. Your input is vital to the long-term success of the Club.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)