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2005 White Lake Sprint triathlonLast year, I did this race as my first race ever. My goal for this year was to do better than last year at each of the three disciplines. I didn't set specific time goals this year, but I did have a stretch goal of getting into the top 50% of my age group. Prerace: My early season training went well. I was running and biking more than last year, and I felt quite a bit stronger. I even managed to drop my weight faster than I had planned. Unfortunately, I got sick a few weeks before the race, right when I was planning to be at my peak training. I had to put my training in "maintenance mode" for the weeks leading up to the race. I also developed some kind of hip/glute/hamstring injury, and as a result I did very little running in the month before the race. Still, I felt like I was in good shape going into the race. I knew that on a good day I could beat my times from last year. The day before the race I had a MAJOR dietary and mental breakdown. A friend invited me to a local horse race, where I managed to drink a few beers, get sunburned, and make myself feel really depressed. In the 24 hours before the race, I ate a Subway sub, chips, five beers, handful of veggies, ice cream with chocolate freeze shell, and two hamburgers. Ughh! Race morning:I woke up at 5:00am to drive from my hotel to the race site. I'm really glad I got up so early, because I had time to talk myself out of the funk I had been in the day before. My race morning diet consisted of a Little Debbie's Oatmeal pie, and some Diet Coke. I was hoping to eat more, but I didn't want to risk stomach problems. I got to the race early (I was probably one of the first 20 people there), and I was able to set up my bike, get my timing chip, get body marked, then walk around a bit and get myself in a good mood.
Swim:
Last year I went out way
too slow, and ended up getting dropped by the lead pack of swimmers.
This year I was determined to stay with the
lead pack, even if I had to go hard to do it.
I didn't get a chance to do much of a warm-up, because the water was
COLD! The instant I got in the water, I got a
tight chest from the shock. I decided
to stay in one place and just bounce up and down. I probably looked silly, but I managed
to warm up a bit. When the horn went off, I
found a great set of feet and followed them all the way to the first turn.
I picked up another pair of feet after the
turnaround, and followed my new set of feet all the way home.
I got out of the water at 15:00, which was
slightly slower than last year. But
nobody from the wave behind me passed me, and I hadn't seen too many people
coming out when I was sighting on the last leg. Last year, a few guys from the wave behind had passed me before I
got out of the water. So I felt that my
swim ranking in my age group was probably good even though my time was
slower. Swim stats: 15:56, 16/46 AG (Age Group), 117/340 OA
(Overall). Top half both AG and
OA! Woohoo! T1: T1 was fairly
smooth. My bike rack was near the bike
start/end, so I didn't have to do much running with my bike. I also switched to riding without socks, and
starting with my shoes already on my bike.
It took me a few extra seconds to get my wetsuit off, and I wasn't
running very fast in the transition area, but I still managed the 8th best T1
time in my age group. No complaints
here. The only problem was that it took
me too long to get into my shoes once I was on the bike. T1 stats:
1:46, 8/46 AG, 51/340 OA. Go me! Bike: My training suggested to
me that I was in good shape on the bike.
I was holding a faster speed on my trainer than last year, and Debra was
feeling very, very comfortable. The
night before the race, I noticed that the bike course was slightly longer than
last year. This was fine with me,
because the bike leg is definitely my favorite. When I got on my bike, I hammered like mad. The expression people often use is
"ride it like you just stole it."
Well, I did. Two guys passed me
immediately out of T1 (as I was getting in my shoes), but I managed to catch
them again by the end of the first lap.
Other than these two guys, only four guys passed me on the bike. Three of the guys were from the wave behind
me, and they had disc wheels. One guy
was from my wave, but he had a tricked out Cannondale. So for the second year in a row, nobody
passed me unless they were on a fancier bike :-). I felt really, really good on Debra. None of the age group females caught me on the bike this
year. Last year, they were catching me
by the middle of the second bike lap.
On the one hand, I was happy that I was riding so fast. But on the other hand... riding behind the
lead age group females is fun. [Use
your dirty little imagination to figure out why] Bike stats: 39:00, 13/46
AG, 84/340 OA. Top 1/3 both AG and OA! T2: This one was a little bit slower than it should have been. After the problems I had coming out of T1, I didn't want to risk problems in T2. I decided to keep my shoes on my feet instead of trying to take them off while I was still on the bike. This probably cost me at least 10-15 seconds, but it was much less error-prone. I had planned on doing my runs sockless for the last month or so before the race, but as I mentioned earlier, my training schedule was interrupted with illness and injury. So I had to take extra time to put on socks in T2. T2 stats: 1:28, 24/46 AG, 207/340 OA. With better prep, I can surely knock some time off my T2. Run: I felt fairly good coming
off the bike. My first 1/2 mile on the
run was great. My legs were turning
over nicely, and I felt strong. After
the first 1/2 mile, I started to feel sluggish, and I couldn't pick up my
effort until I hit the turnaround. I
was feeling great about the fact that I had still not been passed by a single
female. Last year, there was a steady
stream of female age groupers going past me by the middle of the run. I knew the bike was a bit longer than last
year, and I knew that I had done well on the bike, but I was still surprised
that none of the women had passed me.
My time at the run turnaround suggested that I was within seconds of my
time from last year. Hrmmm.... As I started back to the finish line, I saw
that there was a huge pack of people about three minutes behind me. I turned up the effort a bit to try and hold
them off. I also noticed a masters
elite female ahead of me, looking like she was having a rough day.
I thought it was be much fun to catch
someone from the wave before mine.
The wave before mine is the elite wave, so I never get a chance to pass people.
By the run finish, I was within 5 yards of the elite female, but didn't catch
her. Oh well.
Final run stats: 24:20 (45 seconds faster than last year),
32/46 AG (lower than last year!), 191/340 OA.
I felt good about being 45 seconds faster, but can't explain how my
rankings declined. Must... run...
more... Final thoughts:
My final time of 1:22:28 was good enough to hold 13/46 in my AG, 102/340
OA. Top 1/3rd in both! I'm very happy about this result. Top half would have made me happy, top 1/3rd
makes me wonder if top 25% is possible?
With better race prep, more weight loss, and (most importantly) better
run training, I think I can make it. My
swim and bike ranks were up sharply from last year. My run rank, while lower than last year, came after a 45 second
improvement. Lessons learned:
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