Queens Biathlon Race Report

On May 15th, I headed down to NYC to race the Queens Biathlon.  This was one of my favorite races from the prior year as it gives me a chance not only to catch up with my brother who lives in Astoria – but also because the race is good preparation for Rev3.  The run is very hilly – featuring 2 sharp climbs per 5k run lap plus a long climb on each of the 2 bike laps on the Cross Island Parkway.  I had a good performance the prior year and was looking to improve my times in each discipline.

 

The day dawned with a lovely 50 degree rain and foggy conditions.  With my 2 person support crew we made the short drive to the race from my brothers’ place.  Luckily the worst of the rain stayed away from where the support crew was stationed.

 

Run #1 – 24:43, 7:57/mile (2010 – 26:40, 8:35/mile)

The run starts with a quick twisty downhill and I went out pretty fast.  I was averaging a sub 6 minute mile pace for the first 1/3 of a mile before I was able to get my pace under control. 

 

Here is a shot just after the start:

I had to really run pretty easy to get my pace down to my target speed.  With the tough course I knew I couldn’t be at my limit before I approached the first uphill.  The uphill was longer than I remembered, almost a full half mile but the first run up actually went well.  I was able to keep the heart rate under control and the pace below 8:30.  On the way back I was really trying to just cruise down the big hill and keep my feet under me.  On the shorter but steeper climb up to transition my pace dropped a bit, but I was still ahead of my target. 

 

Approaching T1:

I was pretty satisfied with the first run, as I had managed the hills well and was ready to put in a big effort on the bike.  I finished about midfield, 11/22 in my age group and 56/134 overall.

 

Run #1 splits:

 

T1 – 0:59 (2010 – 1:00)

T1 was not exceptional, another mid-pack effort.  I felt slow because I was putting my shoes in and out of a plastic bag to try to keep them dry from the rain we saw on the radar before the start.  I am amazed that with the fiddling around I was faster than last year.  Perhaps it was the placement of my bike in the racks.  It was a free for all, so I put my bike in the rack closest to bike in/out which meant I didn’t need to run the bike thru much of the transition area.

 

Bike – 51:28, 20.6 mph (2010 – 52:29, 20.1 mph)

Last year I had the fastest bike in my age group and I had no intention of going slower this year.  Although there was less consistent wind this year, it was much gustier and at the northern end of the course it was very wet.

 

Heading out of T1:

I went out pretty quickly and was holding a fast pace out to the first turnaround at the 4.5 mile mark.  After the turn around I was passed by a guy holding a pace just faster than I had been riding at.  I decided to try to use him to push my pace a little harder.  I kept him in sight and just focused on trying to keep as aero as possible.

 

Approaching the second turnaround at the 9 mile mark there is a 200 foot climb over a half mile which is a place I use to make up ground on the slower climbers. 

 

Heading up the hill with my pacer at the extreme left:

Rounding the flare and heading out for another lap:

Stalking my pacer right after the turnaround.  Notice the 2 different photo angles.  Both support crew members made the trek down to the turnaround from the transition area.

Lap 2 was much the same as Lap 1 although it was about 1:15 slower.  With Lap 2 completed it was time to take the Grand Central Parkway service road back to transition.  This is another steady uphill:

Brother snapping a few photos on the way by:

I nearly caught up to my pacer by the top of this hill.  I was just over a minute faster than last years time and managed to have the fastest split in my age group again, this time by more than 2:15 over second place.  I was also 12/134 overall.

 

T2  - 0:42 (2010 - 0:43)

My T2 time was much better relative to the field, with both overall and age group rankings around top 20%.

 

Run #2 – 25:51, 8:19/mile (2010 – 27:46, 8:46/mile)

As always, the overall result would be decided by my performance on the second run.  I tried to coast down the first steep downhill but was beset by cramps in my calf.  I was able to prevent a total lock-up with some ginger strides and it felt better once I got off the downhill.  I recovered a bit on the flat before the uphill and then tried to push on the climb to limit my losses.  I was working hard but my pace just wasn’t there and I was much slower up the climb.  Once on top I focused on regaining a quick cadence and getting back on target pace. 

 

Just before the turnaround some guy was pointing at everyone and telling them what place they were in.  He pointed at me and said 25.  I was surprised but it didn’t seem incorrect.  I saw a guy ahead running about the same pace so I tried to work up to him.  I reached him just before the downhill and moved by him.  At the same time a few racers came by me.  I was still holding on to top 30.

 

As I climbed the final hill to transition, I was passed one more time.  There was no body marking at this race, and at that point I couldn’t respond to the pass.  Once it leveled out I tried to accelerate but couldn’t quite reach this late passer.  This would prove unfortunate as this was actually 3rd place in my age group passing me with just 1/10 mile to go!

 

Approaching the finish chute:

It seems like the guy couldn’t count to 25 though, because I thought I finished 32nd, but in the end it was 29th.  This was a big improvement from 58th the prior year.  I was disappointed to miss out on the podium by such a narrow margin (7 seconds).  My second run was slightly more competitive, right around top 1/3 of the field in both my age group and overall.

 

Run splits

 

 

Final stats:

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				22		134
Run 1	24:43	3.1 miles	7:57/mile	11	50%	56	42%
T1	0:59			9	41%	46	34%
Bike	51:28	17.5 miles	20.6 mph	1	0%	12	9%
T2	0:42			5	23%	26	19%
Run 2	25:51	3.1 miles	8:19/mile	8	36%	45	34%
Total	1:43:44			4	11%	29	22%

 

2011 performance vs 2010 performance.  As you can see I was almost 2 minutes faster on each run and 1 min faster on the bike.  (Blue line is how much further behind I was then 2011’s time):

 

Here is the top 10 competitors cumulative times versus the winner.  I am the red line.  Notice how I went from 10th to 2nd after bike and then gave up 2 spots on run.  You can see the 3rd and 4th place lines crossing right at the finish, that was the age group guy pass.

 

Overall I was happy with the improvement from 2010 and felt like I got in a high quality training race that will serve me well in the upcoming weeks.  Thanks to my 2 member support crew for braving the miserable conditions.