Webster Lake Sprint Tri Race Report

Two weeks after Rev3 I was back in action at the Webster Sprint Triathlon.  But not without more running troubles.  Right after Rev3 I was having a lot of pain with my hip flexor and I finally went to see a doctor.  While he couldn’t conclusively say what the issue was, I was put on rest for a week and then was allowed to slowly start running again, doing a run/walk combo.

 

So in the month prior to Webster I had only run four times, with Rev3 being one of the four.  The doctor said I could do the race as long as I took it easy on the run, since it was less than 3 miles.

 

Swim – 1/2 mile – 12:08, 1:23/100y (2010 – 11:36, 1:19/100y)

I got stuck on the outside going around the first buoy and the course seemed a little longer than last year, but certainly not a half mile.  I was not as fast relative to the field as I was in 2010 and I think a lot of it was not being aggressive enough to try to get on the fast swimmer’s feet.

 

Coming out of the water

T1 – 3:51 (2010 – 4:01)

Last year my feet were brutalized by the 1/4 mile chip sealed road to transition.  This year I tried leaving shoes at the edge of the beach for the run, but putting shoes on and off was only marginally faster than running on the gravelly road.

Bike – 12 miles – 35:25, 20.3 mph (2010 – 35:38, 20.2 mph)

The bike is a tricky course, with a fairly steep half mile climb followed by a steep descent with a 90 degree turn.  From there it is gently rolling back to T2.  It is important to go hard on the hill but leave plenty in the tank as 60% of the course is on the flats after the hill.  This year it was also a headwind on the flat section.  I had a strong rider pass me early on and I was able to use him as a carrot to keep my effort up.  I ended up with the second best split in my age group and top 25 overall.  I was pleased with this part of the race.

 

Checking for traffic before swinging out to cut the apex into T2

T2 – 1:00 (2010 – 0:40)

At this point I mentally shut down the “racing”.  I took my time getting my shoes on and elected to run in more cushioned shoes without speed laces on.  This slowed my T2 relative to the prior year. 

Run – 2.75 miles – 22:38, 8:13/mile (2010 – 23:04, 8:20/mile)

For the run my plan was to just cruise at 9:00 pace but I was creeping toward 8:30 unless I was staring at the Garmin.  My main focus was to just keep the effort in check and avoid any further injuries. 

 

Heading out onto the run

 

With about 1/4 mile to go I accelerated a little keep a few people behind me and ended up with a very comfortable 8:13 average and no issues with the leg.

Crossing the line

 

While my time was just about the same as 2010, I enjoyed a day racing and getting back to running without any pain. 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				15		217
Swim	12:08	1/2 mile	1:23/100yd	8	53%	78	36%
T1	3:51			6	40%	79	36%
Bike	35:25	12 miles	20.3 mph	2	13%	24	11%
T2	1:00			8	53%	112	52%
Run	22:38	2.75 miles	8:13/mile	11	73%	113	52%
Total	1:15:04			6	40%	53	24%

 

Here you can see the time lost on the swim and T2 against 2010’s performance, but with the faster T1, bike and run it was almost a dead heat!

Read more...

Rev3 Race Report

The first B race of the year was June 4th at Rev3.  Unlike in 2010, this was not the focus race for the first part of the year as I chose to focus on Providence 70.3.  Instead, this was a priority training race where I was hoping to better my times from last year.  Going into the race I had a setback with my run training after Shamrock.  In the two weeks in-between I only got in 2 shorts runs and cancelled a planned 5k on Memorial Day to ensure I hit Rev3 ready to run.

 

This year’s race had very different weather than last year with much cooler temperatures and a bit of a headwind on the second half of the bike.

 

Swim – 1500 meters – 32:00, 1:57/100y (2010 – 28:44, 1:45/100y)

Swim start:

I lined up on the inside hoping to cut inside the first buoy on my way to the first right turn.  Had a good start and felt like I was holding a pretty good pace.

However, on the last leg I made a bit of a mess of picking the right line.  I tried to swim straight at the swim exit from the orange buoy.  What I forgot was there was a dock and a line of buoys (in yellow below).  So I swam a line roughly like the green one below.  Although it bypasses a directional buoy the faster line is clearly the red line.  This cost me a bunch of time and led to a really slow swim, more than 3 minutes slower than last year.  This is something to remember for next time, although spotting the dock while swimming is tough. 

Nearing the end, in the blue cap:

Disgusted with swim split:

 

Time to get my hustle on:

T1 – 3:13 (2010 – 2:35)

Good news here as I was 45 seconds faster than last year.

 

Bike – 25.68 miles – 1:21:43, 18.86 mph (2010 – 1:24:54, 18.23 mph)

Had a much faster bike split than last year, at a lower average heart rate so I was pleased with the bike.   The course is very hilly, so while the average speed doesn’t seem very high it was a top 25% overall split.  I also passed 1/3 of the people who came out of the water in front of me.  Unfortunately the only picture from the bike is coming out of T1:

T2 – 1:17 (2010 – 1:27)

Again, slightly faster than 2010.

 

Run – 6.2 miles – 53:54, 8:40/mile (2010 – 58:44, 9:28/mile)

I wasn’t sure how I would fare on the run with minimal training the two week’s prior to the race.  The first part of the run is slightly downhill for the first 2 miles.  My first mile was very quick at about 7:37.  I figured I would take advantage of the downhill while I could, as it gets very hilly at the 2 mile mark.  Despite a quick bathroom stop I still managed a 8:14 second mile.  The third mile gains 150 feet in 4/10 of a mile before heading back downhill.  I still managed to keep a 9:08 pace.

 

Then it gets nasty.  Another 170 foot hill in the 4th mile.  This slowed me down to a 9:32 pace and I even had to walk a few steps on the steepest section, something I didn’t have to do in 2010.  The fifth mile starts with a steep downhill (below, left) and then keeps heading down at a gradual rate.  I got back on track here with a 8:04 fifth mile.  Then in the 6th mile it’s one last 120 foot hill to the finish.  Pushed hard up this hill to get a 8:58 mile.  Then coming off the hill its 1/4 mile to the line.  I had some guys hot on my heels (below, right) and I really pushed it hard to the line, averaging 6:35 pace in the last quarter mile.

Just before the final turn to the finish:

Trying not to stumble down the dirt path:

Done:   

 

 

Although my time was better than last year, the % results were actually slightly worse.  Last year I was top 55% age group and top 34% overall.  I think a lot of people are bringing their A game to this race and now in it’s third year people are probably getting more familiar with the hill training required to do well here.

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				60		539
Swim	32:00	1500 meters	1:57/100yd	51	85%	352	65%
T1	3:13			45	75%	n/a
Bike	1:21:43	25.68 miles	18.86 mph	26	43%	136	25%
T2	1:17			11	18%	n/a
Run	25:14	6.2 miles	8:40/mile	45	75%	267	50%
Total	2:52:07			40	67%	205	38%

 

This chart shows 2011 as the base line in red.  The 2010 line in blue shows the massive time loss on the swim and the faster other phases leading to a faster time overall.

Read more...

Shamrock Duathlon Race Report

One week after Queens, I raced the Shamrock Duathlon in Glastonbury, CT.  The races are advertised as almost identical 3/17/3 duathlons.  However, the second run was longer than advertised at Shamrock, by almost a 1/3 of a mile – more on that later.  The major difference between the races was the course profile.  While Queens has a very hilly run and mostly flat bike, Shamrock was a more rolling run and hilly bike.  The idea is this would be a good prep race for Rev3’s challenging course in 2 weeks.  Shamrock is also a bigger event with 3 times the number of competitors that raced in Queens.

 

Run 1 – 3.1 miles - 24:19 - 7:48/mile

I lined up on the inside a few rows back at the start.

The start was downhill so I got up to speed quickly and had to dial back the pace to get into a more sustainable pace.  I was targeting a 8:00 flat pace and was holding that pace pretty easily on the flats.  On the rollers I had to work a bit harder to stay on pace, but with the large field it was easy to pick pacers to work off.

 

Approaching T1.  The red numbers were running a 5K, green numbers were in the duathlon.

 

Love this picture:

 

I wrapped up the first run just under my target pace, but well back in my age group – 14/18.  I was expecting to be well back in my age group as the prior year results showed some very fast times.  I was about midpack overall, 158/342.

 

T1 – 1:05

Had a pretty good transition.  It was a long run thru with only 1 rack in each row.  I made up 20 spots overall and 1 in my age group.

 

Bike – 17 miles – 51:58 – 19.63 mph

I was familiar with the bike course, as these are roads I ride frequently.  Lots of uphill in the first half, with a steep downhill then mostly flat to the finish.

The legs did not feel good coming out of transition.  I was really struggling to get up to speed.  The heart rate was high and the speed was low.  I think it was the false flats and the wind that was making it feel like I was stuck in molasses.  I figured once I got on the long hill at the 3 mile mark I would start to pass the riders around me.  However, I didn’t really pass anyone on the hill and even got passed by several more riders.  I just kept spinning my gears at a high cadence, as I knew there was a lot more uphill all the way to the 8 mile mark and I didn’t want to go over red line.

 

Sure enough, after a brief respite, I started to make some headway at the 5 mile mark.  We made a right turn there and I think it was enough of a change in direction to get me out of the wind.  I started to really get moving and my mood improved with every rider I passed.  Being familiar with the downhill I bombed down it, touching over 40mph.

 

Now on the flats, all my aero gear was taking over and I got into a good rhythm and was able to push hard.  I was holding a steady of speed of 24mph on the flats and was flying toward T2.

 

Based on my training rides, I thought 19mph would be a good target and I was slightly ahead of that.  I passed 9 guys in my age group and 68 overall on the bike which gave me the 3rd best bike in my age group and 43rd overall.

 

Approaching T2:

The support crew is taking some amazing photos this year:

 

T2 – 0:57

Another fast transition – top 6% overall - saw me make up 6 spots overall, but none in my age group.  The other guys in my age group were well up the road.

 

Run 2 – 3.33 miles – 25:14 – 7:35/mile

My goal for the second run was to run as fast as possible and try to make it inside 1:45:00 overall.  Based on my first run and bike I knew it was possible. 

 

Again I took off quickly down the first hill.  The downhill helped me get a nice stable heart rate quickly off the bike.  I felt pretty comfortable.

I started to get passed by a few runners, but I identified someone running a similar pace up the road.  I then just set off to catch this person but they were holding a very even pace.  It took me 1.5 miles to catch them but it provided a good carrot for me to use.  I was now at the 2 mile mark, and supposedly 1 mile from the finish line. 

 

I was running behind another guy with no one else really behind me.  Mentally I keyed on this guy as it seemed like it was the only person I could pass before the finish.  I ran off his shoulder for a little bit then put a surge on him for 10 strides.  I heard him groan and felt pretty good about actually racing someone on the run.  It was now a steady downhill to the left turn for the finish.  I just focused on keeping this guy behind me for the next half mile – 3.5 minutes or so.

 

What I didn’t know was that I didn’t have a half mile to the finish, I had 3/4 of a mile.  Somehow I was able to keep up my pace – I think it was the anger of the course being measured so incorrectly.  After the final riser (at the 3 mile mark), I held well under 7:00/mile pace all the way to the finish.

 

In the end I was reeling in this guy, who had passed me early in the run (if you look at the first photo for run #2 you can see him 2 runners behind me):

Final sprint across the park:

I was pretty happy with the second run.  Not only did I run it at a faster pace then the first run, but I accelerated thru each mile.  My run was 7/18 in my age group and 105/342 overall.  I lost 1 spot in my age group and 8 overall – not bad for me!

 

After the race my support crew was dying to try the race sponsor’s beer – Ten Penny Ale.  She reports it was very tasty.  Although these 2 ladies didn’t look impressed with 9am drinking. 

 

Overall I was pretty happy with the results.  I got the fast bike I was looking for and my runs were good for me.  I beat my goal time and stacked up pretty well in a big field.

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				18		342
Run 1	24:19	3.1 miles	7:48/mile	14	78%	158	46%
T1	1:05			4	11%	37	11%
Bike	51:58	17 miles	20.6 mph	3	16%	43	13%
T2	0:57			3	16%	22	6%
Run 2	25:14	3.33 miles	7:35/mile	7	39%	105	31%
Total	1:43:30			5	28%	72	21%

 

Here is the cumulative times thru each checkpoint for the final top 10 in my age group.  I am the red line.  Although I was the slowest on run 1, I moved ahead of 6 guys by the end of the bike, and was re-passed by 1 guy on the second run.

Read more...