Rodney T. Miller Decatur Lakeside Tri - .75 mile swim, 19 mile bike, 4 mile run. 1st year race in the memory of a local police officer/triathlete that was killed in the line of duty last year. A spectacular event, considering it was the first year they ran it. That could be due to the fact that there were 40+ police officers and firefighters volunteering to staff the bike and run portions, along with setup and teardown. They did a great job paying tribute to their lost friend.
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Short version -
Swim: 22:52 (1:44/100, 44th overall)
T1: 0:50 (9th overall ? Tie)
Bike: 48:24 (23.55 mph, 6th overall)
T2: 0:49 (23rd overall ? Tie)
Run: 27:38 (6:55/mile, 26th overall)
Total: 1:40:33
Overall: 11/228
AG: 3/17
Long version ?
Breakfast: Oatmeal and a glass of milk, water, 1 gel an hour before the race.
Swim (.75 mile or 1320yds):
The water was a perfect 73 degrees and although many chose to use a wetsuit, I went without. I started in the 2nd wave and managed to get a spot on the inside at the front. At the gun, I went out hard and stayed pretty close to the front of my wave, quickly catching the slowest swimmers in the first wave after starting 3 minutes back. Amazing that I didn?t have all that great a swim time and I still passed quite a lot of folks that were wearing wetsuits. My main concern for this swim was to keep my broken toe from getting smacked by anyone at the start. Mission accomplished. The only real issues I had were getting boxed in by a few people as I was passing them and getting pushed into one of the buoys. I?m not completely thrilled with my swim time, but I can?t complain too much since I never practice OW swims due to the closest available place to train being over an hour away.
T1: I had planned on leaving my shoes clipped in and using the elastic trick that Flip instructed me on, however I thought better after seeing the hill that you have to climb upon leaving transition. No way would I be comfortable going up a hill that steep with me feet on top of my shoes. Still, I?m pleased with my time.
Bike (19 miles): A very hilly course for central IL, and most of the out portion being uphill into a 15 mph wind didn?t help anyone?s time. My goal was to hammer and catch as many as possible. Although I was pushing, I felt like I was just barely crawling and wasn?t too happy to see an average of just over 21mph on the out trip. As we all know, the wind never helps you as much as it hurts you, which was definitely the case on this course. I was hoping to average a little over 24mph, but I?m satisfied with the 23.55 considering I know I was pushing as hard as possible according to both feel and what the heart rate monitor was telling me.
T2: The only nice thing about there being a good hill as you leave T1, is that it?s downhill coming in for T2. I pulled my feet out and coasted the last 60yds or so, hopping off the bike at a run being careful not to snag my broken toe on anything this time. Helmet off, shoes on, grab the sunglasses and race belt and go.
Run (4 miles): I had a few people I was trying to catch on the run, but my main focus was to keep a sub 7:00 pace. Although I was catching them, I never actually caught them. Since the run takes place on the first 2 miles of the bike route, it is also pretty hilly for central IL, which made this race hurt. I hurt, and made it hurt more. I?ve never ran sub 7:00 in a tri run longer than 2 miles, but I was determined to get it here. I latched on to one of my club teammates that had started in the first wave and tried to keep him within sight the entire run. At mile three, my right quad started cramping up on me and the last 2 hills didn?t help, but I saw how close I was, so there was no way I was going to slow down. I know the cramping problems were due to me running out of and not having any HEED to drink on the bike. I?ve been known to cramp up on the run and the HEED is the only thing I?ve found that prevents that. I just had to push through the pain and that?s what I did, finally meeting that goal.
Post race: One of my big goals for this year was to AG place in every race, and I just barely made it for this one, but I still made it. The next race will be even harder, but it is doable. I guess I?m going to have to travel a bit in the next 2 weeks to get some OW practice in before then. My pool times aren?t converting over to the OW times, so it?s got to be lack of practice, which can be corrected if I can convince the wife to let me travel a bit.
Thanks for reading.
------------------
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My Profile[/URL" target="_blank">
My Tri Club[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by xflbk432 (edited Jul-02-2007).
Resulst can also be found here: http://www.decaturtriathlon.com/[/URL" target="_blank">
Short version -
Swim: 22:52 (1:44/100, 44th overall)
T1: 0:50 (9th overall ? Tie)
Bike: 48:24 (23.55 mph, 6th overall)
T2: 0:49 (23rd overall ? Tie)
Run: 27:38 (6:55/mile, 26th overall)
Total: 1:40:33
Overall: 11/228
AG: 3/17
Long version ?
Breakfast: Oatmeal and a glass of milk, water, 1 gel an hour before the race.
Swim (.75 mile or 1320yds):
The water was a perfect 73 degrees and although many chose to use a wetsuit, I went without. I started in the 2nd wave and managed to get a spot on the inside at the front. At the gun, I went out hard and stayed pretty close to the front of my wave, quickly catching the slowest swimmers in the first wave after starting 3 minutes back. Amazing that I didn?t have all that great a swim time and I still passed quite a lot of folks that were wearing wetsuits. My main concern for this swim was to keep my broken toe from getting smacked by anyone at the start. Mission accomplished. The only real issues I had were getting boxed in by a few people as I was passing them and getting pushed into one of the buoys. I?m not completely thrilled with my swim time, but I can?t complain too much since I never practice OW swims due to the closest available place to train being over an hour away.
T1: I had planned on leaving my shoes clipped in and using the elastic trick that Flip instructed me on, however I thought better after seeing the hill that you have to climb upon leaving transition. No way would I be comfortable going up a hill that steep with me feet on top of my shoes. Still, I?m pleased with my time.
Bike (19 miles): A very hilly course for central IL, and most of the out portion being uphill into a 15 mph wind didn?t help anyone?s time. My goal was to hammer and catch as many as possible. Although I was pushing, I felt like I was just barely crawling and wasn?t too happy to see an average of just over 21mph on the out trip. As we all know, the wind never helps you as much as it hurts you, which was definitely the case on this course. I was hoping to average a little over 24mph, but I?m satisfied with the 23.55 considering I know I was pushing as hard as possible according to both feel and what the heart rate monitor was telling me.
T2: The only nice thing about there being a good hill as you leave T1, is that it?s downhill coming in for T2. I pulled my feet out and coasted the last 60yds or so, hopping off the bike at a run being careful not to snag my broken toe on anything this time. Helmet off, shoes on, grab the sunglasses and race belt and go.
Run (4 miles): I had a few people I was trying to catch on the run, but my main focus was to keep a sub 7:00 pace. Although I was catching them, I never actually caught them. Since the run takes place on the first 2 miles of the bike route, it is also pretty hilly for central IL, which made this race hurt. I hurt, and made it hurt more. I?ve never ran sub 7:00 in a tri run longer than 2 miles, but I was determined to get it here. I latched on to one of my club teammates that had started in the first wave and tried to keep him within sight the entire run. At mile three, my right quad started cramping up on me and the last 2 hills didn?t help, but I saw how close I was, so there was no way I was going to slow down. I know the cramping problems were due to me running out of and not having any HEED to drink on the bike. I?ve been known to cramp up on the run and the HEED is the only thing I?ve found that prevents that. I just had to push through the pain and that?s what I did, finally meeting that goal.
Post race: One of my big goals for this year was to AG place in every race, and I just barely made it for this one, but I still made it. The next race will be even harder, but it is doable. I guess I?m going to have to travel a bit in the next 2 weeks to get some OW practice in before then. My pool times aren?t converting over to the OW times, so it?s got to be lack of practice, which can be corrected if I can convince the wife to let me travel a bit.
Thanks for reading.
------------------
For great travel deals go to: My Website[/URL" target="_blank">
My Profile[/URL" target="_blank">
My Tri Club[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by xflbk432 (edited Jul-02-2007).
