Date: August 3, 2014
Location: Ithaca, NY
Time: 2:53:57
Overall Rank: 108 out of 248
Age Group Rank: 13 out of 18
Results: https://results.score-this.com/SearchresultsPageMS5split.html?raceid=20140803CAYG&yr=2014
My second triathlon of the year has come and gone. I miss it
already, even though I have two more lined up over the next 7 weeks. I miss the
excitement and anticipation that builds up in the days before the race, and the
sense of accomplishment that comes on rac
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| I pose with my family before the triathlon |
SWIM 1500m (0.9
miles) in 29:27—
I ranked 5th out of 18 (top 28%) in my age group.
The course was an out-and-back route. Buoys were placed in a straight line
every 50 meters, and there was a rope that ran between each one with floats in
between. This rope was a center line and acted to separate the swimmers going
out and the swimmers coming back. The placement of this rope will have some
significance later in my report.
The 8:05am heat consisted of all men aged 25-44 years old;
there were 66 swimmers in this group. I made sure to get near the front of the
group before the starting signal, and I was also positioned fairly close to the
center line. This was part of my strategy, as I had looked up last year’s race
results to see how competitive I would be (assuming the field of competitors is
about the same each year). I saw that compared to last year’s swimmers in my
age group, I would be around the top 33% of finishers, so at the starting line
I wanted to place myself about a third of the way from the front of the group.
I felt really confident with the swim today, so I actually moved to a position
just behind the leaders. At the start of the swim I was able to stay close to
the lead for a period of time, thus avoiding a lot of the turbulence and person-to-person
contact that occurs in the larger “peloton” of swimmers.
I soon got into a sustainable rhythm. The water was quite
smooth and flat and I didn’t notice any current or waves until after the
turn-around point when swimmers going the opposite direction on the other side
of the dividing rope started making waves. The water temperature was 69
degrees, and my wetsuit handled that easily. I felt comfortable and tried to
keep my mind occupied with positive thoughts about the upcoming bike and run
segments. I never veered too far off course because the buoys were easy to see
during my breath cycle. However, there was a time after the turn-around point
that I got too close to the center line. My right hand and arm got tangled in
the rope for a moment and then two strokes later I struck one of the bigger
buoys while my right arm was out of the water. I feel kind of dumb for doing
that, but I was trying to thread the needle between a slower swimmer on my left
and the buoy on my right and I guess I got too far to the right. It was during
one of these collisions with rope and/or buoy that I sprained my right thumb.
It must have bent a little too far in a direction it wasn’t mean to go. I did not
realize I was injured until I started my bike ride about 10 minutes later.
Coming out of the water was a great feeling. There was a
huge crowd of spectators that were cheering. Looking at the results for all age
groups and heats, I was actually the 23rd person to emerge from the
water. Since the 645 race participants
did not all start at the same time, this does not mean I was the 23rd
fastest swimmer (actually, I was in the top 19%), but it sure gave me a boost
of adrenaline to see only 22 competitors were in front of me!
T1 in 2:47—
I ran to the transition zone, stripped off the wetsuit, and
mounted my bike. At this point, with me being so far ahead of everyone else,
nearly all the bikes were still racked and I didn’t have to weave around my
competitors. For what it’s worth, the
time I spent in transition ranked 13 out of 18 in my age group. I am always a bit
slow in transition, but I felt so out of breath that I didn’t want to go
faster, even if I could. I was still really out of breath for the first mile on
the bike.
BIKE 39 km (24.3
miles) in 1:20:17, averaging 18.2 mph—
The bike route started uphill almost immediately. The
MapMyRide website indicates this climb is 1.6 miles at a grade of 2.9%, which
classifies it as a Category 5. It was on this climb that I realized my thumb
was injured because it hurt to put my hand on the “hoods” of the handlebars
(there are three hand positions on a road bike, and the hoods are where I place
my hands during climbs). I compensated by using the “drops” handlebar position,
but I am less practiced in shifting gears when in the drops so at mile 4—now
descending after the climbing the first big hill—I didn’t push the shift level
completely and my chain dropped off the front crank. I could have coasted down the hill to the
bottom and fixed the chain there, but I decided to stop on the hill so that
once it was fixed I could recoup my lost time by powering down the hill. I
think this was wise. It took only 10 seconds to fix the problem and during that
time only two cyclists zoomed past. They likely would have passed me anyway.
There were very few cyclists ahead of me at this point. I
was alone on the route much of the time. Once in a while someone would pass me,
but I never felt bad about this because they were really speeding by. I was not
in their league!
At mile 9 the route took a 90-degree turn into the Sheldrake
community and then there is a steep descent followed by another 90-degree turn
at the bottom of the hill. I have good handling skills and took the second turn
at 29 mph with no fear. A motorcyclist with a photographer hanging off the back
was taking my picture. I was overcome with emotion then; at this point I was
literally having the best race of my life and I was nearly halfway through the
race.
Such feelings would not last. At mile 12 I started to notice
more cyclists pass me by as we started up another hill. And between miles 14 and 18 there was a
steady but shallow climb that looked flat to me but I just couldn’t get any
speed. My lower back started to hurt from being in a bent-over position for so
long. I was using the drops and aerobars far more today than I ever had on my
training rides. At home, I can’t find a road flat and straight enough to be in
this position for very long before needing to brake or shift. My back hurt and
now my legs would not generate the pedaling power I was accustomed to. In fact,
I was starting to feel leg cramps develop, so I ingested a packet of gel to
supply some nutrition. More people were passing me. At mile 23 I started the
steep descent to the transition zone. I had to decide whether to coast at about
26 mph down the hill, or pedal down the hill to get my speed into the mid 30s.
If I continued to pedal, I would not be resting my legs in preparation for the
run segment. But part of me wanted to stay competitive and keep my speed up.
Being the indecisive person that I am, I did a little bit of pedaling and
coasting. The race has turned a little sour with my back pain and weak legs,
but speeding down this hill was still a lot of fun.
T2 in 1:33—
It was time to shed my helmet and change my shoes. My
transition time was not too bad; I ranked 9 out of 18 in my age group. I could
have saved a few seconds by starting to run immediately, but I took a few
walking strides to test out my muscles. All seemed well enough so I started to
run.
RUN 10 km (6.2 miles)
in 59:53 at a 9:40 min/mile pace—
 |
| I just wasn't having a good time at this point. |
I usually get cramps in my calf muscles at the very start of
the run segment after biking, but not this time. I started with a burst of
renewed energy and felt ok for the first mile. But I got discouraged at the
mile 2 marker because I felt I had been running longer than I had. My pace was
still reasonable. Using my watch, I figured I was doing an 8:30 min/mile pace
for the first two miles. But I got slower and slower. All kinds of people were
passing me on the dirt trail: tall ones, old ones, young ones, people in knee
braces, people jumping in potato sacks. [That last one’s just a joke]. One of
the volunteers commented on my “relaxed pace” and while she meant it as a compliment,
I felt discouraged. I tried to go faster multiple times between miles 3 and 6
but I began to feel nauseated each time. Mile 3 out of 6 is too soon to feel
that way, so I backed off. I sprinted for the last 0.2 miles, though, just to
shave off a few seconds from a race time that was getting longer and longer.
My overall running pace (9:40 min/mile) placed me 15 out of
18 men in my age group. This pace is about what I was running in 2011 when I
started doing triathlons. I am embarrassed at how slow I went. I’m not sure
what the problem was, but there are two things that probably contributed: (1)
pain makes me tired, and back pain on the bike might have taken away energy I
needed to have a good run; (2) I did not start the race with fully rested and
recovered legs. The day before my race I biked 14 miles. I did not take it hard
or fast, but perhaps I went too far. Two days before the race I ran 9 miles. I
think this is why my legs didn’t feel strong on the bike or run segments.
My finish was 2:53:57, which ranked me 13 out of 18 in my
age group and 108 out of 248 overall. I wanted to finish in under 3 hours and I
did. This race was really fun to do. The lake swim was great, the bike route
was hazard-free and scenic. The running route was beautiful because of the
waterfall and stream. The race organizers did a good job and the volunteers
were abundant and very cheerful and supportive. My family cheering section was the best.
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