Presque Isle Triathlon 2014

Race: Sprint Triathlon

Date: August 23, 2014

Location: Erie, Pa.

Time: 1:19:21.45

Overall Rank: 69 out of 355

Age Group Rank: 9 out of 24
Results: http:

This was my third triathlon of the season and it was a good one. This was also the third time in as many years that I did this particular race, and I have improved each year. In 2012 I finished in 1:24:47.10; in 2013, I finished in 1:24:13.45; and this year I finished almost 5 minutes faster in 1:19:21.45.

SWIM segment, 616 yards

Time: 10:44.15

Age Group Rank: 5 out of 24

Overall Rank: 45 out of 355

Compared to last year, I improved my time by 21%, finishing 2:50 faster. Water conditions were different this year, so maybe some of this apparent improvement had more to do with external circumstances. Indeed, when I look at my rank compared to other swimmers, I was in the top 13% this year, but last year I was in the top 11%. These data suggest that, on average, most swimmers enjoyed a faster swim this year, and my improvement was not as great as that of the average. I did not feel the water conditions were too bad. Nevertheless, the race director decided to change the swim direction on the route (from counter-clockwise to clockwise around three buoys) because of “water currents” that made swimming in the opposite direction more hazardous (somehow). Water temperature was 71 degrees.

The swim segment was an in-water wave start, meaning groups of about 50 swimmers started in the water all at once. The entry into the water was disorganized and I was too far back in the line to get near the front of the group. As my friend Dan and I treaded water and waited for the starting signal, I had some opportunity to find my way to the front of the group but decided not to take it. The wind and water currents were pushing the whole group of would-be swimmers away from shore and the front half of men treading water were already past the starting buoy. If I had made my way to the front of the group I would have felt like a cheater. I’m sure the men who started ahead of the starting buoy were not intending to cheat, but if I had made any purposeful forward progress in the water past that buoy before the official start time, I would have received an advantage I didn’t feel I deserved. I stayed in the middle of the group and consequently had to navigate through a human mass of flailing arms and legs after the starting signal.

Almost immediately, I started to see lifeguards in the water with their red flotation devices and 1-2 swimmers hanging onto each. There was a rescue kayak to swim around, and numerous swimmers who had stopped in the middle of the course just to get their bearings in choppy water. Somebody was doing the backstroke. I assume this person started out doing freestyle and lost their nerve. It is more comfortable to swim backstroke in a bay because you can breathe more easily and you don’t have your face in cold, dark, and murky water. But you also can’t navigate, and you run into people. In sum, there was chaos in the water all around me and I just kept my calm and swam through it as fast as I could. By the time I got to the first turn, I had very few competitors nearby and I was able to concentrate on my race strategy: long, strong arm strokes.  

T1 TRANSITION

My transition time between swim and bike was 2:00.2, which was 20 seconds faster than last year, and ranked me 9 out of 24 in my age group. The time savings is probably due to my triathlon suit, worn beneath my wetsuit. I did not have a triathlon suit last year; instead, I had to put a biking shirt on over wet skin, and that is hard to do quickly. Today I was worried about shedding my wetsuit because I had a deep cut on my shin from a bike incident a few days before. It hurt a lot as I put the wetsuit on before the race, but it didn’t hurt taking it off.

BIKE segment, 13 miles

Time: 38:06.75

Age Group Rank: 9 out of 24

I improved my time over last year by a little more than 2 minutes, or 6%. My average speed was 21.8 mph on this very flat course around the peninsula. Part of me is pleased with this improvement, but another part of me is surprised it wasn’t a greater improvement. I expected more improvement because in 2013, my brake pad was rubbing on my wheel during the race, and in 2014, I have been doing more bike training. I also invested in a set of aerobars and I stayed in aero position for the entire race today. However, my bike training has concentrated on longer distance rides with more hill climbing. I never maintain a 21.8 mph pace during training. In fact, I was not pedaling in my biggest gear during this race. I shift gears based on pedal cadence, and I was staying within the most efficient range of cadences (80-100 rpm) without being in my largest gear. I have the potential to go much faster if I can strengthen my leg muscles to pedal in my largest gear while still maintaining a fast cadence.

There was a lot of wind on the course (as usual), especially on the bay side of the peninsula. I watched my average speed drop from 22 mph to 18 mph during the last couple miles of the ride as wind blasted me from the right side. Using aerobars will provide no improvement in speed when the wind is blowing perpendicular to the direction of travel.

I could have pushed myself harder during the bike segment, but there is always a little voice inside me that tells me I have to save some of my effort for the run. I know this is not often the best strategy, but it worked fairly well today.

T2 TRANSITION

My transition time between bike and run was 59.65, about 27 seconds faster than last year. I am not sure what caused me to be faster.

RUN segment, 3.5 miles

Time: 29:47.25   

Age Group Rank: 14 out of 24

I ran this segment 69 seconds faster this year compared to last, but only 17 seconds faster than in 2012. I really need to work on this next year. My running pace was 8:31 min/mile; in just a simple 5K running race, I can go below 8:00. Today, my calf muscles felt tight for the first mile but they didn’t cramp up. I ate some “energy beans” and felt better. I also avoided most of the water stations. In my last race two weeks ago, I was feeling nauseated during the run, and I think maybe I was over-hydrating then. My stomach felt better today until the last 0.4 miles when the course goes into a grove of trees and I quickened my pace. I knew I was close to finishing and could afford to push more. Just before doing so, I had been running just a few steps in front of a man who was breathing hard. He would clear his throat every 12 breaths. Yes, I began to count and look for a pattern. Breathe-breathe-breathe…a-hem! Breathe-breathe-breathe…a-hem! It was remarkable how regular he was doing this and I wondered if he was aware of this habit. My question was answered at the end of the race when he found me in the crowd and apologized for all his noise. He simply had some phlegm and he couldn’t dislodge it. He wanted me to know that he doesn’t have an odd habit at all! How funny that he would be so self-conscious to apologize to me. On the other hand, it makes me feel good to know that I had a running companion that must have been studying the back of my head as I considered what was coming out the front of his own! He was one of several bikers and runners with whom I shared passing moments, both literally and figuratively. We are all in the same struggles of life together, even if we go at our own pace.