Race
Report from Greg McDowell:
Greg’s
First Tri
Here's what I did Sunday
morning, before the hail and storms arrived north of Charlotte: 250
yd pool swim; 20k (12.4 mi) bike; and a
5k (3.1 mi) run. While the start was at 8:00am and
one must arrive around 7 to set up and get one's body marked with
magic markers on each arm, each thigh and the back of one calf (age,
I think for easy identification of possible organ donorship), the
swim starts were staggered from 8 till about 10. My start was 9:31:15,
15 seconds after and 15 seconds prior to the next person.
I had awakened at 3:00am and laid in bed till about 4:30. I went downstairs
after breakfast to warm up, a few minutes on the elliptical, a couple
on the recumbent bike and a couple on the treadmill, plus some stretching.
After finishing my packing, I loaded up the bike and was out the door
at 6:30, arriving in Huntersville a little before 7. After parking
1/4 mile away, I found someone to check my air tire pressure, set
up the bike in the transition area, sat, stretched, mulled and then
began watching the competitors at 8. Some of my fellow participants
and I fretted about possible rain, revisited our bikes (where we would
also leave our sweats and shoes), and walked barefoot and swim-suited
(only) back into the Aquatic Center. It was easy to determine that
the 50 degree forecast was fairly accurate.
In summary, I got passed by only 2 swimmers. While 2 bikers passed
me, I passed at least a dozen. (But remember, lots more could be catching
up with me after I started a few minutes ahead of them out of the
pool. Likewise, the ones I caught on the bike may have gotten out
of the pool many minutes before me.) During the early part of the
run, I was passed by a few as I jog/walked to find my legs and loosen
a particular muscle group which had been giving me trouble since Friday.
(Saturday, I couldn't run more than 30 seconds at a time.)
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Swim -
95% breaststroke, I was out of the pool in under 5 minutes, about
my goal time. Officially, I was 5:13 because
that included a walk/jog out of the pool area to the transition.
Out of 348 men, I was #248 by speed for the swim portion. Spent
2:48 in T1 transition, drying
off and getting helmet, socks, shoes, etc. in gear, and walking
the bike out of the area. I didn’t dry anything thoroughly
and that didn’t seem to matter. A little practice might
help me do things in a better order, as I stopped during the bike-walk
to buckle my waist pack, which only carried things I wouldn’t
use – phone, car key, extra Gu. My G2 was already in place
on the bike, with spigot raised for easy access. |
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Bike - Immediately,
I began passing riders. At first I worried that I would be re-passed
by the same ones later, but that didn't happen. There were a few
more hills than advertised, some bringing my speed down near 10mph.
But I reached downhill speeds of 24-27mph so I guess it evened
out. I made sure to pass others quickly, as USAT rules prohibit
drafting (stay out of 7meter x 1meter box) and blocking. And there
is some rule about completing your pass within 15 seconds. Mostly,
I wanted to put some immediate distance between them and me, so
they wouldn’t consider retaking me. Besides the hills, there
were two or three segments where the wind was noticeable. At the
last second, I had decided to wear two “technical”
shirts before hopping on the bike, and those layers (one long-sleeve,
one sleeveless) seemed to be about right. I was #200 in this category
with a time of 42:50 (17.4 mph avg), right in
my estimated range of 40-45 minutes, and the “best”
of the three events when compared to others. I was wobbly as I
dismounted and walked the bike to its original resting place.
My transition (T2) required less activity, but
did include a Gu, and was clocked at 1:18. |
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Run -
My legs didn't seem to be working correctly at first, and some
muscles were sore are first. My mile splits were about 9:30; 9
and 8:30, with a final 5k of 27:45. During the
first mile, I thought I might not get it together. I probably
walked on three separate occasions. There was an uphill during
the second mile which was more challenging than I expected. If
this were just a run, I would have made it up the entire hill.
But no one was passing me, and I began passing others. I was pleased
with this segment time which placed me #257 among men, as I had
set a reasonable goal of just 30 minutes, not knowing what to
expect at the end of a tri. (If I knew I was a slow swimmer, I’m
not sure what this says about my running, except that I was running
at my half-marathon pace and I would have kept passing those guys
if they wanted to go another 10 miles!) |
My overall time was 1:19:53.
Besides finishing 230 of 348 men, I also beat 157 of 208 women, so
right in the middle of the entire field. More significantly (to me),
I was 11th of 32 in the "Masters Novice Men" group, i.e.,
old guys doing their first tri's. I think the cutoff was age 40. Even
among the younger group of Novice Men, I would have finished 13 of
34.
I had set a reasonable goal of 1:30, so I was quite pleased with my
time.
In 4 weeks, I'm scheduled to return to the same site to do a near-repeat.
The difference is that the pool swim will be double, at 500 yds. I
think I need some additional training (you think?). I went home and
crashed for a few hours.
Thanks to Ron for the bike loaner.
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