Mighty Hamptons Triathlon - September 9, 2012
Pre-Race
Pre-Race
Spent Saturday with my in-laws, which was nice, but I was getting distracted and nervous already by thinking about the race. A jelly donut (plus part of a chocolate frosted and wild blueberry cake donut) from the Doughnut Plant and a big chinese lunch was probably not the best idea. We spent longer at my in-laws than I probably would have liked, because part of me wanted to get out to the Hamptons earlier so I would have time to unwind and relax, and maybe even loosen up my legs with a quick ride. However, I felt bad enough about racing this past weekend though, since I was leaving Kathy with three kids, on our wedding anniversary, no less. I also didn't feel like rushing out, since I would be out there by myself. Anyway, I headed out around 5:30pm, and got into Sag Harbor around 8pm. I picked up some water, a couple of lean cuisines for dinner. I had trouble sleeping last night, either because of nerves, or caffeine from the diet coke I drank while driving out. Went to bed around 9:30 or 10pm, but kept waking up every hour or so. I woke up for the last time around 2am, and the alarm went off at 4:15am. Woke up, had an english muffin with peanut butter and headed out to the race site.
Got to course very early, before 5am. Lots of time to set up transition, pick up my timing chip and get my body marking. I put the timing chip on my ankle right as soon as I got it, just remember how I misplaced the timing chip in the transition area during the MiniMighty man. At that time, there were some people there, but no lines to pick up the timing chip, so I ended up standing around for awhile, though it gave me time to hit the Porto potty...stomach was a little funny pre-race. I was thankful for the kiddie wipes that Kathy keeps in the car. Apparently, this is going to be a thing with me, since I had the same issue at the MiniMighty Man.
I guess I should have done a bit more of a warm-up, but all I ended up doing was some dynamic stretching and a little jogging on the beach. I also hopped into the water and swam a little just to get used to the water. Given the air temp, and the fact that it was a little raining, it felt warmer in the water so I hung out there for awhile before coming back onto shore for the pre-race announcement.
Swim
I watched the first two waves go from the shore, and swam out to the start line behind the third wave. Lined up on the right side of the pack of swimmers, in the second row and treaded water waiting for the horn to blow. I thought that I would start wide so I could avoid most of the thrashing that comes with swimming in the middle of the pack. I think that I stayed too wide, and though it's tough to tell from the map/track on Garmin connect or training peak, I started wide, and probably got even wider. On one hand, I had lots of room to swim in, but it felt like I was way outside and had to swim a greater distance. There were probably only a handful of people to my right. My garmin had me swimming 1689 meters, more than 10% if the course was really 1500m. On the way back, I took a more direct line, and did a better job sighting, but was jostled a bit more since I was inside of the pack. In general, i occasionally had a tough time seeing all of the buoys, especially the furthest ones. It helped that the ones at the turn were a different shape (pyramids verus round/cylinder) but I was a bit deflated when it turned out that what I thought was the last buoy was actually the second to last buoy. I don't know if there's anything else I can do there since I imagine that the furthest buoys will always be difficult to see, except maybe to count all the buoys before the start so I'll know exactly how many buoys I need to pass.
As usual, I started off too strong, but settled into a steady pace, though there were times when it felt like I had been in the water too long and I started to stroke faster/kick harder. It felt like I was going pretty slow, so I was pretty surprised when I came out of the water and hit the lap button as I crossed the timing mat, and I had finished the swim in just a little over 30 minutes. Fastest swim was in less than 20 minutes.
30:11 (179)
T1
I think I did okay, I had unzipped my wetsuit in the chute on the way up to the transition area, and had my swim cap and goggles off, and wetsuit down to my waist by the time I reached my rack. I either set up my stuff the wrong way, or the bikes were too close together, since I could not reach my helmet and had to run around to the other side of the rack, and then it was too crowded too pull my bike out from that side of the rack, so I ran around to the other side again. Ugh. Probably didn't cost me a whole lot of time, but still ugh.
2:35 (179)
Bike
At the mount line, when I tried to clip in, I realized that I had not taken on the cleat covers off my shoes; I don't even know why I have those stupid things. I had to reach down and flip them off, the first one got flipped off and in the low light and with my sunglasses off, I wasn't sure where it went. The second one I took and flung off into the scrub at the side of the road. It probably didn't take too long, but it felt like an eternity to deal with that and get clipped in. Started off at a pretty high cadence, in an easy gear, just to get going. Roads were still pretty wet from the night before, and there were still occasional showers.
The first 3-5 miles were pretty easy, though I found that my heart rate was still pretty high (around 160), and it wouldn't drop until about 30-35 minutes in. It got a bit hilly for a little while after mile 5 or 6, (nothing as long or as steep as Harlem Hill). Had to be careful because of the wet roads, and while there were some stretches were I could pick up some speed, there were also lots of pretty sharp turns. There was one long straightaway with a decent headwind, which wasn't that easy, but all in all, it was a pretty fast course. Notwithstanding what i thought was a pretty high heart rate in the beginning, i felt pretty good. In some flat straightaways, it felt like i was going 22-25 pretty easily. The second half of brick kiln road before it turns into stony hill/noyac road was really fast. Most of the people who passed me were on tri bikes--I don't know if that means I got passed by people who are more serious triathletes and were in better shape/more experienced, or that I need to get a tri bike…I think it means I need to get a tri bike. I think I let up a little bit towards the end since I was trying to save my legs for the run, and I felt like I was going to have a decent (sub 1:15) time on the bike anyway--in retrospect, it felt like I guided or managed myself to a 1:10 time, instead of pushing all the way. I could have gone faster except for the people who refused to ride on the right side of the road and ended up in the middle or left side and blocking everyone. Given the road conditions and turns, and with all of the people slowing down for the turns, I probably had to slow down more than I would have otherwise. I figure I'll see that in most or all races, so I'm guessing there's no time to be picked up there (you'll always have to deal with other people on the course). Where I could have saved some time was not being distracted/daydreaming about my cleat covers and whether or not there I would be penalized or disqualified for littering or something. My mind would wander on the bike, and then someone would pass me and snap me out of it. Fastest bike time was around 58 minutes.
1:10:14 (115)
T2
Not the fastest, but okay. Fumbled with my water bottle for the run, but racked the bike, switched shoes, grabbed my race belt, visor and water bottle and took off. Put everything on while on the run through transition. Next year, I'll learn to take my feet out of my shoes while leaving them clipped in and the flying dismount.
2:08 (277)
Run
I think i heard the announcer call out that the lead male was in the final mile as i headed out of the transition area. Legs were pretty tired, and my chest was too, but I felt like I set off at a decent pace, first two miles were at 7:52 and 7:50. Somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd mile, I began to develop a stitch on my right side, which then spread to the center of my stomach. 3rd mile was slow at 8:10, but that has been the slowest section each time I ran the course in August. The course is pretty flat, but the third mile has the most elevation change. Somewhere towards the end of mile 5, I felt better and was able to pick up the pace a bit. I might have started my final kick a little too late, because while I was gassed when I crossed the finish line, I probably could have kept up the pace for that final section for a little bit longer. Anyway, I can't complain, because I did that faster than my fastest 10k race in central park, which was back in May, pre-injury. I can't drink water out of those cups unless I slow to a walk…is that normal? In looking at the Garmin data, it had my HR peaking at 188, which was the highest I have ever seen it. It wasn't a hill, and it was before I started picking up the pace, so I have no idea what that was all about. Even at the end, when I was running my fastest, my HR reached 177, which is more in line with what I've seen before. I wonder what that was all about.
Fastest run time in the race was 32 minutes or so.
48:51 (212)
Overall: 2:34:23 (17th of 70 in M35-39)
Post Race
Exhausted, and still had to drive home. Legs were tired, and there is a fair amount of soreness in my quads…fleeting moments of pain towards the top of my thighs, right below my hips. Left shoulder doesn't feel great either, but that's been bothering me for awhile--I forgot that I first went to see the doctor about my shoulder much earlier this year, like Feb or March.
I'm really happy with my time, especially since it was my first olympic distance triathlon, and I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of pacing. My swim time was faster than the 1500m I swam in the NYC Swim Aquathlon back in June, and my run was faster than the last NYRR 10k that I ran, back in May, so I won't complain. My bike time was just about the fastest I've ever done 24 miles anytime I've tested myself (time trial of 4 loops in Central Park). I think the only way I could have gone any faster was if I took a more direct line and sighted better on the swim (and swam 1500m instead of 1689m). I don't think I could have gone much faster on the bike and done as well on the run this year. As much as I'd like to think that if I knew I was going to be 4 minutes away from going sub 2:30, I would have pushed harder, I'm not sure where I would have found those minutes today. I'll need to find them next year though...my time would not have gotten me into the top 25 for M40-44 this year.
As for next year, I think I could be faster on transitions, and I want to work on leg strength and endurance in the off season. I think the most room to improve for next year will be the run, especially since I couldn't run for over 2 months in the middle of this season because of my hip.
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