Pre-race Strategy
Being
my first triathlon, it is difficult to really have a good strategy
for the race. All the information I have is from others that
have raced the event in the past. My goal for the race is to
finish in the top half of my age group, which is not an easy
goal due to my lack of running in the beginning of this year.
The course layout looks like it is pretty hilly for the run.
I have only done one open water swim, so if I can finish in
the top 3/4 of my group, I will be happy. I plan to make up
most of my time on the bike leg since that is my strength (if
you could call it that). Then go for the run and hold off as
many people as possible.
The
swim is pretty straight forward, around bouys out in a lake.
Hopefully I can follow some people and only have to sight every
20 strokes instead of every 6-7. Of course the primary goal
is to come out of the swim alive with my goggles still on my
face. Although I am not exactly sure what to expect, I have
heard the swim is pretty brutal sometimes. That is the reason
why I plan to start in the back.
On
the bike there is a decent hill starting right off, that is
about 1/2 mile long. Being it is only a 56 mile ride I would
normally just power up it, but I have a half marathon right
after the bike, so I will take it easy and spin up it. I then
have about 20 miles or so of flat ground to eat and drink to
prepare for the climb. Staying hydrated and having enough food
in my stomach for the final climb is important. If I make a
mistake in this part of the race I will be paying for it on
the run. The final climb I will be just cruising up them with
a mix of standing and sitting to not stress my calves to much.
Plus when I stand up I can drop my heart rate and maintian the
same speeds. I will be concentrating on staying focused and
keep from going to fast up the hills.
On
the run it is supposed to be 60/40 trails/paved. Lucky for me
I have been training (if that is what you call it) on trails
near my office. Plus it is very hilly so all the hills I have
been running up and down will help. I researched as much as
I could on how to climb and descend during the run and we will
see how it all works out during the race. During the run I will
unlikely be eating much, other than a power gel here and there,
so I will just hope I ate enough on the bike leg to keep myself
going.
See
you at the race.
Race Report
The race was
tons of fun, although my finish was really bad. The weekend
was fun even though it rained for the first half, but that did
not dampen the spirits of the Cal Poly folks out there cheering
us on. Saturday night I arrived around 6pm looking for the Sac
Tri Club. Not finding them right away I decided I would just
follow the mass of cars and be a lemming. I ended up parking
and riding a shuttle bus to the main festival area. The registration
tent was there, so I registered and check my timing chip. I
got back on the bus (since it was raining) and went back to
my truck. Then I decided I need to find my club since it was
going to get dark soon. I drove around a couple of the camp
sites looking for them and did not see anyone I know (all two
people from the club). I knew someone from online was going
to be in the Redondo Vista area, so I decided to go through
there to see if I could find them. Then I realized that was
were my club was supposed to be also :). Driving into that area
I saw one of the guys I swam with the week prior, he told me
kind of where everyone was at, but I was still a bit unsure
of how to get around, so I convinced him to get in my truck
and show me. He directed me to the area that our club had setup
and introduced me to the club President (which I have had email
conversations with). With a couple other people they found a
spot for me to setup my tent. I ended up between two RVs to
try and keep the wind from blowing me around in my little tent.
I got everything situated and pretty much went to bed after
eating a bit. It sure rained hard during the night and I could
not get to sleep until around 2:30AM.
The next morning
I woke up around 6AM to get ready for the race and it was raining
pretty hard. Then it stopped for about 15 minutes, then it started
again. That is pretty much how the whole day went until the
evening. I felt okay for the morning, I ate a couple bagels,
a banana, apple and had some orange juice. Then I started to
get my stuff ready. I pretty much had everything in my backpack
already to go. I just attached my race numbers and through my
front wheel on my bike. I had Shawn (President of STC) help
me put my wetsuit on my back and give me a coupld garbage bags
to keep things dry in the transition area. Then I rode down
with everything and everyone. At Wildflower there is only one
road into where the transition area is, so they do not allow
cars down it the day of the race. I started off cruising along
with the rest of the folks that were racing and then saw someone
with there timing chip on there ankle. So I had to go bad and
get mine and put it on, which was no fun since it was starting
to rain now. I got down to the transition area and noticed the
long line for the port-o-potties. Not sure about everyone else,
but the first part of the race was in the lake and in cold water.
I just planned to warm myself up at the beginning of the race
(if you know what I mean). I got to the transition area and
started to get things organized, again, it started to rain.
I had two bags, one for my bike stuff and one for my run stuff.
As I was getting things just right, one of the volunteers came
up to put my numbers on me. A nice big magic marker on my thighs,
calf, arms and hands with my number. She seems to really be
enjoying writting on all these guys with hard bodies, she just
kept smiling the whole time.
I sucked down
a Power Gel and headed over to the beginning of the swim with
the other guys in purple caps. The Men Pro went frist, then
the Women Pro, both of those waves are pretty darn fast. They
cover 1.22 miles in ~25 minutes. After them is the under 24
guys and the fast 25-29 guys. Then my wave gets to go, but before
we go we get to go in the water (which is very cold) and warm
up. I swam out and back a bit to try and get used to the cold,
but it did not help. Before the wave started, they wished me
a happy birthday since it was my B-Day :) The horn goes off
and all the crazy swimmers jump into the water splashing away.
I stood there for a second until most of the crazies got in
front of me and then I started out. It took me about an 1/8
mile before I was warm enough to actually put my head down in
the water and start really swimming. The pack was pretty far
ahead of me, but since I had not swam with anyone before, I
had not idea if I could catch them or be caught by the pack
starting in the next wave (5 minutes behind me). I swam and
sighted here and there just looking for the mass of people in
front of me. About halfway through the swim I could the back
half of the pack and just hung back there for a bit following
them. That turned out to be a bad choice since everyone missed
one of the bouys and everyone had to turn back and go around
it. Going around the bouy I was on the inside and there were
a lot of poeple around me, splashing, kicking and trying to
swim. I started to kick to keep people off my back and I slowly
let myself drift towards the back of the pack. Not being to
sure of my swimming I did not want to get hurt or push to hard
and get tired. I just hung off the back for awhile until the
fast swimmers from the wave behind me caught up. For some reason
some guy did not notice the vast amount of water to both sides
of me and decided he wanted to go over me. I personally thought
it was rude, so I started kicking a bit when he touched me feet
a few times. Then when his hand touched my thigh I had, had
enough, I kicked hard and fierce until I hit something hard.
That was people much the end of him bothering me. If I was in
the middle of the pack and there was no where for him to go,
I would have been more understanding, but there was a lot of
room for him to go around me. At the end of the swim I stood
up in the water and then unzipped my wetsuit as I started to
run out of the water up the boat ramp to T1. I was out of the
water and my suit was halfway done already, unlike the other
folks I ran past as they struggled to get their suits unzipped.
I passed about three people running up the ramp and then went
to my bike.
Overall Position
after the swim: 1127
In the transition
I had a little problem getting my suit off since I had only
worn it once. I could not get my darn feet out of it and had
to sit down and pull it off. I finally got it off as I watched
others get there bikes and head out onto the bike. I then put
on my socks and leg warmers (it was quite chilly out) and put
my shoes on. Then on went the jersey, except I forgot to put
my undershirt on. So I took back off my jersery and doing so
caused all my goodies to fall out of my pockets. I then put
on the undershirt and put back on my jersey and had to pick
up my stuff off the ground and stuff back in my pockets. Since
it was cold and rainy I wanted to make sure I was warm since
I truedly hate the cold. Finally I am all ready and grab my
bike and head out of the transition.
Overall Position
after T1: 1258
On the bike
there were about 5 people ahead of me as we started. The bike
course started out going along the first mile or so of the run
course on a narrow paved walking trail. When I had a chance
I would pass a guy in front of me as I could. Going out we hit
Beach hill which was no fun for me. I love to climb, but I do
not like to do it when I am cold and not warmed up at all. I
found my low gear (39/27) and started pedalling up it. Slowly
but surely I would pass everyone in the group that had left
T1 when I did. Riding out of the park the road had some small
rollers which were nothing that even need shifting to be able
to climb. I moved along and saw another group of riders and
kind of road with them. Since you cannot draft, I just road
behind at the legal distance just to have some people around.
I was feeling really good, my legs felt great and I had not
been breathing hard at all after that first climb. After about
3 minutes of this a guy from the wave after me goes flying past
and I wondered how fast he was going since he really flew past
me. I looked down at my cycle computer and notcied that I was
only doing around 18mph. I then decided that this was a bit
to slow for this flat ground and I picked up the pace. At the
first aid station I picked up my planned water and drank a bit
and put it in my cage for later. Although it was so cold I was
not found of moving I did not eat at this point. It was raining
pretty hard and I was soaking wet, plus there was a slight headwind
blowing making life a bit more difficult. The rollers continued
and I continued to pass people, along with getting passed by
faster riders that were in older age groups. As I would pass
some people I would chat with them about there bikes and such
and tris in general. It was amazing to see some of these bikes
that these guys spent so much money on. Of course I would compliment
then on there nice ride and wish them luck as I went on by them.
Most were quite impressed I was doing this race as my first
tri, but so far it was not to bad at all. I snapped off some
pictures as I road, taking pics of the scenary and some of the
people I chatted with. There were a lot of people on the side
of the road urinating and a lot of people with flat tires from
the rain washing junk onto the road. At about mile 25 the sun
started to come out and that was nice, but there was a good
headwind to keep us from getting to warm. I just continued to
ride along chatting with people as I came up to them and downing
some gels. At mile 35 there was a metal bridge that required
a dismount for safety reasons, so Icame up to it and got off
and walked briskly across. My fast walking was easy since I
am racing my commuter bike which I use MTB shoes on. No cleats
hitting the bridge for me, just a nice walk across. I passed
two people going across the bridge and cheering as I went by.
Not to sportsmans like, but everyone got a chuckle out of it.
At the end of the bridge a guy was playing with his shoe, it
appears he broke his cleat going across the bridge (most likely
a Look cleat). I hopped on my bike and kept on going. Nasty
grade was just a few miles up the road so I took it easy. The
roads were starting to dry up from the sunshine, but it was
still not warm. I hit some major traffic around mile 37 or 38
and was having to pass people three wide because they would
not move over. As I went past one guy he served towards me and
caused me to ride onto the yellow line. It just so happens that
a race marshall was coming by and saw what happened. The marshall
stared right at me and I was not happy. Come to find out later
that the marshall was looking past me to the other guy. He was
penalized for blocking and I was not penalized for crossing
the yellow line since it was his fault (good job Widlflower
Marshalls). Soon after an aid station was up ahead just beforeNasty
grade comes along. My plan was to grab water and have a good
amount before climbing then ditch the water to prevent any extra
weight during the climb. The people at the aid station were
pretty smart, except that they only filled the bottles with
a few ounces of water. That was not enough for me and it made
climbing the hill a bit more uncomfortable. Getting to the base
of Nasty Grade you can see all the riders strung out up the
hill. 90% of them where standing and struggling to go up the
hill in there 39/23, but luckily for me I knew this was not
some tiny hill and I had a 39/27. I just sat down in the aerobars
and climbed along. I passed maybe three or so people during
the entire climb and had about two strong older age groupers
pass me at the top of it. I actually had to stand up to let
some blood flow down in my private area since I had been sitting
for so long. After the hill there was some flat land to ride
along before you decend back down, but I seemed to have a problem,
my speed had dropped to about 12MPH and people I passed on the
climb took there position back. I could not figure out what
was going on, I just had nothing left, which was odd, I was
taking it easy for the entire ride. Then my stomach started
to rumble. I then realized I had not ate anything since breakfast
and was very hungy. I pulled out a powerbar and downed that,
which helped pretty much immediately. I started getting energy
back and picked up the pace and of course the rain started again.
Then the downhill started and I was shifting into my fastest
gear. I tucked into the aerobars and went on down the hill.
I periodically checked behind me to make sure no one was flying
up behind me so I could use all the road. Doing over 40MPH in
the aerobars and 60mm dish wheels with windy conditions is a
tad un-nerving. Luckly I made it down the descent without any
major problems, unlike some unfortunate others that did not
finish the bike leg. Going back into the park I passed a few
more people and decended down Lynch hill as I tried to get my
shoes off. I managed to get one shoe unbuckled, but not the
other one. I just decided to keep both shoes on until I got
into T2. Since you cannot ride you bike in the transistion area,
you have to dismount before the timing area. Commuting pretty
much everyday to work has giving me some skills that I noticed
many others do not have when it comes to dismounting. I road
up to the line I unclipped both feet and got on the brakes as
I threw my right leg over the bike to get ready to dismount.
As I slowed quickly I watched my speed as it hit 14mph I put
my right foot down and then hopped off the pedals and ran into
the transition area. It was quite a beautiful move for anyone
watching.
Overall Position
after the bike: 294
In the transition
area I took off my shoes and leg warmers. Then the jersey and
stuff. I know since my injury earlier this year that my running
times would be horrible, so I dawned my wife beater shirt (with
appropriate stains), my cheesy cowbay hat (with tag hanging
off the back) and my cutoff shorts. Of course any serious triathlete
has a number belt to speed up the tranistion, so I had one too.
Although mine was a lenght of rope that also doubled as a belt
for my cuttoff jeans. On the way out of the transistion I remembered
to grab my camera for some more memories. I ran out of the transistion
grabbing a Power Gell on the way out.
Overall Position
after T2: 323
Onto the run
I felt pretty good and knowing that they changed the course
to all pavement I was happy to know I would finish with two
shoes on my feet. We did two loops from the lake up around the
campsites and back down to the lake. Most people say that running
after the bike is difficult, but I had no problem at all. Most
likely it was from not riding full out on the bike. I ran up
the stairs and proceeded to run a good pace. How fast was that
pace, I have no idea, I forgot my watch back in my tent. I ran
for about two miles until it hit, major stomach pains. That
lack of eating is now catching up with me. I walked bent over
for another mile or so until I saw Mike
Plumb who I had met the night before.
I told him the night before I would see him in the early part
of the run, I was right. His goal was a 4:45, so he had some
fast running to do. I ran with him for about a 1/4 mile up this
long hill (Beach Hill). Then I could not take the pain anymore
and started to walk again. I walked for a bit and then I saw
Jason Lewiss of STC, so I ran with him a bit and chatted. He
encouraged me to eat as much as I could to feel better. I walked
shortly after talking with him. At each aid station I would
grab food and water and down it to try and feel better. During
the bike I remember passing a guy just wearing a speedo, he
also just wore a speedo for the swim leg too. Crazy man, but
I started talking with him on the run. Nice guy, Steven, that
was having a so-so day. He had left his cycling clothes back
in his tent and had to bike the whole leg in just a speedo.
Remember, I was wearing shoe covers, leg warmers, arm warmers,
undershirt and had wanted to have full fingered gloves on too.
We ran for a bit and walked for a bit. Then I decided I could
run a bit more so I took off running. I came up to a guy named
Nadim who was having some IT Band problems. He would walk for
10 minutes and then run for 10 minutes and repeated that for
the whole run. I stayed with him for a bit and walked and ran
with him. He really encouraged me to eat as much as I could
to feel better. He grabbed food for me and convinced me to eat
more. As I did I would feel a little bit better as the race
progressed. After about an hour or so with him Steven came running
past me and I took off to catch him. Again we chatted and ran/walked
together. Shortly after Nadim came running up on us and Steven
and I matched pace with him and we all began talking and running.
We were having a lot of fun and I snapped a couple pics of them
(check for the last few pics for them). Shortly afterwards we
all split off. Steven ran ahead and I walked with Nadim for
a bit until I could run. Walking up the hill I saw a nice woman
that was 26 (our ages are put on our calves) running up the
hill on her first loop. I ran up next to her and started chatting
with here. She was very nice and was quite impressed that I
picked this race as my first. We chatted for awhile and agreed
to meet after the race and hang out. I then walked for a bit
more and saw Steven as I went up to the turn around to finish
off the last 3 miles. He had about a minute on me (at my current
pace) and since he started in the wave before me, I was not
worried. I would suck it up and run here and there, but nothing
to fast. The last 1.5 miles is downhill and I ran down that.
On the way down this 7% grade I came up to someone in my age
group. The race then moved to strategic thing to make sure more
people did not finsih ahead of me. I waited until we were in
the finish shoot before I went past him. I went past him and
ran down the shoot. Boy was that finish shoot long, I ran forever
trying to get to the finish line and was sure happy when I reached
it. I ended up putting 17 seconds on him to gain one position
:)
Overall Finishing
Position: 1008 (111th in my age group)
After the race I ate at least
4 bananas and 2 oranges. I drank a bit of water and tried to
walk around a bit. The race was over and my stomach was beginning
to feel better. A few people from my club congratulated me on
a good first race and I was happy to be done. Next year you
will be sure to see me take at least 50 minutes off my time
from this year.