Shelton Olympic Triathlon RR
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cjhoffmn posted 22 weeks ago.
Wow, sounds like a tough one for you. You'd have blown me out of the water if your run had held together. I wore my wetsuit, but have to admit that the water was warm enough i could have foregone it.
Sorry to hear about the run - good luck in getting back to speed.
I'll double check my math - if I can pick up .5 mph because I overlooked something - that's cool!
-C
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263 days
DannoE posted 22 weeks ago.
cjhoffmn wrote:
Wow, sounds like a tough one for you. You'd have blown me out of the water if your run had held together. I wore my wetsuit, but have to admit that the water was warm enough i could have foregone it.Sorry to hear about the run - good luck in getting back to speed.
I'll double check my math - if I can pick up .5 mph because I overlooked something - that's cool!
-C
Heh. I'm just mad because I usually come out of the water feeling better. This was my first time wearing a wetsuit, and it was a learning experience--probably moreso than I really meant for it to be. More than anything, I guess I'm mad that I spent money renting something that felt like it made me slower. But whatever. It was one race, and there will be others.
Beyond that, I think I need to build to a better run base and invest in a few Hammer gels. That was my buddy's advice. Looking back, I'd like to have had a gel at the second bridge, with about 4 miles to go back to the park. Maybe that'll get me through the run a little stronger next time. But honestly, I'd be happy to hear from some more experienced runners/racers on the matter.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."
1288
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1557 days
PJT posted 22 weeks ago.
Congrats on the finish.
What was your in-race nutrition? I typically try to get a total of 3 gels or equivalent in an Oly. My plan is to take 1 gel 15 minutes before the race, 1 as soon I get settled on the bike (about 10 minutes in) and another about 3-5 miles from the end of the bike course. Add sports drink on the bike and run as needed.
It's a tricky distance because ideally you're going hard enough to make digestion difficult, but most of us are also out there long enough to want some calories.
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219 days
prendergi posted 22 weeks ago.
Sounds like you learned somethings you didn't know and sounds like you are making progress with your knee. It sounds like an awsome ride!! Congrats on finishing your first Oly!
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell
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263 days
DannoE posted 22 weeks ago.
PJT wrote:
What was your in-race nutrition? I typically try to get a total of 3 gels or equivalent in an Oly. My plan is to take 1 gel 15 minutes before the race, 1 as soon I get settled on the bike (about 10 minutes in) and another about 3-5 miles from the end of the bike course. Add sports drink on the bike and run as needed.It's a tricky distance because ideally you're going hard enough to make digestion difficult, but most of us are also out there long enough to want some calories.
I had a banana and some oatmeal pre-race, along with a bottle of gatorade. During the race I had a 16 oz bottle of gatorade and another, larger bottle--maybe 24 or even 30 oz. It's a BIG bottle. But I didn't eat anything.
My last race was a duathlon, 5k-25k-5k. I finished that in 1:52 feeling very good with a very similar nutrition plan. And, in fact, I felt okay at the 2-hour mark here. I pushed it on the last four miles of the bike--having spent the first half at a decided "cruising" pace--and I felt okay when I started running. It wasn't until about 2:15 to 2:20 that I really started to feel crappy.
But yeah, I learned some things. Hopefully next time I'll be a little better prepared.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."
1288
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1557 days
PJT posted 22 weeks ago.
Yeah-I find that somewhere around 90 minutes of running or 2 hours biking is the point at which I start feeling badly if I'm not "eating" (either gels or a higher-calorie sports drink like Inifinit).
Absolutely try two gels along with your gatorade next time on the bike. I bet it will help.
5318
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1999 days
kylie posted 22 weeks ago.
Congrats on finishing your first oly!
For the wetsuit, the first thing that comes to mind is that it was the wrong size for you -- if there was water getting in the arms it would definitely make it a pain! My second thought is that perhaps it wasn't on quite right -- I could also see the arms feeling heavy and tiring on your shoulders if they weren't pulled up far enough and as a result you were fighting the shoulders of the suit the whole time.
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
Like cjhoffmn, I ran the Healthnet Triathlon in Shelton, CT, over the weekend. It was my first Oly. I finished and lived to tell the tale, so I suppose that's a decent start for that distance.
Swim: This being a spring tri in CT, I rented a wetsuit. I'm still not sure this was a good idea. I rented a Full suit, and I'm pretty sure I should have rented a sleeveless; my arms felt heavy as Hell throughout the race, and I was at least five full minutes off of where I thought I should have been in the swim. In fact, today the sorest thing on me is my shoulders--from lifting the damned wetsuit sleeves out of the water.
Anywho, I survived the swim despite the stupid suit, coming in at 28:06, for a pace around 1:35/100. That's very, very slow for me, but I was happy enough to finish and take off that stupid suit. I doubt I'll ever do another tri where I have to wear a wetsuit.
Bike: Awesome ride. Awesome course. We climbed for a few miles right out of T1, but then we got up onto a ridge and rode it for several mile before plunging down to a river crossing. Save for the truck that made me break hard at the bridge, I was happy as could be. 24 miles in 1:14:24, for somewhere around 19 mph. My math was different than cjhoffmn's, who had almost the exact same time on the bike but claimed 18.5mph. He may well have been right about it though; he probably had a cycle-computer, I only have a spreadsheet and my race notes.
I was sad to get off my bike.
Run: I blew my right knee out a few weeks ago and had initially asked my wife to do the run for me, as part of an ad-hoc relay. Then at the last minute I decided to buck up, suck it up, and try to do it myself. I'm not sure if that was the right choice, but I will say that not doing any long-distance run training in the weeks up to the race certainly didn't do me any favors.
Nevertheless, I started out of T-2, intentionally keeping it slow and trying to make sure that my knee was holding. After about a mile, I settled in as much as I could and decided that it was. The course was two loops with a hill in the middle, so we ran the same hill four times. Ugh. I made it to mile 4 and found myself walking. I walked about a half-mile, started trying to run again, and then cramped up hard in both quads. I stopped, stretched, prayed, and decided if I could walk the rest of the way in and finish, I'd be happy enough. At least my knee was holding, anyway. Finally, at about mile 5.5, I heard the finish and started running again. 1:03 for about a 10/mile pace overall. I was probably at about 8:30/mile before I started walking. Certainly that was a far better average than I deserved overall.
Going into the race, my goal was to finish uninjured. Secondarily, I wanted to go about 2:30. I actually finished at 2:50:04. I'd be happy to hear some strategies from folks for finishing a little stronger on these runs (I think my problem is nutrition, but it could just be that I run like garbage), but at least my knee seems to be holding together. It's sore, but it isn't swollen, and I'm not on crutches or anything. I have a Dr's appointment in a week and half. After that, my next race is in late August. God willing, I'll be able to train full-speed by then.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."