Leon's OLY Triathlon 2017 early June
I've done this early season race for several years and often it's beset by weather issues. Lifetime and Leon have always handled these issues with the best efforts, transparently and safely. There's always a nice pre-race presentation for vets as well so the race tends to begin a bit later than most. That helps for the start but the end is often very troublesome and this year was no exception. Last year it was storms on the way, this year it was sun and humidity.
I had been dealing with adrenal fatigue for months and then got a virus that hung on and was a lot like bronchitis although it lasted fewer weeks than the last time I had it. I was coughing and phlegmy for weeks and race morning I was still coughing this long wheezing cough intermittently. I told myself I could stop anytime given that I was in this condition. However, I was in hopes I could at least match my Chicago OLY time. Given that Chicago is at the end of the season and the illness, that was a rather high bar to jump but heck I needed a goal.
Here's the result: Swim 35:29 (2:20 per 100) Bike 1:25:54 (15.3 mph) Run 1:31:28 (avg pace 15.3) Final 3:41:45
I came in 2nd of 2 in 60-64 AG.
Leon's is a bit shorter than the normal OLY on the bike. It's 22 miles instead of 24.8 so the bike looks pretty good. For me, holding onto 16 MPH is a good result. This race I was doing 15.5 mph. I got pretty tired on the second lap but pushed myself to get a negative split. I was unable to do much running by the time I got to the run. I walked nearly the whole 6 miles as fast as I could move. I had a headache when I crossed the finish line, a clear indication of dehydration. I was glad I had not pushed myself harder as the recovery was fairly quick. I did take the day off after the race though.
Pleasant Prairie OLY Triathlon 2017 June 25
This race I was feeling much better the week before. I did a rather demanding computrainer on Thursday at 85-90% HR which was probably not the best idea. I felt really good that day and ran off the bike with a great deal of strength. However, I may have made a mistake to push myself only 3 days before a race like that. Despite that I did okay. Not my 3:30 as hoped but there were some reasons for optimism despite the total time. I've been doing more running in the days leading up to the race, did a 5K with Scooter (my dog) the prior Sunday. It took 40 mins but we stopped for Scooter to poop once (including clean up) and two water stops as it was quite humid. It was a fun run for me so I wasn't too worried about the time. Doubling that would predict a time of 1:20 for a standalone 10K. I knew we had done a couple of 11;30 paced intervals that day as Scooter is a pretty good runner.
I felt good on the day of the race and wasn't nervous at all. I figured the swim might be a bit longer than I wanted (30min) as it had two turns with pretty oblique angles plus I forgot my contacts so I might not see well on the swim. I got out slower than I wanted, climbing the sand but was able to run to my bike for T1. My garmin indicated the swim was 1:05 rather than .9 miles so a few extra minutes for that was not surprising. I sat down for that transition to get over dizziness and to think carefully through my process. Got a second coating of sunscreen and my glasses on. (extra move since I normally have my contacts in) and set out. A bit longer in transition than normal but an extra 2 mins was worth the rest, the drink of water and getting set up. I hoped for a fast bike to gain some extra time for the run but my results indicate the wind was a detriment to me. There were a few intervals at 11 and 12 mph against the wind going uphill. There was a lot of headwind and cross wind on this race. One leg with tailwind I was travelling at 24 mph. That was fun. The return was not. Overall I was excited to see myself going up hills faster than ever before. I've focused more on leg strength this year and it appears to be paying off. I managed to keep my HR at about 85%-90% through the race. That was a good result as well.
The run was warm but not terrible. I managed to run sooner than ever before. Normally I have to walk almost 2 miles before my legs leg go and stop hurting and cramping. I did have some rock like calves for nearly a mile and some pain but did run at least 4 mins walked 1 min for about 2 miles then started trying to run more of each mile. The 3-5 miles set was hard on gravel in the beating sun. I was doing some trudging on that interval for sure. Carol Steel caught up to me about Mile 4.5 (we started on the same wave) because she's a more consistent runner. My HR was holding at 85% but would spike to 90-95% at times so I'd have to walk and bring it back down. Still some work to do on the running leg but I see progress.
Overall, the time was 3:45 so I missed my goal by 15 minutes but in reviewing my outcomes I see hopeful results in the bike and run. I'm not too worried about gaining much more time on the swim really. I know the IMLOU has a current and I'll get a push for that so holding onto my swim time is about my summer goal for now. 100yd time for this race was 1:51, mostly due to a lot of sighting required to stay on course. I also began slower to keep my HR under control which helped a lot on the back end. I felt very strong and confident as I finished the swim.
Swim 37:16:39 (1:51 per 100) T1 4:04 Bike 1:33:41 (avg speed 15.9) T2 3:22:22 Run 1:26:48 (avg pace 14.5)
So just three weeks later I'm faster on each leg and feeling stronger. It's early season so with effort I should be able to do better than this by August and be ready for the IMLOU by October.
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