chrisesposito
05-26-2008, 09:57 AM
this is a long report, but it was an eventful race for me. As first races go, it was instructive in several ways for things to work on or remember to do in the future, but apart from most of the bike leg things really didn’t go as planned.
Pre-race
-----------
The rain forecast for Saturday showed up on Sunday morning. Heavy rain in the hours before the race, and variable quantities during the race, which made for a bit more caution in the turns on the bike.
I made a particular point of drinking several glasses of water at breakfast Sunday morning and had another bottle + electrolytes + gel 15-20 minutes before race start. Jogged 20-25 minutes with a few pickups at 8 AM. I took an extra bit of time putting on the wetsuit, as it felt a bit tight in the chest on Saturday. I had also switched out the aerobar bottle to one that didn’t allow the contents to be bounced out in order to avoid a repeat of last years’ bit of bad luck. I filled the bottle with 250 calories of HEED and put a gel and some electrolytes in the bento box.
Swim
-------
The swim was 2 clockwise loops of a triangular course and really didn’t go well. Tightness in the chest, hyperventilation, short of breath, the usual symptoms I get the first few times in open water. I stopped a few times in the first 300 yards or so to try and let the symptoms subside. The only way to (barely) keep them under control was to slow down, and every attempt to push harder re-triggered the symptoms. I had a series of cramps in both calves half way through the second lap and simply had to wait for them to subside.
I’m thinking that maybe short frequent swims in open water over the next week or 2 would help in getting past this problem, as that seemed to be what worked last year. I haven’t been as prone to cramps this year as last, but I’m not sure what else to do.
T1
----
I got to thinking about the minimum set of things that had to happen in T1, and what I could defer until I got on the bike. Taking off the wetsuit (partially done on the run to the bike), putting on the helmet, and putting on the bike shoes were the three things to be done at T1, and everything else (having another gel, getting some water, turning on the bike computer, etc.) could be done on the bike. I had also decided to skip wearing socks and put a lot of talcum powder in my bike shoes and they went right on. As a result, I shaved about a minute off my T1 time from last year.
Bike
-------
Since I decided to defer several things until the bike leg was underway, I made an unfortunate discovery too late to do anything about it – my bottle was now empty. The bike must have fallen over at some point and since the bottle cap was splash-proof but not solid, the contents spilled out. Since the bike was upright when I got to it, it never occurred to me to check. I had a spare bottle of HEED I could have put in there had I known, so both solid caps on the drink bottle and checking the contents before leaving transition are changes to make for the future. I had the gel and electrolytes anyway, since something was better than nothing.
I simply rode very hard to the turn-around point, knowing that I could catch my breath on the return. It’s a gain of 850 feet over the 12.5 miles to the turnaround, and another 300 feet of hills on the return. The downloaded power data has me at a normalized power of 240 watts to the turnaround (94% of FTP), and NP of 232 watts on the return (90.5%). Average HR for the whole ride was 160. Not having had anything to drink since before the swim really began to cost me at just after an hour, and when combined with the last section of descending on wet twisty roads with potholes and speed bumps really chewed up more time than I expected. I was hoping for better than 1:14 for the 25.3 miles, but given the actual race-day circumstances I thought things went well. My time was still a minute faster than last year.
T2
---
I frantically drank half a bottle of HEED once back in transition, and later ran with the bottle in hand, drinking as I went. My feet were numb, which made putting my running shoes on surprisingly complicated. At just over 2 minutes my time was about the same as last year, so clearly room for improvement here despite taking time to drink.
Run
----
The run was a struggle from beginning to end, as shown by the mile splits:
10:20
9:22
9:09
9:50
9:48
9:41
The last mile of the run course goes back on a muddy / rocky path that’s a downhill and then mostly flat, so I thought I might be able to make up some time. At that point it felt like my left heel had exploded, as a sudden severe sharp pain hit. It really affected my running gait, as every step hurt quite a bit. I’m guessing that I stepped on a rock. My run split was about the same as last year.
Post-race
-------------
I iced my heel repeatedly on the way home and took some anti-inflammatories as well. There is no visible discoloration or swelling, but walking is quite painful and difficult. I may go to the urgent care today, or certainly see my podiatrist tomorrow.
Pre-race
-----------
The rain forecast for Saturday showed up on Sunday morning. Heavy rain in the hours before the race, and variable quantities during the race, which made for a bit more caution in the turns on the bike.
I made a particular point of drinking several glasses of water at breakfast Sunday morning and had another bottle + electrolytes + gel 15-20 minutes before race start. Jogged 20-25 minutes with a few pickups at 8 AM. I took an extra bit of time putting on the wetsuit, as it felt a bit tight in the chest on Saturday. I had also switched out the aerobar bottle to one that didn’t allow the contents to be bounced out in order to avoid a repeat of last years’ bit of bad luck. I filled the bottle with 250 calories of HEED and put a gel and some electrolytes in the bento box.
Swim
-------
The swim was 2 clockwise loops of a triangular course and really didn’t go well. Tightness in the chest, hyperventilation, short of breath, the usual symptoms I get the first few times in open water. I stopped a few times in the first 300 yards or so to try and let the symptoms subside. The only way to (barely) keep them under control was to slow down, and every attempt to push harder re-triggered the symptoms. I had a series of cramps in both calves half way through the second lap and simply had to wait for them to subside.
I’m thinking that maybe short frequent swims in open water over the next week or 2 would help in getting past this problem, as that seemed to be what worked last year. I haven’t been as prone to cramps this year as last, but I’m not sure what else to do.
T1
----
I got to thinking about the minimum set of things that had to happen in T1, and what I could defer until I got on the bike. Taking off the wetsuit (partially done on the run to the bike), putting on the helmet, and putting on the bike shoes were the three things to be done at T1, and everything else (having another gel, getting some water, turning on the bike computer, etc.) could be done on the bike. I had also decided to skip wearing socks and put a lot of talcum powder in my bike shoes and they went right on. As a result, I shaved about a minute off my T1 time from last year.
Bike
-------
Since I decided to defer several things until the bike leg was underway, I made an unfortunate discovery too late to do anything about it – my bottle was now empty. The bike must have fallen over at some point and since the bottle cap was splash-proof but not solid, the contents spilled out. Since the bike was upright when I got to it, it never occurred to me to check. I had a spare bottle of HEED I could have put in there had I known, so both solid caps on the drink bottle and checking the contents before leaving transition are changes to make for the future. I had the gel and electrolytes anyway, since something was better than nothing.
I simply rode very hard to the turn-around point, knowing that I could catch my breath on the return. It’s a gain of 850 feet over the 12.5 miles to the turnaround, and another 300 feet of hills on the return. The downloaded power data has me at a normalized power of 240 watts to the turnaround (94% of FTP), and NP of 232 watts on the return (90.5%). Average HR for the whole ride was 160. Not having had anything to drink since before the swim really began to cost me at just after an hour, and when combined with the last section of descending on wet twisty roads with potholes and speed bumps really chewed up more time than I expected. I was hoping for better than 1:14 for the 25.3 miles, but given the actual race-day circumstances I thought things went well. My time was still a minute faster than last year.
T2
---
I frantically drank half a bottle of HEED once back in transition, and later ran with the bottle in hand, drinking as I went. My feet were numb, which made putting my running shoes on surprisingly complicated. At just over 2 minutes my time was about the same as last year, so clearly room for improvement here despite taking time to drink.
Run
----
The run was a struggle from beginning to end, as shown by the mile splits:
10:20
9:22
9:09
9:50
9:48
9:41
The last mile of the run course goes back on a muddy / rocky path that’s a downhill and then mostly flat, so I thought I might be able to make up some time. At that point it felt like my left heel had exploded, as a sudden severe sharp pain hit. It really affected my running gait, as every step hurt quite a bit. I’m guessing that I stepped on a rock. My run split was about the same as last year.
Post-race
-------------
I iced my heel repeatedly on the way home and took some anti-inflammatories as well. There is no visible discoloration or swelling, but walking is quite painful and difficult. I may go to the urgent care today, or certainly see my podiatrist tomorrow.