RACE REPORT
September 19, 2014
RESULTS
1:24:25
2 / 12 (age group) = Top 8%
92 / 317 (female) = Top 29%
WEATHER
60oF, 65% humidity, 22 mph winds (calmed to 5 mph during race)
DATA
60oF, 65% humidity, 22 mph winds (calmed to 5 mph during race)
DATA
Note: Same run and
swim course in 2014 and 2015 / Transitions area and bike course were different.
PLACE
|
SWIM
|
T1
|
BIKE
|
T2
|
RUN
|
OVERALL
|
|||||||
WEATHER
|
PACE
OVERALL
|
PLACE
GENDER
|
PLACE
DIV
|
SWIM
|
PACE (Garmin
/ 100m) *
|
BIKE
|
MPH
(Time
calculation)
|
RUN
|
PACE
(garmin)
|
||||
2015
|
60o
65% humid
22 wind
|
300 / 856
35%
|
78 / 317
24%
|
2 / 12
8%
|
16:16
78 / 217
24%
females
|
2:03
|
6:55
89 / 317
28%
females
|
34:00
26 / 317
8%
females
|
21.93
|
1.57
78 / 317
25%
females
|
28:28
204 / 317
64%
|
9:26
|
1:27:34
|
2014
|
89o
78% humid
0 wind
|
603 / 759
80%
|
249 / 342
72%
|
10 / 16
39%
|
18:03
164 / 342
48%
females
|
2:24
|
6:36
212 / 342
62%
females
|
37:47
163 / 342
48%
females
|
19:74
|
5:10
219 / 342
64%
females
|
46:48
320 / 342
94%
females
|
13:58
|
1:54.21
|
DIFFERENCE
|
48%
|
24%
|
34%
|
40%
|
39%
|
30%
|
26:47
|
||||||
* Just for
portion of the swim with a cadence
World
Championship – Projected Finish (if I had been on Team USA this year)
One of
the reasons I wanted to enter this Open Sprint race was to compare my finish
time to those of the women who competed in the World Championship Sprint race.
Carol
Hassell came in first in both the AG Sprint World Championship (representing
the USA) and my AG Open Sprint race. She
posted virtually the same times for the swim and the run. She explained that her overall time in the
Open was slower because 1) the bike was more technical in the Open, and 2)
transition was farther away from the swim exit in the Open. She was 3:09 faster in the World
Championship.
If I
had raced in the World Championship as part of Team USA and had also been 3:09
faster, I would have 1:24:25 which would have given me a 7th place
finish in the 2015 World Championship.
Wow. That’s crazy. While I want my goals to be process based, rather
than outcome based. It is nice to see
what is in the realm of possibilities if I work hard in the coming year. That means that I must a) turn all the
workout boxes green, b) have sound nutrition, and c) get rest between workouts,
and d) maintain my equipment. The reward
might be very nice!
2015
World Championship Results – Sprint Distance (with my projected finish
inserted)
* My 2015 ITU World Champion (open race) times - same
course
* My 2015 ITU World Champion (open race) times – different course
**
|
On
the other hand,
there are 49 women in my age group who are ranked higher than me in the USAT
National Rankings. If they all decide to
race at Clermont, I will have little chance of making Team USA. That’s why goals always have to related to
process (which we can control) rather than outcome (which we cannot
control).
ITU DISORGANIZATION
Organizing
operations for 12 separate triathlons at one venue over a 4 day period with
limited staff must be a challenge. That
said, there were a ton of glitches. Here
are some that impacted me:
1.
Thursday
morning: The packet pick-up for the open
races was cancelled. Unfortunately,
there was no notice given on the ITU website.
I unnecessarily walked 3 miles (round trip). *
2.
Thursday
evening: The race briefing was also cancelled,
again with no notice on the ITU website.
Result: I unnecessary walked an
additional 3 miles (six miles total that day).*
Note: * I arrived in Chicago a day early so I could
have a rest day on Friday. With these
glitches, I ended up having to do both packet pick-up and the race briefing on
Friday. Not only did I not have a
complete rest day, but I also paid for an additional night of lodging and used
an extra vacation day at work.
3.
Friday
morning: Walked 3 miles (round trip) to
pick up my packet and attend the briefing.
At packet pick-up my name and number were not on the posted sheets. I had to stand in the help line for 30 minutes
to get a number which made me late to the briefing.
4.
Incorrect
bike map: During the race briefing, they
announced that traffic on the bike route would be going different directions
than indicated on the map because two parts of the route actually crossed each
other – like figure eight racing! While
they changed the bike route, nothing about the change was posted on the website. During briefing, they went over the changes
once quickly. When I asked for them to
repeat the changes, they said they didn’t have time to go over it again.
5.
Transition
location change: Transition was changed sometime
overnight prior to the race with no notification on the ITU website. The traffic pattern through transition was
explained to some people one-to-one and not at all to others. No lights were available for transition. One bike rack was missing and 16 people
didn’t have a place to rack their bikes.
My
coach instructed me: No emotional highs
or lows. However, after arriving a day
early in Chicago so I could have a rest day on Friday, it was difficult not to
be upset. I understood that with an
event this size and with the inclement weather, ITU would need to change things
on the fly. But, it was hard to
understand why ITU didn’t post information about the changes in real time on
their website.
6. One more glitch occurred after the race. I discovered that the distances on my finisher's medal (which clearly says, "Open Sprint Distance") are wrong! You have to laugh. Slowtwitch mentioned this in his weekly newsletter. Ha.
RACE DAY MORNING:
Given
all the mess-ups during the week, I decided to get to transition in plenty of
time to set up and handle anything unexpected that came up. I went to bed at 7:00 pm, set the alarm for
3:00 am, and was out the door at 4:15 am.
It was a good thing because when we got to transition, there was nothing
there! Finally, someone told us it was a
block away! I’m assuming they moved it
because the baseball diamond where it was supposed to be was saturated. The new location was on a tennis court.
Unfortunately,
the tennis court lights were not on so everyone had to set up in the dark. Luckily, I anticipated this situation and brought
a head lantern so I could see. I found
the same nice official who helped me in Milwaukee and asked if I could put neon
orange tape on my rack number and he said yes.
The
bike exit and bike entrance were in the same location. That location was as far as you could get
from my rack position. People were not
required to push their bike around the outside of the racks to make the
distance the same for all racers. So
those farthest away from the bike in/out had to push their bikes considerably
farther in transition than others. The
swim-in and run-out were in the same location, but they did make everyone run
around the outside of the racks for that.
The worst thing was that there were about 16 people whose numbers were
not listed on any of the racks. They had
no where to rack their bikes. I felt
sorry for them.
I finished
setting up transition on schedule and walked to the swim start where I did 10
minutes of dynamic warm-up and a 10 minute run with pick-ups. The pick-ups in my run were slower than I
thought they would be (first one was in the 8:00’s!) and I tried not to worry
that I was having an off day.
The 22
mph wind was pushing the buoys around and the race start was postponed for 30
minutes. It was freezing as we waited
for the start. My hands were shaking literally
uncontrollably.
Changes for next time: I’d like to experiment with eating an
additional slice of bread (so I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and
omit the banana. Breakfast would then be
a PBJ sandwich, yogurt and Gatorade.
Since I am eating 3 hours prior to racing, I’d also like to experiment
with eating a gel 1 hour prior to race, with a second gel 15 minutes prior to
race. No banana might help with me
having intestinal issues during the run.
SWIM
2nd in AG
78 / 317 (females) = Top 35%
Do I look a little cold?
Data:
Do I look a little cold?
Data:
2:03 / 100 m – Garmin (for the
portion where there was cadence)
2:10 / 100 m – Official
Ave Cadence = 34
Start:
My wave included 109 women ages 50+.
I started in the front middle.
The wind was pushing us forward as we waited for the start, and the
starter made us come back. Before we came
back, I think I was 5 feet in front of everyone. Ha! I
started in a horizontal position, kicking and punching water to get my HR
up. At the gun, I just sprinted for 50
meters or so. All of sudden, I thought,
“Oh! I better breathe!” One woman passed me right away and I drafted
behind her for about a minute but either I was swimming sideways and got out of
the draft or she was just going too fast, but I lost her. I did tap her feet a few times which was a
new experience.
Main Swim:
I was in traffic the entire way and didn’t get a chance to really work
on technique. Not only was I in traffic
from my wave, but I caught up with the stragglers from the wave in front of me. I was just trying to keep my head down and pull
hard without stopping my hands. Other than
that, there was just so much going on, it was hard to focus on anything. I just hoped that my form was somewhat
instinctive.
The wind was 22 mph and the waves were extremely high. Later in the day, the floating dock that we
started on blew away from the shore! The
guys in the men’s grand finals race had to swim out to the dock before they
could start their race – and since that meant the ramp was no longer next to
the shore, they had to change the route of the swim so they could exit where I
did earlier in the day rather than at Buckingham Fountain where their T2
transition was. Crazy!
For most of our swim, we were behind a wave break, but for the last 250
meters or so, there was no protection from the waves. Public beaches nearby were closed due to the
high waves and rip tides. One time, I
got a wave in the mouth three breaths in a row and ended up lifting my head sky
high on the fourth attempt to make sure I got air.
I pushed the swim like I did in Greensburg (hard) and my arm muscles
hurt again during the swim – not the lactose kind of hurt but more strained
muscle hurting. One of the things that I am learning, I think, is
that I can push the swim harder than I thought I could. I think that may be the next learning curve –
discovering that I can push harder than I thought and not get too tired prior
to the finish.
Sighting:
The wind also made it difficult to see the buoys. I tried to time it so I was sighting at the
top of a wave. The swim was along the
shoreline and there were only two relative small orange buoys at the swim exit
(750 meters away). I could sight off the
shore, but it was hard to determine how far away from the shore I was. Even prior to the start, I could barely make
out the buoys 750 meters away. After a
while, I could see the two orange buoys and swam toward them, only to find out
they were the orange life jackets of two men sitting in a row boat. Ha! And
then another time, I thought I was sighting an orange buoy but then found out
it was the orange swim cap of someone in the wave in front of me. Oh brother!
Exit:
I was very happy that I studied the swim exit the day before. After watching TONS of people fall on the
swim exit, I made a plan to put my hands down on the second submerged step, and
then stand on the bottom submerged step.
That worked like a charm and I passed several people who struggled and
fell getting out of the water.
T1
2nd in age group
89 / 317 (females) = Top 28%
T1 was a 0.68 mile run on bare concrete. I ran pretty fast. I would guess 9:45 to 10:00. It was painful on my heals so I ran on my tip
toes. That made my calves cramp. I was a little worried my calves would hurt
in the run later, but they didn’t. Only
a couple of people passed me, unlike last year when zillions passed me. And I passed a several stragglers from the
wave in front of mine.
I ran with my swim cap on and googles pushed up for quite a while. I didn’t see any sense in carrying them and
since it was cool out. I was not
overheating.
I was supposed to walk the last 10 feet of the run to T1 and take deep
breaths, but I forgot.
Wetsuit came off nicely while putting on my helmet and glasses. My helmet knocked my glasses out of place
again as I put it on. I need to check
into that. And again, I had trouble
clasping the chin strap. Shoes on and
go.
ITU had people from another race after my race setting up their
transition while we were in T1. And . .
. instead of putting the people in that race all in the same racks, they were
dispersed among everyone. So, as I was
running out with my bike, all of these people were in the way. I did not slow down but just started
screaming, “Excuse me!!” as I ran down the row at full T1 speed with my bike.
I ran well past the bike mount sign (past a person who was clipping
in), mounted, and took off. No issues.
BIKE
2nd in Age Group
26 / 317 (females) = Top 8%
Course
26 / 317 (females) = Top 8%
Course
This bike course was tons of fun.
It started out on Columbus Drive going northbound along Lake Michigan
with lots of spectators. Then, after 1.3
miles, it went underground at Lower Wacker Drive (where they filmed
Batman). It was like riding through a
parking garage with lots of cement pillars and cement walls at the edge of the road. Since it was underground, I thought it would
be cool down there, but it was extremely hot and muggy. And it smelled like garbage! Almost all of the course was straight and
flat. There were two turn-arounds and
one section where there were four right hand turns all about 100 feet from each
other. Those turns took us from Lower
Wacker to the private bus roads that were below ground but with sky overhead. There were a few decents and climbs as the
bus road went below other roads.
During the 5 miles that we were underground on Lower Wacker, my Garmin
Edge did not pick up satellite reception so I had no idea what my speed was. And it was so dark down there that I could
read my cadence or watts data. For those
miles, I totally relied on feel. The
below ground level bus roads also had moments when I lost satellite connection.
During the briefing, ITU warned that it would be difficult to see when
we transitioned from sunlight to darkness on Lower Wacker. Luckily, I always wear clear glasses and had no
problem seeing. They also warned that
there was rough pavement and potholes on Lower Wacker that would be marked. The potholes were marked, but only with faint
yellow circles. It looked like the yellow
was painted weeks ago and had mostly warn off.
There were no arrows on the road indicating that a hole was coming. Crazy.
The worst was a 10-inch manhole cover that was simply MISSING! Anyone who hit that would probably have
flipped. I couldn’t believe that
bottomless hole only had a warn-away yellow circle around it.
Data:
MPH: 21.93 mph (distance / finish time calculation)
Watts: 158
HR: 136
Mile 1
|
Mile 2
|
Miles 2 – 11.5
|
Last Half Mile
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
TARGET
155
Watts
94
Cadence
|
TARGET
165
Watts
94
Cadence
|
TARGET
172
Watts
92
Cadence
|
TARGET
160
Watts
96
Cadence
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
ACTUAL
Data
Duration: 1 mile
148
Watts
93
Cadence
132 HR
18.1
mph
|
ACTUAL
Data
Duration: 0.35 mi
167
Watts
95
Cadence
133 HR
18.2
mph
|
ACTUAL
Data
Duration: Since my mileage and speed
was spotty for many points of this section, I only have data for portions of
this section.
|
ACTUAL
Duration: 0.5 mi
104 Watts
87 Cadence
138 HR
19.1
mph
|
Mount: No problem.
Targeted Watts (Top of z4 = 172): I was supposed to be watching my watts closely
with goal of maintaining 172 throughout, but with all the bike traffic, that
was hard to do. I did check from time to
time and found that my watts were usually around 168. At that point, I’d push a little harder. I tried to get really familiar with what my
legs felt like at 172 so I could do that without checking the computer. That helped a bit. Sometimes, however, I’d find that my watts
were above 180! My heartrate spent a lot
of time at 138 (just below the 140 limit).
Drafting: Lots of bike traffic on the course. I passed a ton of people. Happily, only a few passed me. When they did, I tried to accelerate and pick
up a draft for a few seconds to practice for Clermont. I only stayed in draft position for about 10
seconds and didn’t get too close (maybe 5 feet) because I didn’t want to get a
penalty.
Standing: Coming out of the turns, I stood for
about 4 pedal rotations. It occurs to me that 1) I have
absolutely no idea what gear to be in, and 2) I am unable to switch gears
quickly.
Mile 11.5 – 12.4: Since I was unable to drive the route and
since the mileage on my Edge was messed up, I didn’t have a good sense of where
11.5 miles was. I was surprised when
there were only two blocks left and I had not yet started to decrease my watts
and increase my cadence.
Dismount: I allowed one city block to get out of my
shoes and that was enough time. My right
foot slide off the top of my shoe at one point.
I was so, so relieved that it did not go into the spokes.
Cadence: I am surprised that my cadence was so
high. For some sections, my average
cadence was 99. During the ride, I was
aware that my cadence was high, but when I’d shift, my sense was that it got
incredibly harder and my cadence was way too low. At one point however, I noticed that what
felt like a cadence that was too low was actually 90. Need to learn if I want a) an easier gear with higher cadence (99), or b)
harder gear with lower cadence (90).
Bike Results: At first, I could not believe my
speed. I thought that the course might
have been short. How could I do 21.93
mph? But I now think 21.93 mph is
reasonable. 1) I was 26 out of 317 women
(top 8%). Given that almost all of those
women were much younger than me, I must have been going pretty fast. 2) In the straight sections that Garmin did
record, I averaged 23.4 mph. The five underground
miles that Garmin didn’t record were also straight. 3) My
bike split at Worlds on a totally flat course was 34:00. My bike split at Nationals with three very
long, 4% climbs and a few moderate climbs was 38.39. Is it reasonable to think that I would be
5:21 faster at Worlds? Given how much I
had to slow down for those long, steep climbs, I think so. I think 22-ish mph on a flat course with lots
of other bikes to push me is conceivable.
T2
4 / 12 (age group)
78 / 317 (females) = Top 25%
Short run into transition. However, once again, I had to run with my bike
all the way through transition to the back where I was racked. Others only had to run 10 feet with their bikes.
When I got to my transition spot, I saw that there were three bikes already
on my rack so I thought I was fourth. I
knew the odds of me catching someone on the run were slim. Fourth wasn’t so bad.
I had a little trouble getting one of my shoes on. Told myself to stay calm, slowed down, and
retried.
RUN
4 / 12 (age group)
204 / 317 (females) = Top 64%
FINISH CHUTE:
I'm getting a little air, coach! And no, I am not running with my eyes closed! I was blinking!
FINISH CHUTE:
I'm getting a little air, coach! And no, I am not running with my eyes closed! I was blinking!
Data:
9:10 pace – Official (Note: Based on the last 28:28 min on Garmin, the course was only 3.01 miles. This pace is inaccurate)
9:26 pace – Garmin
Miles
|
TARGET
|
ACTUAL
|
Course
Notes
|
||
Pace
|
HR
|
Cadence
|
|||
0.00 – 0.33
|
9:30 – 10:00
|
10:08
|
139
|
102
|
This
section includes a moderately steep downhill and uphill as the trail went
under a road.
|
0.33 – 0.66
|
Build to 155 HR
|
9:41
|
143
|
106
|
Very
strong head wind.
|
0.66 – 2.5
|
155 HR
|
9:29
|
148
|
106
|
|
2.5 – 3.0
|
Everything I have
|
8:35
|
155
|
103
|
Headwind
now gone
|
Mile 0 – 0.33
As I was running out of transition, I thought to myself that I was
running pretty fast. I remember thinking
that my mindset was go-go-go. My HR was
only 140 (z2) so I thought I was ok. My
watch showed 9:45 at 45 seconds. This
section included one downhill and climb as we ran under a road. My pace dropped a little on the climb, but I
felt very, very strong.
Mile 0.33 – 0.66+
At three minutes,
I knew I was supposed to start increasing my HR to 155, but it just didn’t feel
“right.” Maybe because of the climb I
just finished. Maybe it was the strong
head-wind. My HR was only 144 (mid z3)
and my pace was only 9:50. Based on how
I felt, it seemed like I should have a higher HR and faster pace. I pushed a little bit, but it seemed like
something that I could not sustain, so I slowed back down. I now
see that I went to 9:30 and I pulled back to 9:50. Maybe I was trying to speed up too quickly.
Mile 1 – 2
When I reached the turnaround at one mile, I was not happy with
myself. My HR was only 145 and my pace
was only 9:50. I told myself to listen to
science rather than my body. Science
said that I could do 155 or 9:20-9:30 for an hour. I made myself speed up. I also decided not to pay attention to my HR since
it was cool out and just focus on pace.
I thought about my brother’s advice about “chunking up” a race. I told myself, “Ok. Mile 1 finished. Now move on to mile 2. Implement the plan for mile 2.” A little while later, things just felt a lot easier. I don’t know if it was chunking up the race, having
the wind die down, my body had somehow adjusting to the run, or I was just
getting a second wind. But, it was
definitely easier. It might have also
been that I was passing a few people and the people who were passing me were
not flying by. I could actually run with
them for a little bit. I felt like I was
sucked in behind them – not like a draft, more like their spirit was just pulling
me along. I started focusing on good
form and noticed again that when my hands are up, my pace increases.
I reminded myself that there were a million reasons that three bikes
might have been racked when I came into T2.
Maybe some of the 55-59 year olds
were racked with our bikes. “You are
still racing for podium,” I told myself.
The first loop around Buckingham Fountain was uneventful – no searing
heat off the granite pavers like last year.
Mile 2 – 2.5
At the second turn-around, I told myself, “Ok. Mile 2 finished. Now move on to mile 3.” I was running north again, but the wind was a
non-issue this time. I notice that I
sped up as I past Buckingham Fountain for the third time. I think that must have been a psychological
pull from all the people lining the course (several people deep) who were
cheering.
Somewhere in this portion, I had to go to the bathroom. Why do I have intestinal issues during the
second half of the runs? I didn’t have
to “go” prior to the race. I guess
running kind of helps things move along.
Ha!
Mile 2.5 – 3.1
After I rounded the last turnaround, I didn’t think I’d have enough
energy to speed up to the end. I started
thinking about where I did think I could increase my pace if not at mile 2.5. But when I checked my watch, I found that I
had already sped up and was running at 9:10.
No wonder I didn’t think I could speed up! How did that happen? I tried to hold that effort and started
playing my mind game where I imagine a sports announcer describing my race. “Sue Reynolds looks strong! Not a bit of tiredness on her face. Great form!
No fatigue in those legs. Sue is
feeling really good right now. She is
going to do this!”
I think it is very
interesting to note that while my pace when up considerably in this section, my
cadence went down from 105-ish to 100-ish and my HR seemed to cap at 155. There are two ways to increase speed. 1) increase cadence, or 2) increase
stride. There has to be lessons in this data. What are they?
SPLIT
|
CADENCE
|
STRIDE
|
PACE
|
HR
|
0 – 0.5
|
206
|
0.78
|
10:00
|
140
|
0.5 – 1.0
|
214
|
0.77
|
9:44
|
144
|
1.0 – 1.5
|
211
|
0.82
|
9:18
|
148
|
1.5 – 2.0
|
211
|
0.80
|
9:32
|
149
|
2.0 – 2.5
|
210
|
0.81
|
9:22
|
152
|
2.5 – 3.0
|
206
|
0.87
|
9:00
|
154
|
3.0 – 3.1
|
205
|
1.04
|
7:26
|
156
|
My pace for the last half mile was 8:46. At Nationals, it was 9:06.
Finish
When I turned entered Buckingham Fountain for the last 0.2 miles, I
turned on the gas. I averaged 8:34 for
those 320 meters - better than the 8:50 that I did at Nationals for the last
0.2 miles.
I tried to have good form as I came down the finish chute – lean, head
up, hands up. But to run faster, I take
a bigger stride which gives me a heal strike, but does seem to make me
faster. My face looked like I was
dying. Probably because I was! I crossed the finish line at a 7:50 pace and
156 heart rate.
I put my hands on my knees after the finish line and of course, a
million people converged on me to see if I wanted to go to the medical
tent. I just don’t know how anyone can
sprint the finish chute and not have to rest on their knees at the end.
POST RACE
After the race, I met Brian as I came out of the area where they have
drinks and food for finishers. The race
results were “real time” online so I could check my finish time and place. I was second! I screamed to Brian, “I AM SECOND!!!” Then I asked Brian to check because I was
sure I wasn’t reading it right. He
confirmed that I was second!!!!
I couldn’t wait to tell my coach that I would be on the podium. He was racing in a local event that morning so I made a short video and sent it to him. I was so excited that I could barely breathe! Every time I replay the video, I laugh. I was SOOOOO happy!
I was just a little excited! :-)
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