THUNGERGUST TRIATHLON RACE REPORT - 14 JUNE 2008
Great race overall. The race director kept referring to how great a field we had today. I’m not sure if he was being serious, or just trying to make everyone feel better if they didn’t finish where they’d hoped. Either way, I was surprised at how well I did!
I was 34th overall (out of about 160, I’m waiting for the “official” results), and placed 3rd in my age group (Male, 30-34)!! For the first race in 707 days, I was very happy. I find this pretty significant because the toughest age groups for men are 30-34 and 35-39 (the latter being the toughest). Just fyi - for women it's late 30's to early 40's that have the best endurance athletes. You might think it's the young kids in their 20's, but it takes a long time to build the endurance necessary to maintain speed in a triathlon. Now I feel even better!
Swim:
Not a bad swim. Wetsuits were not allowed (too warm, but I haven’t tried mine out yet anyway, so I didn’t mind), but I felt pretty good on the swim. As usual, my breathing during the race and my breathing during training were totally different. I breathe hypoxic during training (regulated, one breath every third stroke so it’s alternating sides), but every stroke during a race. It’s faster, but it does elevate the HR slightly. No worries on this one, as it was a short swim. The start was okay; I didn’t get kicked too badly and quickly made it out of the pack. The worst part was the sea-grass or lake grass in this case. There were times when you felt as if you were swimming through a bunch of hair. Yes – naaaassstyyyy. It felt disgusting. Especially at the end when the bottom was all churned up. I sure as hell didn’t finish first in the swim (I’m used to that – it’s my slowest event), but I was right about in the middle. I beat a lot of folks.
Bike:
My strongest event. I usually don’t get passed too much on this, but today there were some very fast riders out there. The good thing is that most of the people who passed me, I ended up overtaking again at some point. Good route though, not very hilly – just a couple of rollers. The wind wasn’t bad even when it was in our face. I was happy with this ride. My legs felt a little tired at first for some reason and I was concerned about my speed. Once I rode for about two miles though, I started to get my power back and that’s when I started smokin’ some ass!
Run:
Great course! It basically went all the way around the lake in which we swam and was shaded the whole way on a packed dirt trail. I passed and was passed, but I’m used to that on the runs. This is my middle ground event, so as long as I hold my own I’m pretty happy. And I thought my pace was pretty good.
Overall, great way to get back on the racing “horse.” The transitions went well; I don’t feel like I lost hardly any time. Granted, I didn’t have a wetsuit to contend with, but we’ll tackle that at the next race! I’m very happy with this performance and hope that the rest of the season only gets better!
UNOFFICIAL TIMES (official distances/times are based on however they measure the course):
Swim: 643.75 meters (.4 miles), 11:47, 1:50/100m
Bike: 14.69 mi, 38:47, 22.7 mph, AHR-150
Run: 2.94 mi, 22:42, 7:43/mi, AHR-164
Once the official results and pictures are posted, I’ll update the race report!
Great race overall. The race director kept referring to how great a field we had today. I’m not sure if he was being serious, or just trying to make everyone feel better if they didn’t finish where they’d hoped. Either way, I was surprised at how well I did!
I was 34th overall (out of about 160, I’m waiting for the “official” results), and placed 3rd in my age group (Male, 30-34)!! For the first race in 707 days, I was very happy. I find this pretty significant because the toughest age groups for men are 30-34 and 35-39 (the latter being the toughest). Just fyi - for women it's late 30's to early 40's that have the best endurance athletes. You might think it's the young kids in their 20's, but it takes a long time to build the endurance necessary to maintain speed in a triathlon. Now I feel even better!
Swim:
Not a bad swim. Wetsuits were not allowed (too warm, but I haven’t tried mine out yet anyway, so I didn’t mind), but I felt pretty good on the swim. As usual, my breathing during the race and my breathing during training were totally different. I breathe hypoxic during training (regulated, one breath every third stroke so it’s alternating sides), but every stroke during a race. It’s faster, but it does elevate the HR slightly. No worries on this one, as it was a short swim. The start was okay; I didn’t get kicked too badly and quickly made it out of the pack. The worst part was the sea-grass or lake grass in this case. There were times when you felt as if you were swimming through a bunch of hair. Yes – naaaassstyyyy. It felt disgusting. Especially at the end when the bottom was all churned up. I sure as hell didn’t finish first in the swim (I’m used to that – it’s my slowest event), but I was right about in the middle. I beat a lot of folks.
Bike:
My strongest event. I usually don’t get passed too much on this, but today there were some very fast riders out there. The good thing is that most of the people who passed me, I ended up overtaking again at some point. Good route though, not very hilly – just a couple of rollers. The wind wasn’t bad even when it was in our face. I was happy with this ride. My legs felt a little tired at first for some reason and I was concerned about my speed. Once I rode for about two miles though, I started to get my power back and that’s when I started smokin’ some ass!
Run:
Great course! It basically went all the way around the lake in which we swam and was shaded the whole way on a packed dirt trail. I passed and was passed, but I’m used to that on the runs. This is my middle ground event, so as long as I hold my own I’m pretty happy. And I thought my pace was pretty good.
Overall, great way to get back on the racing “horse.” The transitions went well; I don’t feel like I lost hardly any time. Granted, I didn’t have a wetsuit to contend with, but we’ll tackle that at the next race! I’m very happy with this performance and hope that the rest of the season only gets better!
UNOFFICIAL TIMES (official distances/times are based on however they measure the course):
Swim: 643.75 meters (.4 miles), 11:47, 1:50/100m
Bike: 14.69 mi, 38:47, 22.7 mph, AHR-150
Run: 2.94 mi, 22:42, 7:43/mi, AHR-164
Once the official results and pictures are posted, I’ll update the race report!
OFFICIAL RESULTS:
.4 mi Swim, 16 mi Bike, 5K Trail Run
Overall: 1:16:15. 34th / 158 Finishers
M30-34: 3rd / 6
Male: 29th / 112
Swim: 11:34, (56th)
Tran 1: 1:43
Bike: 39:01, 22.5mph, (24th)
Tran 2: 1:14
Run: 22:43, 7:20/mi, (50th)
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