Bob's Blog: July 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Race Report: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon (Opps, Duathlon) - Olympic Distance

Another adventure to be had. And, I was faster than previous years in every comparable event (read on to understand "every comparable event"). Before even arriving at the race, I got the following in an email:

Hopefully by now, you are aware of the interesting week we have had preparing for this weekend’s race. The weather has posed some challenges with recent rains and flooding resulting in a change in the race format. Our swim start and swim exit have been under water all week and water outflow in the Tennessee River has been as high as 300% more than normal, making the environment unsafe for swimmers, kayakers or any water activity.
So, in the spirit of our founders Caulder and Betsy Willingham, we have put on our rain boots and come up with a plan. We will have a duathlon this year [run/bike/run] that will provide each of you the challenge, excitement and quality you expect from Team Magic and Chattanooga Track Club races.

And, sure enough, there sure looked like lots of high, fast moving water upon inspection:

You can see the landing and the exit we usually use is under water.

But, the transition area was set up when we arrived and I talked to my coach about how to approach a duathlon since I have never done one. I was especially concerned about running 2 miles where I normally swim. Answer: take the 1st mile easy (9:29) and run strong for the second (8:38). The recommendations for the next 2 events I assume were as they would be if I had started with a swim. So, the start was launched and executed the first 2 miles and the bike as planned.

Into T1 and I have to pee. So, into the porta-potty and yet, I still have a pretty good transition time. I didn't have any other issues and I got out to a good start on the bike.

The bike was a bit hectic at the beginning. People were bunching up and many were riding to the left while not passing. I had to ask several riders to move to the right so I could pass. I had the usual get passed on the climbs and pass on the descents experience. There was some road construction and several parts of the ride that had some really rough road surface. The surface was prepped for paving, but was still grooved and very rough. On the second half, I was approaching a forced lane change from the left to right lane. The edge of the left lane met the right on a raised edge and looked dangerous to me since this was on a good descent too. So, I slowed down before crossing the bump. Just as I got to the right side of where I should be, I hear a woman yelling something from behind. The next thing I know she blows by me on my right. We exchanged unpleasantries. I passed her and that was that. I can't say who was at fault, but I sure didn't see her coming up behind me as I obeyed the forced lane change.

T2 went equally well as T1 without the pee break. I have changed my laces in my running shoe to the type that are elastic and do not require tying. These are the bomb! My goal was start slow for the first 2, stronger for the middle and negative splits for the last 2. I did not pull it off. The first 3 went as planned, but I faded. Here are the mile split paces:

10:03
10:10
9:55
10:17
10:33
11:20

Results

All results

July 14, 2013: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon Olympic (Swim cancelled, Duathlon) Time: 2:51:17
	Run	Distance: 2 Miles Time: 18:08
	Transition	Time: 2:48 (with potty break)
	Cycle	Distance: 26.1 Miles Time: 1:24:59 Rate: 18.4
	Transition	Time: 2:12
	Run	Distance: 6.2 Miles Time: 1:03:12 Pace: 10:22
	Weather	Mostly Cloudy Temperature: 73.0° Humidity: 90%

History

Year	Time	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
2011	3:24:36	33:27	4:18	1:26:57	2:46	1:17:09
2012	3:19:35	32:47	4:03	1:29:36	3:40	1:09:31
2013	2:51:17	18:08*	2:48*	1:24:59	2:12	1:03:12

Fastest component in red.
* Can't compare to previous years as the swim was cancelled and replaced with a 2 mile run.

Pictures

Transition is ready

Approaching the finish line

My favorite fan

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Race Report: 2013 Peavine Falls Fun: Not Just a Run: Another Adventure

I contemplated naming this post Just a Run. I was motivated by my egocentric need to assert that as a triathlete I was lowering myself to completing a fun without swimming and cycling first. Clearly, I would be competing with inferior, single-focused athletes. Let's ignore that many, if not most will finish in front of me. Surely, they would do far worse if they had to swim and cycle first. But, such silly, self-talk has no business being on public display. Further, is not a true reflection of my nature. But, it was fun contemplating none the less.

I did complete the Peavine Falls Fun of July 4, 2013 and it was another adventure. This is my fourth time to run it and the first time in the rain. The rain added to the adventure. So, did the white shorts that looked like Fruit-of-the-Loom underwear on an older, tall man that anyone that runs with Al DiMicco on Sunday can likely correctly name with a good guess. This fellow should really get some new running shorts. I saw and chatted with a few friends including Vanessa Stroud who just completed Western States™ 100-Mile Endurance Run, a hundred miles! I knew 2 runners in it and there were 5 from Birmingham. Our ultrarunning community is growing here in Birmingham. I am not joining their numbers.

Back to the race. Today was my slowest of the four that I have run. In fact, I have gotten slower each year, much to my chagrin. But, I felt good and with Chattanooga Olympic Triathlon coming up next week, my participation was nearly spur of the moment, and I am thinking of it as a training run. But, I was mentally pushing myself like I would in any race. I reckon at my age, I did fine. I took the climb (see Elevation Chart below) slow and steady paying attention to my RPE (perceived exertion rate) to hold it steady throughout the race. Effectively take the climb slow and pushing the pace on the decline. My splits as reported by via Garmin Connect and my Garmin 910XT suggest I actually kept my pace pretty steady. It sure didn't feel that way.