Monday, May 05, 2008

PolarBear Triathlon

My race went ok but overall I felt pretty crappy though.
I didn't like the fact that I had to wait till 11am before I started.
I had some ensure at 6am and then a bottle of heed/carbo pro that I sipped on for the rest of the morning.
I didn't get to do a warm up for the swim, don't know how much that would have mattered, I did spin for a bit on the bike and then did a few laps on the track in the field house.

The pool swim I thought went pretty well. I didn't go out to hard at first and tried to keep a steady hard pace. The first 100 I did in 1:25 and the second I did in 1:30. The rest of the 525 I kept a pace a little over 1:30 and hit the wall at 8:25. I then tried to push myself out of the pool, slipped, fell hard on my knee on the lip and now I have a major egg on the side of my knee the size of a golf ball. It is very painful. I didn't feel it during the race but afterwards I could barely walk. The second attempt I pretty much just rolled out onto my stomach and flopped around for a bit. I looked like a beached whale. It took me a long time to get to the first T1 after seeing my total swim time.

T1 went well. I but on my shoes, helmet, glasses and was off. I didn't put on the arm warmers. They were all ready soaked. When I got to the red line in the road I mounted my bike and then they said I had to go to the yellow line. WTF. So I got back off ran to the yellow line, which was 10' further and then got on the bike.
On the bike I felt horrible. I just couldn't get my watts up. I was cold and my legs felt like big loads of crap. I could only hold FTP for a few minutes and then my watts would drop off. I tried all the time to keep them up but just had a hard time. I was mostly able to just hold 85% or so. The roads were still wet which made cornering hard. I passed the only other guy out on course from my wave and then started to catch people from the previous waves. After 20min or so I felt a bit better but by now the ride was almost done. As I turned onto the last road I began to take my feet out of my shoes. I practiced this once during the week but haven't really got comfortable doing it yet. I was able to get them out but had to slow down a lot. I was afraid of stubbing my feet when I dismounted so I almost came to a stop. I need to work on this a bit.

I ran to T2, took my helmet and glasses off, put on my shoes and grabbed my race number. I was very cold at this point, couldn't feel my feet or hands but was happy to be running and warming back up. I ran hard but after a few minutes, about the time I hit Main St. I got a major stitch in my right side. It hurt bad. It was so bad I was holding my breath just be able to move and continue running. I tried to relax but nothing worked. I slow down a bit and once I hit the first aid station it was better but not gone. I was able to pick up the pace again and didn't have to hold my breath just to move. The woods section was ok. I was watching out for roots and stuff which I think slowed me down plus when I hit the second lap I got the major pain back in my right side. I just tried to forget about it and run. Once I hit the grass again I really pushed hard and when I could see the finish line I sprinted to the line. Once crossed I was so dizzy, couldn't walk straight, and couldn't breath. I was also very cold. Jeff and Alan were there waiting and pretty much held me up so I would fall over.

I then went inside, to get warm and food. I was starving. Even after getting clothes on I was still cold and started to turn purple again. I did not want to repeat Lobsterman again. I could barely walk at this point because my leg hurt so bad. I didn't know what I did but figured it was from the slip at the pool. Everyone who saw me was worried because I was so cold but I never got the uncontrollable shivers like at Lobsterman so I figured I'd be ok. I ended up 3rd in my age group and 14th overall. I would have liked to have broken 1hr but for being my first triathlon that I have ever did I guess I can't complain that much. I loved racing and the venue is great. I just didn't like having to wait so long to start. I defiantly want to do it again.

Sunday I slept in, skipped the Freeport TT, I just didn't want to get cold again and get hypothermia. I was pretty lame all day and my knee killed. I applied lots of ice but it just kept swelling. I've got a nice bump on the side of it which is pretty tender. I also have a bunch of other bruises on my legs. I guess I really did fall hard trying to get out of the pool. I'm sure I looked pretty funny rolling around the pool deck. I wonder if there is a picture of that somewhere out there.

Result

Swim = 8:58.7 (51 out of 182)
Bike, T1, & T2 = 30:50.4 (6 out of 182)
Run = 20:46.5 (23 out of 182)
Overall = 1:00:35.70 (12 male out of 182 and 14 overall out of 463 total)
3rd in age group
Full Results
http://live-timing.com/report.php?r=8892&rp=7320