Sunday, June 7, 2009

Ann Arbor Triathlon Race Report

This morning was the "official" beginning to my triathlon season.  Once again Gwen and I found ourselves on the east side of the state for a race.  The triathlon was held at the Pinckney Recreation Area just outside of Ann Arbor.  When we woke up this morning in Ann Arbor it was thundering and lightning and I was pretty worried that the race was going to be delayed and/or cancelled but by the time we got out to the rec. area the sky had cleared and it looked like beautiful weather for a triathlon!  This tri was a sprint with the following distances:
  • Swim- 1/2 mile
  • Bike- 14 miles
  • Run- 5 miles on the Potowatami Trail
There were just under 400 participants who raced the triathlon and another couple of hundred that participated in the duathlon.  Compared to the other races that I've done this one definitely seemed more competitive.  There was a strong showing from U of M's triathlon team, MSU's triathlon team, etc. etc.  All in all it was a really well run event (Elite Endeavors were the organizers and I highly recommend checking out some of their upcoming races) on a well put together course.


Pictured Above:  My wave coming in from the swim (green caps)

To break everything down I'll start with some stats.  My finish time was 01:44:25.  That was good enough to put me 14/28 in the Male 25-29 age group and 120/368 overall.  Here is a breakdown of each individual leg:
  • Swim- 00:15:57 (14th in age group, 134th overall)
  • T1- 00:04:14 (really long here.  I was having trouble getting out of my wetsuit and into my tri top... more on this later)
  • Bike- 00:39:43/ 21.1 mph (8th in age group, 54th overall... puts me in the top 15% of all bikers! )
  • T2- 00:01:42 (again, really long.  For some reason I'm very slow in transition)
  • Run- 00:42:52/00:08:35 minute miles (17th in age group, 159th overall)
A couple of interesting (at least I think) notes on the race and the above.  I was in the bottom 1/3 of my age group in terms of transition times.  Had I been able to cut 3 minutes overall (this should have been easy to do) I would have ended up 3 or 4 spots higher. 


Pictured Above: T1.  Wetsuit off, helmet on, having trouble getting my gloves on.


Pictured Above:  T1.  Why was I slow?  To answer that I'll ask another question... why did I feel the need to fold up my wetsuit and reposition it several times before taking off?

 My bike time would actually have been a little faster than the above however as I crossed the timing mat with my bike out of T1 I noticed that my chain had fallen off.  I took a little bit to get it back on and then get on my bike and take off.  My bike computer actually read closer to 22 mph.  


Pictured Above:  Coming in off the bike... feeling good.

Finally, my run... I missed a couple of the aid stations and was hurting a little (started to cramp) because I hadn't taken in any fluids throughout the race (outside of a couple of sips of water on the bike).  This was dumb.  I feel like I could have been a lot more comfortable had I gotten some water and this probably would have led to a bit quicker time.  The run was on a really nice trail and I was happy to have a chance to run through the woods and up some hills... made for a nice finish.


Pictured Above:  Crossing the line.  Feeling great!

Overall I'm really happy with my effort out there today.  I think I could have done a little better job overall with transitions, etc. and I probably would have cracked the top 10 in my age group.  I was super happy on the bike... felt very strong.  There wasn't a single person who passed me on the bike and I feel like I was definitely in that group of stronger bikers (I feel like being faster than 85% of the field is an indication of this) and that is for sure the biggest thing I can walk away with.  Like I said, it was a great "training day" for me and as always I learned more about the sport and what not to do/what to do.

Oh, I forgot to mention... I was one of 2 dudes who rocked the speedo only tri.  The other guy was in his 60's or 70's... I think he may have actually looked better in his.  Anyway, the Whisper Cycles speedo is pretty hot aye?  Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for checking in!  Later on...





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