I did the New Bri Tri (0.5 miles/ 14 miles/ 3 miles) as a warm-up race for Liberty 70.3. The two races are a week apart. I had never actually tried doing a race where I cared more about staying healthy that posting a good time, but this went pretty well.
The weather was predicted to be thunderstorms for much of the week. If the swim had gotten canceled, I would have skipped the race. I had no interest in doing a wet bike/run like in Minnetonka last year. As it worked out, race morning was a little chilly, but there was no rain in the morning forecast. The sun poked out while I was in the lake, and the bike and the run were quite pleasant for temperature. There wind never kicked up throughout the race.
Goal: Don't get hurt, and less than 1:50 per 100 yds average
Actual: Nailed it.
The lake was cold, but my wet suit kept my body plenty warm. My head was a different story. I had some issues adjusting to the cold on my face and head. I was in the water before the race started, but that didn't help the shock once I got to my wave start. In the first two hundred yards, I almost went to my back because my freak-out was making me breath like a maniac. After a while, I decided I just had to slow down. After I paced myself a bit, things fell into place. I got into a nice rhythm and started to breath easy. By the half way point I passed some folks from the heat that went off before us. I set my watch for a ten minute reminder before the race, and when that went off I could see that I was on pace for a pretty reasonable time. It seemed like this swim was mapped out pretty well. My watch had it at 0.52 miles, which is closer than most races.
Swim Time: 14:54, a 1:42 per 100 yards pace
Swim Rank: 52 out of 164 finishers
40 out of 105 males
5 out of 17 age groupers
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| My time is noted in green. |
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| Swim Exit |
T1
Goal: Don't break my bike cleats
Actual: Good enough
I'm still not really sure how I want to run transition with my new bike. I'm not wild about the idea of running with my cleats on, but I'm also not confident in a start where I hop on my bike with my shoes already on the pedals. I'll have to get in a little practice before next week at Liberty. As it was, I walked out of transition with my shoes on and started my bike time slowly. A lot of folks passed me in T1. There were 13 people who I beat out of the water that then passed me in T1, and I never got close to them again.
T1 Time: 2:33
Positions: 52 out of the water
66 out of T1 (164 finishers)
Bike (
Goal: Don't get hurt, 18 or 19 mph
Actual: Nailed it.
I screwed up my watch at the start of the swim. I wanted to use the setting that times the race as a multisport event, but I started it as just a swim. I figured this out once I got on the bike. So, I coasted the first minute of the bike while I jacked around with my watch trying to get things right. After that, I was off like a shot.
It was a pretty flat course; I got a fair amount of practice on the aero bars. I slowed down quite a bit to cross the railroad tracks 3 or 4 times, but the volunteers and cops did a great job at the intersections to keep my speed up the rest of the way. There wasn't much wind, and only a couple drops of rain. I had a drafting pair/team pass me at about 10 miles which seemed pretty silly. If you don't care or know about the sport's rules, I guess that's your problem.
The race is billed as a 14 mile bike, but there is no way that is true. Using the gps on my watch, I estimate the bike course at about 12.5 miles. There's no chance that I cut a mile and a half on tight corners. The results sheet had the averages based on 14 miles, so the speeds are all inflated. I only captured about 12.4 miles on my watch after all my troubles. For those 12.4 miles I clocked in at 18.9 mph. With the added length and the time from the race sheet I dropped about half a mph. I also recalculated the speed numbers for everyone using a 12.5 mile bike. One lady was still at 32mph after the adjustment; the second fastest bike time was 25.5 mph. I assume the 32 mph is a tech error or a cheat. Either way, I threw her out of my results.
Bike Time: 41:22 with an 18.3 mph average
Bike Rank: 79 out of 164 finishers
64 out of 105 males
11 out of 17 age groupers
T2
Goal: Don't fall of the bike or break my cleats.
Actual: Nailed it.
The "it" that I nailed was a tent set up over the "bike in" mat at T2. I guess it's made for short people because I nailed my head on the canopy. Luckily, I was still wearing my helmet. Anyhoo, T2 was otherwise uneventful. I dismounted at the line, walked into T2, changed shoes and was on my way. I only drank a little Gatorade on the bike, so I had one more hit before the run. My total transition was about 30 seconds slower than the average total. I'll take that. I can try to speed it up a little next week, but I'll take a 30 second deficit all day.
T2 Time: 1:21
Positions: 71 off the bike
73 out of T2 (164 finishers)
Run (3 miles)
Goal: Don't get hurt, under a 10:00 mile average.
Actual: Nailed it.
I guess I started off a little over cooked on the run. About four minutes in I realized I was huffing like a water buffalo and my heart was racing. The last thing I wanted to do at this race was overcook it and hurt my knees. I pulled back on the reins and found an easy pace. After that, it was easy going. I suppose it was too easy. I was passed by 12 people on the run, and I passed no one. However, I was going at a pretty good pace for me, so I just tried to breath easy and enjoyed the run. It was great to see my family at the finish line, and I very much enjoyed this race.
Run Time: 27:27 with a 9:09 per mile average.
Run Rank: 100 out of 164 finishers
72 out of 105 males
11 out of 17 age groupers
Total Time: 1:27:35
Overall Ranks: 85 out of 164 finishers
68 out of 105 males
11 out of 17 age groupers
Time Comparison
Looking at my times, I had the average male racer beat before the run. Of course, that blew up on the run, but we're going to call it a win. Even if I did try to over-cook the run, I don't think I could have dropped 30 seconds per mile. For a "B race" this was all pretty good. I didn't get hurt, I had fun and I went at a pretty good clip. I always wish I could run faster, but right now I'm just happy I can run without too much knee pain.
LIBERTY 70.3! My long race of the year is this week and I think I'm ready. If not, I believe I couldn't be more ready. My foot is completely better from the injury I had in March. Besides a small amount of knee pain and some shoulder trouble recently, I really couldn't feel better going into Liberty. It looks like it's going to be hot; it might get into the 90's. I haven't done any training in heat yet this year, but that's only because we haven't had any heat. We'll see how it goes.
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