Hickory Grove Race Report

Quick summary: 1:17:20, good for 25 second PR and 3^rd of 29 in 45-49 Age Group.  It was a satisfactory, but slightly disappointing performance.

This summer, after my A-race for the summer, I had on the schedule a team half event (Pigman, 3 weeks post) and two sprint events.  The first of these was the Hickory Grove Triathlon on 8/29/2010, 4 weeks after my A-race.

In the two weeks previous to the Hickory Grove, I had been focusing my workouts on shorter efforts (e.g., half-mile and mile run intervals).  I had taken a couple of easy days in preparation – a Friday swim only and a Saturday with only an easy 4 mile run.  I had been thinking for the last few days about what it would be like to sustain a threshold effort for the (roughly) hour of the bike and run.

Race preparation was easy.  There was plenty of time and space.  Timothy came with me, so I had to keep track of him, but life was good.  I took a short swim warmup and felt good.

I was in the last wave, with 6 minute intervals.  Given the short swim (500 yards), there would be very little overlap between waves.  We were all very friendly/chatty on the shore, so I felt a little guilty when I ended up banging into a competitor a few times in the water.  I put in a good effort, but I was surprised that I felt surprisingly winded at one point in the swim. The time was a little disappointing, but does include a considerable run up to the transition area.  T1 was unremarkable and quick.

The bike leg was good but a little disappointing.  The course is a little unusual for something this short, with a full 180˚ turnaround in a 3-loop course.  It has a few rolling hills, but nothing difficult.  My perceived effort was pretty high, and heart rate was in the low 160s consistently, which is probably just short of my lactate threshold.  The power, when actively pedaling, was in the upper 20X range, though, which was a little lower than I had wanted.  Normalized power was just short of 210 and VI was 1.04.  I would have liked to see 10-20 watts more on the bike.  I didn’t sit there and whine about it – I just did the race and felt pretty comfortable; it was just something I could sit there and detachedly watch as I was going on.  In retrospect, maybe this was the “problem”, i.e., that I was too detached and not as invested as I would have liked.  On the other hand, I was not passed by anyone in my age range, but that is also a function of how they did on the swim.  The average speed was 21.3 mph.  I had been hoping for 22+. T2 was smooth again.

My run went ok, if not great.  The first ¾ mile or so is off road, which I find less appealing, and the uneven footing was bothersome.  My legs felt much more jelly-like than usual.  The first was my slowest mile, consistent with these two factors.  I was pretty sure I was not leading the age group because I hadn't passed that many riders on the bike leg, but I wasn’t sure how far ahead anyone was; I may have passed a couple, but not more than that.  In the end, it turned out that I was simply beaten by people too far in front of me to see!  I am pretty convinced that the race was just a touch long – maybe 3.2 miles instead of 3.1.  (They re-routed the finish compared to previous years.)  My last two miles got under 7:00/mile.  It had been my goal to run under 7:00 pace overall.  If I am right about the course being a little long, I did…if it was right on, I was just over.  Again, my effort level looks good on paper;  my average HR was 170.  But still, I can’t help feeling like I was a little detached and could have put in just a little more.

As I reached the finish line, I got a big smile seeing Timothy waiting for me.  I got my chip taken off and got my water bottle.  I gave Timothy a hug, and we went to see the results.  I was pleased to see that I came in 3^rd for the group.  

We had a Very Important Soccer Match to go off to, so I had to leave without saying good bye to anyone.  Also, it was a little funny to get to the match wearing my race outfit.  Interestingly, there were a couple other parents who had done the race, but they had managed to change before they got there!  Maybe one parent went to race and another took Johnny to the match.  Oh well, one of the deep mysteries of the universe!

Two more weeks before the last tri of the year – another sprint.  Two weeks to figure out how to maintain my fitness and also apply it just a little better on race day.