Race Result: 2011 Pigman Sprint Triathlon

Event: 20th annual Pigman Sprint Triathlon
Date: Sunday, June 5, 2011
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Hotel: Cedar Rapids Marriott
Weather: 81F; partly cloudy; wind from ENE at 7-9 MPH
Official Results: Overall results

Personal Results

Official Time: 1:18.15
Overall: 66th overall (648 total); 50th in AG Males (387 total); 7th in 50-54 AG (35 total)

This will be somewhat shorter than my usual race reports. I'm looking at a stressful week at work, the Boy® is out of school after Wednesday, and my parents will be in town as he is 'graduating' from elementary. Next year, middle school. Where does the time go?

I finished off the podium but in many ways this event was more satisfying than the Apple Duathlon when I won the 50-54 age group. I was pleased with my performance in all three elements. Keeping in mind I've only been training for a couple of weeks now, I came away really happy and the confidence is building that perhaps I can salvage something of this season after all.

I felt really solid in the water. I had zero leg cramps on the bike. And save for a little lingering calf soreness from the Apple Du, my run felt good. So the run legs are getting back under me and the bike, while still a little off, is coming around.

Pigman had Time-Trial start to the swim, as athletes lined up according to their respective age group wave and then one person started every 3 seconds by crossing over the chip timing mat on the beach before entering the water. I was in wave 5, so it was a somewhat slow process to eventually get to us. But I enjoyed having much more room to maneuver in the water.

How it looked this past Sunday at the TT swim start

There was a downside to the time trial start though. I had a false sense of doing well. I was not passed in the water and felt like I passed dozens and dozens of people. I was only passed once on the bike (by a chick...albeit a fast one, Jenny Saylor) and passed scores and scores of people. I was not passed on the run at all....and again, picked off person after person. So I crossed the line thinking, "Hey, I did pretty good."

Um, no. You got creamed.

But after that brief downer of seeing my name in 7th for the age group, I realized that A) you are just 13-weeks removed from a pelvic stress fracture, B) you have had a total of 8 training runs, C) you have the whole season in front of you yet. I had predicted I would finish in 1:18.00. I ended up in 1:18.15. There is nothing there to be mad about.

So, I will continue on my plan to race as much as possible through early July and then see if I can get back to being competitive. I expect to get creamed again during these June/early July events, but as long as I am making personal progress I'll be sated.

Time for the personal report.

301 miles one-way to Cedar Rapids. You know what? That starts to wear on a old man who doesn't have much of an ass to sit on any more. I think in the future I will be sticking closer and closer to home!

Plus on this trip I forgot my toothpaste and I forgot my CarboPro. So I had zero fuel for race day morning and had stinky breath. I made do with some Starbucks VIA packets and a couple of Stinger waffles. I also used a total of five Stinger energy chews during the event. I might have to try that combo again considering I had no muscle cramp issues.


Swim -  0.5K (547 yards)

Goal: 08:30
Official Time: 08:43; 8th in AG

Water temperature was a sweet 71F. It was my first time at this event, so I had no idea what it would be like. The water clarity was a bit murky but it has a nice sandy beach. Simple out (buoys on right....I hate that!) and back.

How the lake looked the night before the event

I warmed up for about 10-minutes. Peed in the wet suit about seventeen times (Starbucks, remember?). Lined up for the time trial starts and BOOM! I'm off. I had a nice clear swim and only knocked into a person once (why do people think they can just stop swimming!?!?). I felt comfortable the whole time. Got a little fatigued (oh, wait.....only Joe Mauer gets fatigued) near the end but I really was happy here.


T1

Goal: 02:50
Official Time: 03:04

 Oh, just shut-up. I know I'm slow in transition. But before you say too much, from the time one leaves the water to the time you actually reach transition has to be about 150-yards. I mean.....take a look:

See the little bit of blue in the background?

Then when you get to transition, you might have to run another 50-100 yards to reach your bike. With nearly 700 people (not counting relays) it was one ginormous transition area:

I was about midway between the two ends

So, three minutes was not necessarily all that, ahem, bad. And I was wearing my two piece DeSoto Water Rover wet suit for the first time this year and forgot how fun it is to remove the upper. It's not.

Bike - 15.5 miles

Goal: 43:14 (21.5 MPH)
Official Time: 43:43 (21:3 MPH); 7th in AG

Again, first time at this event so I was gauging off what I knew from talking to various people. The first few miles of the course are twisty-turning roads to just exit the park. Then its nice for a while. Big downhill, and flat stretches. We were required to do this funky squared turn around in the small hamlet of Palo which bit off some speed. But I was at 23.2 at this point. Then it was back towards the park, actually going past it before we turned around again to enter the park and finish up. Couple of big hills in there that took the speed off.

I kept waiting for the leg cramps to appear, but they never did and that made me very happy.


T2

Goal: 01:20
Official Time: 01:27

 Another long run to rack the bike, but no leg cramps to make me swear as I put on the flats. Oh, and I went with the ol' fraying Luna Racers. Passed on the Mizuno's. I want the legs fully recovered before I reach for those suckers again.

Run - 5K

Goal: 22:34 (7:15 pace)
Official Time: 21:20 (6:52 pace); 3rd in AG

Nice. I went out in 6:45ish for the first mile. Then we hit a couple of rollers and I lost gas fast. I had some lingering calf soreness from Apple in the right calf which bothered me a wee bit, but nothing bad. It was starting to get a bit warm as well. Again the, "You're going to have to walk this time" thought entered my head. Not sure where this is coming from, probably lack of confidence. I was running 6:03-6:05 pace in 5K's before the fracture so I'm probably reaching too hard to get back to that point and ending up bonking on the run as the mind wants to go-go-go but the legs are no-no-no.

Best of all, unlike Apple I am actually walking around. I'll be icing a bit this week on the right calf and right ham. But I think I should be good to go for the next event. Just hope I can keep improving week by week.

Next Event:


Sunday, Jun 12 - 22nd Manitou Sprint 0.5mi Swim, 13.5mi Bike, 3mi Run. Another first time event for me. That half-mile swim should be interesting.

After that, I had been looking at the Bismarck (NoDak) Sprint Triathlon on June 18, but I may end up passing on it. Bismarck is having severe flooding. The current event site is under water. So they are moving it to another lake which I don't hear good things about (ultra weedy) and the bike course is hilly. Yuck.

So, if I do something that weekend I may instead jump into the Rochesterfest Sprint Tri on June 19. I can stop by the meat store on the way down so I can grill up some good stuff for Super Mario.

Oh, almost forgot. This is cool. It is called the Midwest Multisport Series. Unlike most race series, each of the races in the Midwest Multisport Series is put on by a different race director. By completing a race in the series, points will be automatically calculated and you can track your progress throughout the series. You keep points in your five best races and any additional races earn 25 bonus points. The more races you do the more points you earn. Completing more than 5 races will earn you 25 bonus points at each of those races. Up to 125 bonus points.

Midwest Multisport Series Point System: Overall winners (male & female) receive 1,000 points. Each athlete earns points based on the percentage behind the overall winner (e.g. if time is 30% slower than overall winner, you will receive 700 points). Athletes are scored for the Series on their 5 best results. I'll be doing five the possible events this season. Take a gander at who is #5 currently in the male 50-54!