Mossman Park City Olympic- 38 Min PR vs. 2010!
I have been looking forward to the Mossman Park City Olympic for quite some time. I did this race in 2010 and really enjoyed it (ie FLAT!) but it hasn't fit into my schedule for the past several seasons. I designated this an "A" race and wanted to try to do everything right.
The week of the race, I did what I'll call "taper-plus". (Or should it be "taper-light"?) Well, basically I did less than the training plan had designated. I did a very short, hard bike on Tues. (some short hill repeats), a 1,600yd swim on Wed. then ran 3 x 1 mi with Sheri on Thurs. 2 days off, massage on Fri. That's all. Felt like I needed the rest prior to this race as I've been doing some good training lately and increasing both my monthly bike and run mileage.
Slept in Sat. morning. (I usually do about a 30mi ride with a local bike shop group Saturdays at 8am) then spent the day puttering around the house for the most part. Had some friends over to join in the pasta eating fun Sat. night, watched a movie then asleep by 10:30 to be up at 3am.
3am came really fast. Had my usual b-fast of a bagel w/ PB and honey and some Gatorade. Got my stuff together (everything but the bike was already in the car) and hit the road at 3:45. Arrived at the race nice and early (and in the dark) and got set up. Not nervous at all, just doing my thing. One of the other benefits to early arrival is the sunrise,, which I rarely see otherwise...
Tried not to let the late arrivers in my row in transition tick me off too much but it is a it annoying when folks arrive 30 mins prior to the race and expect everyone else to make room (which is fine) but they aren't even polite or apologetic about it. More like bulls in a china shop. Regardless, I had an end spot and "Blaze" was ready to go!
Ate a Stinger Waffle and 1/2 Red Bull and headed down to the swim. It was low tide so it would be an in-water start. After watching the first 2 groups, we realized it was going to be swim-walk-swim due to sandbars. I actually ended up swimming most of it as the water wasn't so shallow that you couldn't swim and I didn't want to jack up my HR trying to walk through water. Fairly uneventful swim. A decent length transition, through a lot of sand so I took my time. Again, to not jack up my HR, or screw up my ACL-less knee walking on an unstabble surface. Transition was slower than I would have liked to get the sand off my feet. (I know, I'm a princess, but sand on your feet for another 31 miles might not feel great!)
Off on the bike! This bike course was made for me (and Blaze). 5 flat loops. I was shooting for an intensity factor or about 85-87% I tried to race my own race and leave my ego in transition. But I do enjoy passing people so I did have to do a bit of that. I ended up with a .84IF so pretty close. Note to self (and anyone reading this wondering what to get me for Xmas...) I need to get an aerobar mounted water bottle. Drinking on a tri bike on a flat course is challenging without slowing.
Off the bike feeling very pleased with my split, but next is my favorite (NOT!) ..... the run. It was a 2 loop run (which I don't love either) but I surprised myself with how I felt as well as the splits I was doing. I felt good and stayed very consistent through the entire run, averaging a 10:40 pace. (Which is good for me!)
I finished strong and KILLED my PR from 2010 on this course as well as my PR on the Olympic distance (this year at Quassy which is way hillier) Here's the comparison from 2010 to this year:
Swim: 33:18 vs. 30:38
Bike: 1:33 vs. 1:16
Run: 1:24 vs. 1:06
Overall: 3:37 vs. 2:58:25
OK, so as pleased as I was (OK, thrilled) with this race, there is always room for improvement so here are some thoughts on that... As mentioned above, the difficulty in drinking prevented me from getting enough calories. I only drank half of my Infinit/Gatorade cocktail. That's a pretty easy fix. (More $$ to spend on the bike, oh well. 
It wasn't a huge issue at all today, except being ravenous by mile 4-ish on the run. In a longer race, nutrition mistakes will be magnified and can ruin your day.
Did I not go hard enough on the bike and/or the run? My goal going into the race was sub-3:00 so I might have been able to push a bit more. I did feel pretty good at the end, but my pace was starting to slow slightly on the run the last 1-2 miles. I raced conservative to avoid blowing up on the run and encountering other issues. This is a little trickier distance (for me) in terms of detemining pacing. It's not a sprint where you can afford to redline, and since the run is my weakest, I can't leave it ALL on the bike.
Overall, a fantastic race for me. I will avoid the urge to compare vs. others cuz that's where is gets depressing. A 39-min PR is huge for an Oly and I am pleased with how far I've come in the past few years, with the help of Endurance Nation. It also solidifies that my decision to spend a year doing just sprints and olympics was the right one. I will be able to start my 2014 season confident in stepping back up to the Half Iron distance.
Next up, the 5th Anniversary of my first tri, the Women's Sprint at Winding Trails in Farmington. Does Hallmark make a card for that?
Comments
Also I like that you swam vs. trying to walk/run the sandbars. That is typically a VERY smart move, i.e. as long as you can swim and your hands are not hitting the bottom, swim. I can't count the number of people I've passed in races who are trying to run in knee-deep water near the end of the swim. I just swim along until my hands hit then stand up. Not only do you pass them swimming but as you noted they are expending way more effort so they are less likely to catch you on the run!!
I look forward to continuing to follow your progress!!
I agree with Matt that you could have pushed the bike a bit harder. What you didn't address is "Were you able to push the bike harder?" That, I think, is key. What was your power doing the last 15min of the bike? Were you holding yourself back? I ask b/c we have all raced Sprints where we *know* that we should be able to hold 1.00+ IF for that short of time, but on that day and at that race, your body is only giving you low .9X....
You also mentioned that you "felt good" on the run. Did it start to hurt....really hurt...at the end of the run? You say you ran consistent, but then you also say your pace slowed slightly the last 1 to 2 miles. Were you redlining yourself at the end of the run? If so, then I think you nailed it. If not, then you probably have some more room to push the run (especially since this was your A-Race.
The great thing....and frustrating thing....about this sport is that it is a constantly moving puzzle that we have to try and figure out. Just like a well-executed FTP test, if you are RACING the race, you want to be **spent** moments after crossing the finish line. Somedays, you leave some in the tank. Occasionally you blow up on the course.....and that is part of the fun.
Again -- WELL DONE!!!! a greater than 20% improvement on an Olympic time is humongous.
Matt- Thanks for the feedback! I'm definitely starting to hate running less, and even like it sometimes. Still a lot of room for improvement but have been working hard this season. We'll see how my half mary goes in Oct....
Joe- That's a tough one re: "COULD I have biked harder"... I think physically, maybe but my brain somehow is pretty good at holding back when I know there is a run. It can't be fooled into "biking like there's no run". I have done slightly longer training rides @ .90IF (on hillier terrain however) I think because my target was 18.5mph and I was doing over 19, I figured I could afford to be more conservative. And re: run, prob wasn't redlining til closer to the end (ie last 1/2 mi) so in a nutshell, I could have gone harder, but again, I was trying to get sub-3 so probably didn't fully maximize speed. Just trying not to f' anything up in pursuit of that goal...
Carol- Thanks! You should try this race next year (you're in NJ right?) Def. a course for a sub-3 if you're close!!
Al- I think I probably was fine performance wise but jsut started to feel hungry towards the end of the run. I only drank 1/2 of my bottle on the bike and only drank water on the run since they were serving Heed which I have never used before. Not a huge deficit for Oly but def. need to be more mindful in longer races.
I have my "A" sprint in 2 weeks and am debating about how to handle the bike. "Bike like there's no run" OR maybe shoot for .95-ish IF? On the one hand, I have in my head to shoot for Top 25 bike split because I'm going to drop wayyyyyy down in the rankings on the run anyway so its not like I have any shot of being FOP in my AG but on the other hand, it is a triathlon, not a bike race so I would like to maximize my speed over the entire course, not just the bike.... Hmmmmm
Great Job...I did a similar thing last year with going back to a short course race I had done as one of my first races. Set a huge PR. I'm probably going back next year to see what I got.
For up front Aero drink systems, I like my Torhans 20. Been using it for two seasons now.