Peter's Bonelli Olympic Distance 2014 Race Report
Peter's Bonelli Olympic Distance 2014 Race Report
Yesterday I did my normal carb load, which might not be necessary for an Olympic, but it is too much fun not to do! I ate low fiber and ate most of the calories early in the day. The strategy worked and I came in at race weight this morning. I woke up with plenty of time to get ready and did my normal apple sauce with whey protein breakfast.
We were real redneck today. My Tri bike only fits in the back of my beater pick up truck so I loaded up my wife, son, and I in the front cab. I of course wore a trucker hat. We stopped at the local drive-thru Starbucks and must have been quite the sight! Oh, and we forgot my sons shoes so he really completed the look.
Once at the race it was pretty much business as usual checking in and setting up my transition area. I got into my wetsuit and down to the water about 15 minutes before race start. It was really foggy and we couldn't see the buoys very well. We finally heard that the race was delayed. After some time they announced that they might have to do a triple loop of the sprint course which would have sucked. Thankfully the fog lifted just enough to satisfy the safety people and we got going with about a 30 minute delay.
I lined up toward the back which is what I usually do because the swim is my weakest leg. I think I need to change this strategy, at least for local races because I swam over a ton of people. I swam strong, counted my strokes, and came out of the water in 29:30 or so. My garmin recorded 1.13 miles and I really felt like I hugged the buoys so I think the course is long. My garmin reported 1:32 per hundred which I am very pleased with.
Once on the bike my legs just felt kind of dead. After the first 3 miles they felt better but I never was able to hit the power numbers I was planning. The course is tough, there are some hills and rough roads. I ended up just shy of 230 watts, but I wanted to target 240. 230 is the same number I did at my last race a few months ago, but that had silky smooth flat roads so I guess its all good. My bike split was 1:10:30 which is pretty good for this course. (The fastest bike split I have ever seen is like 1:06). On the first lap there were these guys that I just couldn't get around they kept re-passing me, thankfully I lost them after the first lap, and had a pretty open road for the next two loops. (I later realized they were doing the sprint which is just one loop)
On the run I really wanted to crack 40 minutes but it was just not in the cards. The first two miles I did in the 6:40 range but I think I was dehydrated. I was cramping and my RPE was feeling way higher than my heart rate showed. Also, I was pretty much alone on the course, I didn't see anyone in front of me, so I dialed it back a bit. At around the half way point I saw someone in the distance and I could tell I was closing in so I pushed just a bit. Coach Rich and Dino were out on bikes riding the run course backwards and were able to tell me I was in 6th place, and the next guy was 2.5 minutes ahead of me. There was no way I could make up that much distance in 3 miles and the guy I passed was fading so I just cruised in. I am about to start marathon training so I decided it was not my day to turn myself completely inside out. Don't get me wrong though, that run still hurt! I finished in 43 and change with a 7:02 pace.
My overall time was 2:27:30 which was good enough for 3rd in AG and 6th overall. Thankfully the next guy in my AG beat me by 6 minutes which is a big enough gap to not make me second guess my decisions. This was the club championship for my local Triathlon club and my effort made me Club Champion! We had a nice potluck after the race. It was great spending the day with my family and local friends.
This afternoon I also did the Ice Cream TT challenge. Its now been a couple hours and I feel absolutely terrible. I did S'Mores which is 310 calories per serving (4 total servings) and took it down in 4:46. I weighed myself right before the challenge and I was 2.4 pounds lighter than I weighed this morning and thats after drinking a ton of water and eating lunch. Wayyyy dehydrated... I drank a bunch of beet juice last night and this morning so my pee is purple. I can't tell what the real color is but my guess is that its not clear. I think I am going to go lay down.
http://youtu.be/ghx9_BrxUrI
Triathlon 2014 is now in the books! Next up is St. Geroge in May.
Yesterday I did my normal carb load, which might not be necessary for an Olympic, but it is too much fun not to do! I ate low fiber and ate most of the calories early in the day. The strategy worked and I came in at race weight this morning. I woke up with plenty of time to get ready and did my normal apple sauce with whey protein breakfast.
We were real redneck today. My Tri bike only fits in the back of my beater pick up truck so I loaded up my wife, son, and I in the front cab. I of course wore a trucker hat. We stopped at the local drive-thru Starbucks and must have been quite the sight! Oh, and we forgot my sons shoes so he really completed the look.
Once at the race it was pretty much business as usual checking in and setting up my transition area. I got into my wetsuit and down to the water about 15 minutes before race start. It was really foggy and we couldn't see the buoys very well. We finally heard that the race was delayed. After some time they announced that they might have to do a triple loop of the sprint course which would have sucked. Thankfully the fog lifted just enough to satisfy the safety people and we got going with about a 30 minute delay.
I lined up toward the back which is what I usually do because the swim is my weakest leg. I think I need to change this strategy, at least for local races because I swam over a ton of people. I swam strong, counted my strokes, and came out of the water in 29:30 or so. My garmin recorded 1.13 miles and I really felt like I hugged the buoys so I think the course is long. My garmin reported 1:32 per hundred which I am very pleased with.
Once on the bike my legs just felt kind of dead. After the first 3 miles they felt better but I never was able to hit the power numbers I was planning. The course is tough, there are some hills and rough roads. I ended up just shy of 230 watts, but I wanted to target 240. 230 is the same number I did at my last race a few months ago, but that had silky smooth flat roads so I guess its all good. My bike split was 1:10:30 which is pretty good for this course. (The fastest bike split I have ever seen is like 1:06). On the first lap there were these guys that I just couldn't get around they kept re-passing me, thankfully I lost them after the first lap, and had a pretty open road for the next two loops. (I later realized they were doing the sprint which is just one loop)
On the run I really wanted to crack 40 minutes but it was just not in the cards. The first two miles I did in the 6:40 range but I think I was dehydrated. I was cramping and my RPE was feeling way higher than my heart rate showed. Also, I was pretty much alone on the course, I didn't see anyone in front of me, so I dialed it back a bit. At around the half way point I saw someone in the distance and I could tell I was closing in so I pushed just a bit. Coach Rich and Dino were out on bikes riding the run course backwards and were able to tell me I was in 6th place, and the next guy was 2.5 minutes ahead of me. There was no way I could make up that much distance in 3 miles and the guy I passed was fading so I just cruised in. I am about to start marathon training so I decided it was not my day to turn myself completely inside out. Don't get me wrong though, that run still hurt! I finished in 43 and change with a 7:02 pace.
My overall time was 2:27:30 which was good enough for 3rd in AG and 6th overall. Thankfully the next guy in my AG beat me by 6 minutes which is a big enough gap to not make me second guess my decisions. This was the club championship for my local Triathlon club and my effort made me Club Champion! We had a nice potluck after the race. It was great spending the day with my family and local friends.
This afternoon I also did the Ice Cream TT challenge. Its now been a couple hours and I feel absolutely terrible. I did S'Mores which is 310 calories per serving (4 total servings) and took it down in 4:46. I weighed myself right before the challenge and I was 2.4 pounds lighter than I weighed this morning and thats after drinking a ton of water and eating lunch. Wayyyy dehydrated... I drank a bunch of beet juice last night and this morning so my pee is purple. I can't tell what the real color is but my guess is that its not clear. I think I am going to go lay down.
http://youtu.be/ghx9_BrxUrITriathlon 2014 is now in the books! Next up is St. Geroge in May.
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Comments
@David It was fun racing with you too! I am jealous of you doing Austin again, I had a ton of fun there. I am hoping our race schedules align sometime again in the future!
Great race report! Congrats on the podium! Hope we get to do a race together one of these days.
Ahh, so this is where you've been stashing your race reports!