Jim's Raleigh HIM Race Report
Not really sure where this goes on EN!
I made this a B race. I’m in it in hopes that it is turned
into an IM soon so I have a closer venue.
I stayed at the Raleigh Hilton Brownstone on Hillsborough
Ave about 1.5 miles from the Finish Line. The hotel was into the race with
flags and staff wearing race volunteer T –shirts…and a 3:30 grab and go
breakfast race morning that I took
advantage of (juices, bananas, brain muffins, energy bars; all for $6). But there were hotels right on the finish
line block that would have made travel easier and less time consuming. Do to home activities I missed being on site
a day earlier. That might have helped in reconnoitering the race routes. And
one issue was bike and Garmin conditions that might have been found and fixed.
It also might help if I stayed a day longer and had a place to shower at least
and pack up after the race. SAU’s would have been needed for all the time away.
Friday afternoon after packet pickup I attempted to drive
the bike route in downtown Raleigh. With all the road closures, race areas
being setup, and my lack of area knowledge it was of minimal benefit. A hotel
on the block would have helped. I spent minimal time at the expo but might have
learned things of benefit if I wasn’t time crunched.
Saturday morning was spent setting up transition bags,
marking my Trek Speed Concept, and reviewing all the race manual sections. After the EN lunch I drove the bike to T-1.
Again all had to be ON THE BIKE but I did look around some. I should have
ridden the bike and did a check of the garmin! On the way back I drove the bike
route. Hills, hills, turns and more hills and I couldn’t figure out several of
the last route turns! Had penne pasta with meat sauce and a big ice cream and
chocolate desert diner. Back to the
Hilton; call wife; pack for early leave; in bed by 10:20 with 2 alarms set.
I had a list I wrote out the night before about what I would
do from when the alarm went off till I was on the bus to T-1. That was a help
as I often get sidetracked. Got up at 3AM and used the list. I ate the hotel
breakfast on the bus. At the start a port-a-potty visit came first due to the
big meal the night before. The rules
didn’t allow for equipment setup by your bike. All had to be attached to the
bike or in the T-1 bag attached to the bike. The bikes were very close together
and it was obvious this was to prevent pushy competitors from using other
folk’s bike space. But there went even my minimal transition setup training out
the window. And I know this is another of the things I must work on. It was
probably going to be a non-wetsuit swim so I took my lava bottoms off on the
bus. I was hoping for wetsuit legal in a way since the lava bottoms help keep
my legs floating in the swim. I did have trouble keeping my legs on the
surface.
I had a group photo to attend and my wave of 55+ was # 3. So
others would be passing me throughout the race as opposed to my passing them
with the usual old folks starting later. I forgot to bring a spare set of
goggles but people had forgotten even 1 pair and the announcer asked for
spares. I got a nice one of those. I hope it was a 3rd pair for the
donators! The wave start was the usual
bedlam of arms and legs. I knew when a male group had caught up with me as I
got beat on again; not so with the women. Though I am a swimmer and did a fair
amount of training I should have kept up the rubber band exercises coach Rich
had in the out season as my arms got tired and not going around as fast as
those passing me. Should have known float markings to give me a better idea of
where I was on the course. Binos when I dropped off the bike might have
helped…or more attention at the expo race briefing. I stayed fairly well on
course for me and exited #3 in my AG.
The usual poor transition… 11 min! Sun screen appliers at the exit weren’t as
good as Louisville in 2012. I should have applied my own. Good that I put on
sleeve covers. Had shoes in peddles that worked fairly well as I often train
for that. Gloves and sleeves rolled up fairly well. Lost the chain about 3
miles in. Noticed that I had not tightened my front gear changer I saw for over
a week(!). I’m new at power meter use so I was planning on using cadence like I
do in training…cadence on garmin was spotty (useless)… so I did some power
meter monitoring instead. Did some passing and was with 3 others in my AG…until
mile 35 when I lost my rear gears and it was left on the small ring (hadn’t
noticed the interior sections separation on the right gear). I was great
downhill but unbelievably slow certain uphill’s. Thought several times I might
get a penalty for being sooo close to a slow biker in front of me. If I dropped
back at my slow speed I would have stopped with very little time to get out of
the cleats. Scary and tough but I never had to stop but stood in the peddles on
several of the hills…but that felt good to my less used muscles. Several bikers
gave me words of encouragement as they passed, but I didn’t have time to
explain my low peddle revolutions! Worked to have cold bottles for the bike
(left them frozen in a small cooler…in that damn bike bag) and it worked fairly
well. Couldn’t find my nutrition waffles so solids were just thrown together!?
It worked but caused worry. Almost slowest
on the bike for my AG but I should have been around 4th instead of 7th
@ 3:23! Climbing in the peddles to the finish line was not what I expected to
be doing!
YES it was hot so I carried a flask of coke and a small
bottle with energy drink. I never used either. I walked all aid stations and
drank water, Gatorade, and coke whenever available (chocolate milk at the last
aid station was great!). 5 sponges dropped out of my bike shirt at the end. At
each aid station I poured water on my white arm sleeves, down my shirt, and over
my head. By the end of the run I had no numbers written on my arms or legs and
my shoes were socked! But I can’t really claim the heat was an issue. Feet
worked well hopefully aided by good foot care.
At the end requiring racers to enter and exit by one gate
facing the finish line on a crowded street with limited area outside the fences
was poor planning. Overall it was a valuable race for me since I now know the
area a bit, especially parking.
16 or 18 folks in my AG. 11 started. 8 finished. I was 7th. might have been 4th if bike worked well (1 of the "things I learned"). got good ideas from coach Patrick on our race tele call.
WHAT I LEARNED:
1)I must use the rubber band exercises I did in the out
season to increase my arm strength, 2)I need to do strength training especially
for the runs, (lunges, squats, etc?), 3) Checking the bike and garmin out the
day before the race, 4) Make better use of the online resources from EN, 5) Get
a race kit that has pockets to allow nutrition and a small hydration bottle (no
more bike shirts hard to put on wet bodies), 6) Stay as close to the venue as
possible (parking and resource availability are important time savers), 7) Have
personnel resources in 2 groups (one you will definitely use and one for
possible use) to prevent needed items from being buried when needed, 8) Get
comfortable using a power meter
Comments
When you say you "lost my rear gears and it was left on the small ring", do you mean you couldn't shift through the rear cassette at all? I seem to recall you had that rear cassette changed out before the race to give you more gears for the hills. Is that right?
Oh- and yes- you've got this in the right place!
I did get hill gears put in but only a week before and I got 1 bike around the block to be sure they worked...but that ain't enough for a hilly race where I change gears a lot.... Aug 9 Lake Logan Oly is in mountainous west nc...I'm keeping the hill gears on but i'll try to keep all screws and connections tight. (last yr tri I lost a crank! luckily @ the top of a hill.)
I had my list of every action to do in transitions; but not with most items in the d@*%e bag(!)