Barbara Feinstein Double at NJ State Tri
I’m in the middle of the Intermediate Half Ironman plan prepping for the Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City on 9/18. But, I am headed to Omaha, NE for Tri Age Group Nationals to race the Olympic and Sprint 8/13 – 14. So, the NJ State Tri double seemed like a perfect training weekend, especially since it is notoriously hot and humid, which is what is expected in Omaha.
I used the last week of the Intermediate Short Course plan to set up my taper and it all came together really well! To cut to the punch line, I was 1st out of 77 in my age group and 9th woman out of 588 for the Sprint, and for the Olympic, 6th out of 76 in my age group, 37th woman out of 446.
To prepare for the heat and humidity, I added additional water and salt stick capsules to my diet starting Thursday and I froze my aero bottle and run bottles which had custom Infinit formulas so by the time I was drinking them they were defrosted and still refreshing. Adding a cooling towel to my run helped keep my cool under pressure. Surprisingly, I did not feel as if I was affected by the heat which others mentioned as a factor in their race and is usually my downfall. I think the hours of training I’ve done in the heat and humidity helped me prepare and handle the heat better than I have in prior years.
The water temp was over 82 so it was a non-wetsuit swim. Although improving, my swim is still my weak link. So, coming out of the water in 11th for the Sprint and 19th for the Olympic (in my Age Group) definitely left me with work to do (although I had no idea where I was at the time).
The 1-loop, fairly flat bike course was crowded on both days (worse for the Sprint) so I spent a lot of energy passing and alerting those in the wrong place that I was passing. Not fun, but a necessary evil. And, I had to make sure to stay legal to avoid potential penalties. Within my age group, I had the 3rd fastest bike for the Sprint and the 11th fastest bike for the Olympic. I had made up some of the deficit from the swim (again I didn’t know where I was while racing). My biking has improved a good deal since last year, with a Sprint average of 21 and Olympic over 20. I credit my time using the Wahoo Kickr with EN workouts throughout the winter in addition to all of the training I’ve done outside this Spring and Summer.
When I hit the Sprint run, I had no idea where I was, since I didn’t think I had seen anyone in my age group on the bike. I had seen some in my age group on the Olympic bike, but again, had no idea what place I was starting on the run.
Running is my best discipline and I tend to rely on it to finish off the bikers that I’m close to, which worked this weekend. The run course both days was mostly flat but crowded since it was an out and back on a narrow path. For my age group, I had the fastest run time in the Sprint and 5th fastest run time in the Olympic. By the time I hit the Olympic run, I was feeling the effects of racing all out on Saturday. Coming up on another AG competitor the last few miles would usually spark me to push past her and keep going, but I did not have a kick left on Sunday. And since I didn’t think I was close to placing in the top 3, I mentally gave in and let her kick it in without chasing after her.
This weekend was perfect training for the double at Nationals, where the Olympic is on Saturday and Sprint on Sunday. I raced both events last year in Wisconsin and actually felt better and placed better in the Sprint. I just purchased a new Felt tri bike and race wheels, which should give me some free speed compared to my road bike with aero bars that I have been racing on. So, I am hopeful that a few more weeks on the 70.3 plan followed by another taper will set me up for a great weekend in Omaha. Stay tuned for those results.
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