Lake Evergreen Oly - Race Report
The Lake Evergreen Tri is a club race that all the locals do. There are usually a few pro's that show up as well. Every year, it's brutally hot, and usually pretty windy.
I raced this course last year and ended up in the medical tent with heat exhaustion (or something like that) after the race. I was out for revenge this year, and my goal was to execute a really good race and NOT end up in the chugging electrolytes. This week I really went out of my way to be well hydrated, and I spent a fair amount of time planning my race.
There was an "excess heat advisorry" in effect again, but we were lucky this year and the conditions were really good. It only made it to the low 80s, instead of the predicted 110 degree heat index. There was a 15 mph SSE wind across the course, which in central IL, is very very calm. It was going to be a very fast day.
I put last years results in () for comparison...
My plan was to race pretty conservatively, not take many risks, and finish strong. If that meant leaving a little on the table, I was ok with that.
Swim
Distance: 1500m
Time: 34:45.6 (34:22.3)
100s: 2:07 (2:06)
My swim was really about the same as last year as far as time goes. The difference was it felt much easier.
T1
Socks…the bane of my existence. No socks last year, and I dealt with lots of blisters. I wasn't going to do anything to screw up IMOO training this year though.
Time: 2:17.4 (1:34.9)
Bike
I was right on my goal watts for the first 13 miles of the bike. When I turned north and caught a tail wind that became much more difficult. I'm an 80-85 rpm kinda guy, and suddenly I was skating along at between 26-32mph trying to push 100+rpm. I did my best but I lost a few watts. I was spun out of my 12, deep into z4 HR, but not really making any power.
At the end of the bike I finished at .9IF, which isn't so bad. My bike split was great, but had I a) pushed harder into the wind knowing I'd bleed power on the tailwind b) ran an 11-25 instead of a 12-25 c) been brave enough to run closer to 95%, or d) been better at cycling at higher cadences or e) all of the above I’d have broken 24 mph. Who knows though, maybe not...any thoughts on this?
Another note, about the huge PR I had previously reported. I just figured out they changed the course from 42k to 40k. Oops... Well, I was still alot faster!
I took in a bottle of EFS and about 12 oz of water. I'm glad I carried both bottles with me, I needed it all. After my issues with heat last year, I was doing that for the added insurance. Glad I did.
Time : 1:58.1 (1:45.5)
Run
Time: 51:51 (1:01:16.8)
Overall Time - 2:33:59.4 (2:51:08.4)