1st Podium of the season - 3rd OA at HarryMan Olympic Tri

Great first race of the season at Lake Welch, NY

Race Report: Click here

Race Report: Harryman Olympic Triathlon kicks off 2014

Race Report: Harryman Olympic Triathlon - May 17, 2014

This was the first tri of the season. The objective here was to get back into it, mentally prepare for it, and evaluate my fitness level. Eagleman is the main focus for now, with Zurich in the back of my mind as well.

My Stats:

Overall time: 2:17:19 – 3^rd OA

Swim: 18:36 | T1: 0:57 | Bike: 1:20:12 | T2: 0:33 | Run: 0:37:02

Course specs:

Swim: Lake Welch - Water Temperature: 58F at the beach / 49F at the first buoy - Very windy

Bike: 

58.57 miles - Hilly course with technical downhills and long steady climbs - few flat sections

Vertical ascent: 2,456 feet (Garmin knows 2,295 feet)

Run 

6.06 miles - rolling hills with a slight steady downhill in the last mile

Vertical ascent: 386 feet

Swim

The water looked really cold. The official temperature was 58F by the beach but dropped to 49F by the first buoy (at least according to the lifeguard who put the buoys in place). I warmed up for 4-5 min and felt good. The water did not feel too cold, but I could definitely feel the chill of the water seeping into the wetsuit. It was very windy, and buoys could not stay in place. The 0.6-mile swim looked and felt a lot longer.

I had a great start, quickly breaking away from the pack and sticking with the lead pack. Amazing sensations, though I somewhat forgot how chaotic the start can be. I had to wear a nose plug (go figure, I have nasal issues when swimming in fresh water only), and unfortunately, that thing kept falling off. I had to stop 3 times to put it back on. Despite that, I was still chasing the pack, not too far behind.  

I felt really well, and almost felt like I was not pushing hard enough. I still had the lead pack in sight, which gave me confidence that I was swimming well.

T-1

The key takeaways I took from this race came from swimming and T1. Very sloppy transition! I couldn’t remove my wetsuit, and took extra time to organize my swim gear…WHY? Lesson learned! This race displayed some gaps I need to work on. I knew I was rusty coming into this event, and I’m glad it showed today and not at Eagleman.

Bike

The ride was a succession of climbs and descents, with little to no flat sections. My Garmin showed 2,546 feet of ascent. I felt really good on the bike, and as the weather started to warm up, I started to feel more and more at ease. My heart rate was fairly high, but it was expected. With the rolling hills and some steeper sections, keeping a low HR was tough. 

I held back a bit on the technical downhill, as I was more concerned about not crashing than my overall time. I could have taken a more aggressive line on the turns, releasing the breaks a little more, but I did not want to risk it. At the end of the descent was a 180-degree turn. I remember crashing on that same turn on my very first sprint triathlon back in 2011. I approached it with caution. 

A long 2-mile climb awaited us after that turn. I paced myself well, getting up on the pedals, as I feel more comfortable that way. 

I kept a strong pace on the second loop, though I could feel the burn in my legs. I did not know how far

I was from the leaders, but it wasn’t important. Today was all about sensations. I felt good on the short flat sections of the second loop, a good sign that the legs were still there. After few climbs, I approached the technical descent with caution as there were more athletes going down the hill. Again, I wasn’t there to break a record or clinch a “KOM” on strava. Instead, I was focused on getting good sensations on the bike, on my biking, and on my new wheels. The bike felt great though it needs a tune up. Some squeaking that I would like to fix, and some gears skipped when I shifted. Other than that, I felt really good on the bike.

Love my new wheels! 

My new Hawk-Racing V55/80 Veyron Tubulars are amazing. They are incredibly light, yet very sturdy on the climbs. I never felt any restrictions on my riding, neither on the updhills nor on the downhills. The wheels are incredibly easy to maneuver, and ride very smooth, even on beaten roads, which gave me more confidence and control on the downhill. The fear of getting a flat dissipated quickly, only to come back when I saw people on the side changing their tires.

Well, it wasn’t all perfect…

300 yards before getting back into Transition, the spare tube I had attached onto my bottle cage fell on my cassette, quickly getting entangled in the rear derailleur and breaks. I immediately stopped and tried pulling it out, but I would have had to take the wheel off for that. I looked where I was and decided to run to T. I ran barefoot for 35-40 seconds. I was not happy at all, but that was another thing I am glad happened during this race and not during Eagleman.  

T2

It went well. I spent 33 seconds putting the bike back on its rack, grabbing my race belt, visor, and sunglasses.

Run

Distance: 6.06 miles | Vertical ascent: 386 feet

Big unknown! I remember last year where I would push hard on the bike and run on an empty tank, often leaving a sour taste in my mouth. And knowing that I pushed harder than I should have on the bike, I expected a tough 10K.

The 1^st mile had a nice steady climb for about .6 miles. I started having a breathing cramp but tried not to focus on it. The 2^nd mile was flat and with a slight descent for the most part. My breathing started to improve and my legs were surprisingly feeling good. I averaged 5:45 on the 2^nd mile, and paced myself well on the next 2 miles to average 6:14. I felt really good, with a good form. Thinking back, all my brick runs are at a much higher intensity than last year’s. Most of my runs now are done at a higher HR, pace, which prepared me well for this run. Though I pushed hard on the bike, I never felt like I was running out of gas. I was worried about it because I did not do a good job with my nutrition, taking only 20Oz of fluids, and probably 150 calories on the bike.

I could feel like I was being chased, and despite having a good minute on my chaser at T2, I did not want him to close the gap on the first half. I knew that keeping a good distance with him on the first 3 miles would give me a boost of confidence and would certainly not help him. I did just that and kept him at a good distance. I saw him being 45” behind when we turned around. 

I finished on a very strong note, with a run that I controlled from the very beginning, handling certain situations well. Above all, I proved to myself that I could be mentally strong to push hard and stay focused.

1st AG and 2nd OA at the Lake George Triathlon

and PR on the Olympic distance with a 2'04'22!

What a terrific race, which was conveniently scheduled on Saturday, thanks to the half ironman distance that was organized on Sunday. Carsten, Nicole and I stayed at the camping ground right by the transition area. We left on Friday night after work and got up there at around 11pm, leaving us in the dark to set up our tents. The advantage is that we were right by the transition area, and it was cheap!

Cloudy / rainy morning after a rainy and stormy night! The transition was a bit wet. I liked it already. It should be a fun race!

And indeed, it was! The swim was great. I had my best performance so far with 24ish min.  I can do better and will put more time in the water this winter to try to bring my time down, but for now, I'm happy with it! One step at the time!

I entered T1 in good form but without a watch as it died on me. 

At least I had my computer to help me with my wattage and to see my time spent on the bike! Rolling hills, fast sections in a 75 degree weather (and prob 90% humidity!), I felt strong and easy on the bike, covering the 25 miles in 1 hour sharp, and averaging 256 watts. Thanks David for letting me use your Flos wheels, a 90 mil deep rim in the back and 50 mil deep rim in the front made for a very fast bike.

The run was 2 loops with some serious climbs right off T2 - I had no clue how fast I was running and decided to go almost all out (90%) on the flats and downhills, and decided to hold back (75%) on the climbs. I had breathing cramps right off T2, and decided to slow down. I picked up the pace after a few minutes, and got back into the rythm fairly quickly. I had 1 guy as my main target and kept him as such until 300 yards to the finish where I passed him and picked up my pace again to make sure that he wouldn't tag along. 2'04'22, 1st AG and 2nd OA, only 1+min short of taking the overall, but knowing that the winner swam in 18 minutes, I know that with more practice I will get there!

We'll be riding on these beautiful roads tomorrow! Great weekend so far! I'll be back next year!