Race details:
Lake Perris, California
Swim: 0.8 mi - open water, 2 loops, calm lake
Bike: 24.8 mi - road, 3 loops around the lake recreational area, very hilly with uphills and downhills
Run: 6.3 mi - run, 2 loops out and back, fairly flat
Course Recorded Finish: 2:55:30
Garmin Splits:
Race Analysis:
Transitions:
Nothing much to say here. T1 had a long run uphill in sand from the lake to transition. Mine was relatively quick considering I wore a wetsuit. T2 was also similarly quick. I took a couple extra seconds talking to Quinn who I ran into there as he was coaching some Team in Training folks. But otherwise, good transitions.
Swim:
This swim was amazing! I can't recall having a better swim experience in any race. My 1:33 pace was super awesome for me! I don't even know if I've swam that fast in the pool! The only thing I can say is that I felt a lot slower than my watch says. It just seemed like a struggle even though it went so well! So I was pleasantly surprised to see that! Plus I beat last year's time by almost 20 min! Always using a wetsuit when possible from now on!
Bike:
As I write these race reports and look at my Garmin splits, it seems like there is always one thing that's obvious. It's that my bike SUCKS. With the exception of Ironman 70.3 Superfrog and Ironman Florida, my bike in almost every other race has seemed to blow giant chunks. And this is yet another example of that. I knew it was going to be tough to get to my goals as I was doing the bike. The uphills just seemed super challenging and I didn't feel like the downhills were long enough for me to make up those struggles.
What's sad is that I did this race with the better bike fit and the aero wheels. While I don't have the supreme triathlon racing setup, mine isn't too bad. And yet here I am still sucking. I think the answer is that the motor pushing the bike, aka myself, just needs to get better. I'm fat and 10 lbs overweight from my peak Ironman days just months ago. But my bike needs to get a lot better if I'm going to continue to do triathlons.
The last point is that my bike this time was 8.5 min slower this year than last year. That's no bueno. I mean the conditions were slightly different (super hot, very windy, lots of headwinds) but I don't like that excuse. I need to be better and that's the bottom line.
Run:
I have mixed feelings about the run as I review the data. When I first did the race, I was actually pretty happy with my run. It wasn't my blazing PR run that I had at Malibu, but I felt like that 8:22 min/mile pace was held pretty steadily, I felt like I was running a good pace, not saving up too much. I felt like things were generally good and I didn't walk despite the heat and the desire to do so.
But having reviewed the data and having compared to last year's data, I am a little disappointed. I vaguely remember walking to start last year's run. I was gassed from really trying to push it on the back and just gave up early and walked. I picked it up but still walked a decent amount. Yet at the end of the day, I only beat last year's time by like 20 seconds. I guess the upside is that I felt strong and kept a good pace, but that's about the only really good news. How could I have walked a short couple stints and still had almost the same time? I guess it just leaves me with some doubts after feeling good about it.
Anyway, the race ended up being better than the somber discussion here. I was 5 min under my goal of 3 hours and I beat last year's time by over 12 minutes. Those aren't things to be discouraged about. I should be happy. I should be happy that I did all this with hotter conditions and brutal headwinds. But here I sit again, stuck at 4th place out of 5, missing the podium by 10 minutes and just generally feeling like I've failed despite the better overall time...
Pics:
Pre and Post Race:
Race Setup:
Creeping the Results Page (no podium... sad...):
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