Smithvile Race Report

2012 Smithville Sprint Triathlon Race Report
March 31st, 2012


Background

Location: Smithville, Virginia
Distance: 300-meter swim/9.8-mile bike/3.1-mile run
2012 Triathlon Race Number: 1
Career Triathlon Race Number: 115
Conditions: Light rain. Mid 60s. Modest breeze. Pool swim.

On Friday the 30th I loaded up the Black Beauty and drove south. I stopped in DC and picked up my race packet for Sunday’s Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I arrived in Smithville around 6 and in time to get my race packet and to drive the course. I had dinner at the hotel (pasta with chicken) and was in bed by 10 pm even though my race wouldn’t start until 10:25 the next morning.

This was my first triathlon of the 2012 season and my first race of any kind since last November’s IMAZ. I missed quite a bit of training in March and was not in the best of shape so my expectations were somewhat low. That said, I did want to win my AG—my first time in the 55-59 YO AG and if possible to improve on my 2009 time of 57:32 (which is the shortest triathlon (time wise) that I have ever done).

I was up early and had plenty of time to get set-up and warm-up before the race. The first swimmer jumped in the pool at 10:00 am and soon I was standing on the deck waiting my turn.

The Swim

The swim takes place in the 25-meter Smithville YMCA pool. This race has a time-trial start and every 10 seconds another triathlete is sent off. The race uses a self-seeding system and I had indicated a time of 5:25 and thus I was seeded 117th out of the 500 entrants. In 2009 I swam a 5:09 and I expected to swim faster than that this morning as my swim has significantly improved over the last three years.

When my time came I pushed solidly off the wall but never seemed to be able to settle down. I was conscious of fighting the water and not holding very good form. I’m not a good non-wetsuit swimmer but I usually feel much more comfortable than I did this morning. I had troubled ducking cleanly under the ropes. On the plus side, I neither had to pass anyone and no one passed me.

I exited the pool in 5:13, which I wasn’t that surprised at, although it clearly is a disappointment. I think I’m capable of a sub 5-minute swim in this race but perhaps my relative under-investment in swimming is beginning to catch-up to me. I race again on the 14th and should have a better sense then if my slow swim today was just poor execution or an indicator that I need to intensify my swim training (or both).

As it turns out, I had the 114th (out of 455 finishers) fastest swim this morning, which translates into the 75.2 %-tile. This actually compares favorably with the 71.4 %-tile I achieved in 2009, which is a bit hard to decipher. I also recorded a faster official time this year than in 2009, but I attribute this to the change in location of the swim exit timing mats, which changed with the reconfiguration of the transition zone.

Age group wise, I had the 3rd fastest swim out of the 14 finishers (85.7 %-tile). Here is where we stood in my AG after the swim:

1. Claude --------
2. Cofsky + 0:05
3. Christofferson + 0:29
4. Howard + 0:57
5. Leonard + 1:05

Of course, when I exited the pool I knew none of this—in fact most of the guys in my AG had yet to even start the event.

One last note, I used my new Garmin 910 for the first time and hoped to get a variety of new data about my race including 25-meter lap time and stroke count. Unfortunately, my lack of familiarity with the device caused me to not set it up correctly and this led to a number of confusing data issues, which you’ll see shortly.

Transition One

As I mentioned above, the RD changed the location and configuration of the transition zone, which had the effect of significantly lengthening T1. I had what I thought was a reasonably effective T1, which took me 1:59 to complete. In 2009 my transition took 1:20. Overall, my T1 was 105th or 77.1 %-tile. In 2009 I was at the 87.3 %-tile so it seems like the longer run required in T1 this year differentially penalized me. For my AG, I had the 4th fastest T1 (78.6 %-tile) and I dropped time to some of my key competitors. Here is where we stood after T1:

1. Claude --------
2. Cofsky + 0:15
3. Christofferson + 0:36
4. Peterson + 1:27
5. Bare + 1:39

The Bike

We ran around the Y building and then for some reason had to run another 20 yards on the asphalt until we reached the mount/dismount line…. pretty silly if you ask me, especially with the TT start (vs. wave). Soon I was up and off on the bike. I felt pretty decent and comfortable on my BMC, even though it was only the third time I had ridden it this year (the other two times being earlier this week).

The Smithfield course is an out and back to a loop. It is short of the advertised 10-mile distance—I measured it at 9.81 miles this year (9.83 in 2009). It has a huge number of turns on it for such a short course. It is neither flat nor hilly but there are a lot of ups and downs. The first six miles are net uphill and the last four are faster as they are downhill (and downwind).

I felt like I had decent snap in my legs and I passed quite a few folks during the ride and had no one pass me. That said, I didn’t feel very smooth or polished. It felt like my power was jumping around a lot and that my cadence was generally off (too low). I’m not dialed in from a racing perspective but that is not surprising given the March timeframe.

I ran down Cofsky a little after 7 miles into the ride and since I knew he was the only guy in my AG who started the race before me (he had started 3+ minutes a head of me) I felt that I was likely pretty much in control of the AG race. (In retrospect, this confidence was probably misplaced).

My Edge 800 yield a lot of good data about my ride and here it is:

Mile 1: 22.5mph/78rpm/Avg Power: 279 watts/NP: 279 watts/162 bpm
2: 21.1mph/77rpm/235w/238w/161bpm
3: 22.6mph/78rpm/263w/267w/159bpm
4: 22.2mph/81rpm/265w/283w/161bpm
5: 18.9mph/82rpm/240w/250w/161bpm

What this data shows—through the putative halfway point (I believe) is that I was stuck in too big of a gear early and I began to adjust as the ride progressed. My HR was quite low relative to optimal sprint distance HR (should be 168+)—this is not surprising for early in the season—it illustrates that I’m a long way from “race sharp”. With comparisons between Avg and Normalized Power you can clearly see the challenges that the fourth mile presents with it’s series of short but steep up-hills.

My averages for the first five miles were:

Speed: 21.5 mph
Average Cadence: 79 rpm
Average Power: 256 watts
Normalized Power: 263 watts
Average Heart Rate: 160 bpm

Here is the data from miles 6-10ish:

6: 21.6mph/83rpm/243w/244w/161bpm
7: 25.6mph/85rpm/243w/243w/161bpm
8: 25.1mph/80rpm/249w/249w/162bpm
9: 26.0mph/77rpm/241w/245w/162bpm
10: 21.5mph/76rpm/261w/272w/164rpm

My averages for the last “fiveish” miles are:

Speed: 24.0 mph
Average Cadence: 80 rpm
Average Power: 247 watts
Normalized Power: 250 watts
Average Heart Rate: 162 bpm

Take-aways from this data include: The easier nature of the back half of the course can be seen in the increase in my average speed. I relaxed and began to spin more effectively in miles 6-8. The lower difference between NP and Average Power is a reflection of the less hilly nature of the back half of the race. The fall-off in my power numbers over the last five miles is sub-optimal but not surprising. The power profile I’m looking for is more like 265 watts for the first half and 270 watts for the second—I have a ways to go before I’m fit enough to do that.

Overall, I averaged 251 watts versus 253 watts in 2009. My NP was 256 watts and I averaged 161bpm and 80 rpm. I completed the bike leg in 26:12, which compares favorably to the 26:25 I recorded in 2009. The faster time and slightly lower wattage probably reflects less wind today than in 2009.

Competitively, I recorded the 24th fastest bike overall (94.9 %-tile) versus 96.1 %-tile in 2009. Once again, I had the best bike split in my AG (by over two minutes) and was now firmly in the lead as we headed into T2:

1. Christofferson --------
2. Peterson + 2:59
3. Cofsky + 3:45
4. Bare + 3:46
5. Claude + 4:05

Transition Two

I didn’t know where I stood as I ran into T2, but I assumed I had a sizeable lead. If I had known the above data, I would have been pretty confident (inappropriately so, as it turns out). I completed an excellent T2 in 1:20 (versus 0:59 in 2009). I was able to post the top T2 in my AG and open up some valuable time on my nearest pursuers. Overall, I had the 117th fastest T2 (74.5 %-tile). I was at the 61.5 %-tile in 2009. I spent a total of 1:00 longer in transitions in 2012 than in 2009. I think all of this is attributable to the change in the transition layout as I think I actually did a better job of transition this year.

In any event, here is where we stood as we exited T2:

1. Christofferson --------
2. Peterson + 3:15
3. Cofsky + 3:51
4. Bare + 4:09
5. Claude + 4:13

The Run

As I exited T2 I glanced at my watch and expected to see it set-up in the run-page format. It was not, which was confusing (this is of-course attributable to my aforementioned operator error). I remember thinking that if I ran somewhere around what I ran in 2009 (23:39) that I would be close to what I did in 2009. This was quite wrong, as I was 51 seconds slower at this point in the race (although I was a net 9 seconds faster for the Swim/Bike combo). Because of my watch screw-up, my tactical understanding of what was going on was way off. I may have misread my watch, but I actually believed my watch indicated that I was at least a full minute faster through T2 then I really was.

Off I went and I felt pretty good. Not too far into the run my watch auto-lapped the first mile and dutifully recorded a 4 something first mile for me. I was very confused by this and it began to occur to me that something was amiss with my watch. (In retrospect, I think the watch was giving me my split for the last 0.2 miles of the bike, the distance I travelled in T2, and the first portion of the run).

I glanced at my HR and saw 166bpm (my HR would stay in the 166-168bpm range for the race) and I figured I was pushing it at about the right intensity. Later in the year, when I’m more fit, I’ll be able to average closer to 170bpm for a 5K, but not in March.

I was concerned before the race about how my left knee and right Hamstring would hold up. I’m happy to report that my knee was a non-issue and that while I could feel my right hamstring and I felt a bit limited by it, I was never in any real danger of “pulling” it.

Anyways, I pushed it at about a “95%” level and as I cranked down the home stretch, I looked at my watch and saw that I could beat 56! I pushed and hit my watch at the finish line and saw 55:52. I was very pumped as this was a good 1:40 faster than 2009 and, although I didn’t know it, implied a 21:08 5k—which, if it was true would have been fantastic. Unfortunately, it was not. When they posted the official results I saw that my actual finish time was 57:16. I was very confused by this but now am confident that the data I was getting from my watch was spurious.

So, in fact I ran a 22:32, which is pretty darn good (if the course was indeed accurately measured). This was 67 seconds faster than last year and as a result I finished with a total time of 57:16. While not quite what I felt when I first crossed the line, it was 16 seconds faster than 2009—even though the transitions were inherently slower.

I ended up winning my AG event though I had just the 6th fastest AG run. The final result was much closer than I would have expected but I did prevail and secure my 34th career AG win:

1. Christofferson --------
2. Peterson + 0:24
3. Bare + 1:41
4. Claude + 2:20
5. Johnson + 3:07

Overall, I had the 129th fastest run (71.8 %-tile) vs. 78.1 %-tile in 2009. Perhaps the course was shorter this year, or the conditions much easier. In any event, I ended up finishing 65th overall (85.9 %-tile) versus 91.0 %-tile in 2009.

So, mixed bag. Here are my thoughts:

1. My swim was disappointing. My race in Bumpass on the 14th will go a long way towards helping me understand if I just was a bit off in this race or if I need to make a mid-course correction and invest a lot more in my swim.
2. My bike was solid. Better conditions than last year. I look to see a level of a modest progression at Bumpass.
3. My run, at first blush appears very encouraging. However, I am suspicious that the course/conditions may be inflating my progress—we’ll see.
4. Hey, I won my AG and I was faster than I was in 2009. Those were my two objectives for the race so being an old guy, I’m going to feel, at the end of the day, that I had a very successful race.

I drove up to DC after the race and the next morning had a pretty dead leg feeling so I just cruised to an 87-minute 10 mile run at Cherry Blossom. Pretty slow for sure, but my body and mind weren’t ready to go harder so I just mailed it in.

Well 2012 is on—lots of work to do for sure. No reason why I can’t do it. Here we go!