NOW WITH PICTURES PROPERLY ATTACHED!!!
I did the Patriot Half this last weekend in East Freetown Massachusetts. This is the second time I have done this race. I did it in 2013 and had a blast, I skipped it last year because I did the 70.3 in Mt Tremblant the same week. This year I came back. I will do this race every year barring a scheduling conflict as long as I live within driving distance. It is that good.
http://www.sunmultisportevents.com/Patriot_Half.htm
My A race this year in the FULL at IMMT so this is a perfectly timed race for me to fit in to my training for my first full.
The lake was warm. The lake was calm and is stained but has good viability and shallow all the way out I could catch occasional glimpses of the bottom. They said 69F but I would believe it was even warmer if they told me so. The Lake (Long Pond the largest freshwater lake in MA which is not THAT big) is an awesome swim venue. The swim is well supported with kayaks and boats. The swim was a time trial style start. This was the first time I have experienced a swim start like this. You are put together in your age group and you walk down to the start in rows of 3. Every 10 seconds you cross the line and start and a group of 3. The result is a super clean swim with zero contact. BUT if you are a crappy swimmer like me (late onset adult swimmer) you may find that everyone you are with is faster and you have no one that is that little bit faster to draft behind. I eventually got on some feet near the turnaround and came in a disgustingly slow 43:47.
Transition was easy and quick enough at 2 min 34 and out on to the bike. The 56 mile course is a two loop fairly flat course. The pavement is OK to rough in spots. Keep in mind I currently live in Northern Maine so a paved road is a good road in my world. The bike course has a PILE of volunteers and Police at just about every intersection stopping cars and keeping it safe. The course is open to traffic BUT it was light to non existent throughout most of it. There were water and Gatoraide on the course at two difernt spots that you pass twice. I had my speedfill loaded with Gatoraide and a bottle filled with 50% EFS quick shot and 50% water. I picked up one Gatoraide on the first loop and one water on the second loop. I really did not need that much hydration but was experimenting with fueling as much as comfortably possible. It was pretty breezy in spots and the wind never seemed to be behind me. But I held together my plan to keep my watts at 75% to 85% for the ride and be able to save myself for the run.
I did the Bike in 2 hours 52 min 7 seconds. https://connect.garmin.com/...activity/810559125/3
I averaged 19.5 mph and 149 watts AP. I think I may have held back a little to much but I was very happy that I stayed consistent on the ride.
T2 3 min 16
The RUN 1 hour 49 : 04seconds
https://connect.garmin.com/...activity/810559125/5
I got out on the run course and before the first mile made a wrong turn and ran an extra .35 miles before I realized my dumb mistake. The course is not that hard to follow so I blame no one but me and the fact that I was leaving T2 by myself. Error corrected I settled in trying to stay at an 8.5 minute mile for the first mile with the plan to then get up to an 8 min mile for the rest of the race. The run course in a fairly flat to rolling one loop course with 2 hills worth noticing. I ran with zero water which is unusual for me. I had no problems as the aid stations are EVERY mile stocked with water gatoraide and about every 3rd one had coke, bananas ice and gells. It was nice to not carry anything I grabbed a cup of water and Gatoraide an every station until mile 11. I ended up averaging 8:20 and once again held back maybe 10% on the run because I was thinking I did not want to bury myself out there and be out of training for 2 to 3 days for my first full in August.
The finish line was great. Iced race bottles, cold towels and kiddie pools of ice water for those who wanted them. Muscle Milk, Cliff bars and a nice T shirt, medal and decent Swag to boot!
There was a catered meal for racers from an Italian restaurant that was great.
AND free race pictures!!!
I actually got some pretty decent race pictures from the race I did last weekend. AND by good I don't think I look "good" I mean that they appear to have captured and accurate image of my riding position. I still look like a fat POS (the camera doesn't lie)
If anyone has anything to suggest regarding my position on the bike I would love to hear it.
I have been riding this Slice for 4 years now. I am very happy with it. I am comfortable riding on it for up to 4 hours on the rough chip sealed bumpy roads up in Maine. On nice roads I can ride a good while longer. It has a 5-7 HED Jet wheel set with a wheel builder cover and a Powertap hub power-meter. My FTP is 212 and i hope to be back up to 250 or better by early August.
Thanks ALL,
Jamie
I did the Patriot Half this last weekend in East Freetown Massachusetts. This is the second time I have done this race. I did it in 2013 and had a blast, I skipped it last year because I did the 70.3 in Mt Tremblant the same week. This year I came back. I will do this race every year barring a scheduling conflict as long as I live within driving distance. It is that good.
http://www.sunmultisportevents.com/Patriot_Half.htm
My A race this year in the FULL at IMMT so this is a perfectly timed race for me to fit in to my training for my first full.
The lake was warm. The lake was calm and is stained but has good viability and shallow all the way out I could catch occasional glimpses of the bottom. They said 69F but I would believe it was even warmer if they told me so. The Lake (Long Pond the largest freshwater lake in MA which is not THAT big) is an awesome swim venue. The swim is well supported with kayaks and boats. The swim was a time trial style start. This was the first time I have experienced a swim start like this. You are put together in your age group and you walk down to the start in rows of 3. Every 10 seconds you cross the line and start and a group of 3. The result is a super clean swim with zero contact. BUT if you are a crappy swimmer like me (late onset adult swimmer) you may find that everyone you are with is faster and you have no one that is that little bit faster to draft behind. I eventually got on some feet near the turnaround and came in a disgustingly slow 43:47.
Transition was easy and quick enough at 2 min 34 and out on to the bike. The 56 mile course is a two loop fairly flat course. The pavement is OK to rough in spots. Keep in mind I currently live in Northern Maine so a paved road is a good road in my world. The bike course has a PILE of volunteers and Police at just about every intersection stopping cars and keeping it safe. The course is open to traffic BUT it was light to non existent throughout most of it. There were water and Gatoraide on the course at two difernt spots that you pass twice. I had my speedfill loaded with Gatoraide and a bottle filled with 50% EFS quick shot and 50% water. I picked up one Gatoraide on the first loop and one water on the second loop. I really did not need that much hydration but was experimenting with fueling as much as comfortably possible. It was pretty breezy in spots and the wind never seemed to be behind me. But I held together my plan to keep my watts at 75% to 85% for the ride and be able to save myself for the run.
I did the Bike in 2 hours 52 min 7 seconds. https://connect.garmin.com/...activity/810559125/3
I averaged 19.5 mph and 149 watts AP. I think I may have held back a little to much but I was very happy that I stayed consistent on the ride.
T2 3 min 16
The RUN 1 hour 49 : 04seconds
https://connect.garmin.com/...activity/810559125/5
I got out on the run course and before the first mile made a wrong turn and ran an extra .35 miles before I realized my dumb mistake. The course is not that hard to follow so I blame no one but me and the fact that I was leaving T2 by myself. Error corrected I settled in trying to stay at an 8.5 minute mile for the first mile with the plan to then get up to an 8 min mile for the rest of the race. The run course in a fairly flat to rolling one loop course with 2 hills worth noticing. I ran with zero water which is unusual for me. I had no problems as the aid stations are EVERY mile stocked with water gatoraide and about every 3rd one had coke, bananas ice and gells. It was nice to not carry anything I grabbed a cup of water and Gatoraide an every station until mile 11. I ended up averaging 8:20 and once again held back maybe 10% on the run because I was thinking I did not want to bury myself out there and be out of training for 2 to 3 days for my first full in August.
The finish line was great. Iced race bottles, cold towels and kiddie pools of ice water for those who wanted them. Muscle Milk, Cliff bars and a nice T shirt, medal and decent Swag to boot!
There was a catered meal for racers from an Italian restaurant that was great.
AND free race pictures!!!
I actually got some pretty decent race pictures from the race I did last weekend. AND by good I don't think I look "good" I mean that they appear to have captured and accurate image of my riding position. I still look like a fat POS (the camera doesn't lie)
If anyone has anything to suggest regarding my position on the bike I would love to hear it.
I have been riding this Slice for 4 years now. I am very happy with it. I am comfortable riding on it for up to 4 hours on the rough chip sealed bumpy roads up in Maine. On nice roads I can ride a good while longer. It has a 5-7 HED Jet wheel set with a wheel builder cover and a Powertap hub power-meter. My FTP is 212 and i hope to be back up to 250 or better by early August.
Thanks ALL,
Jamie