The 2-day london tri (sprints & relays on saturday, olys on sunday) was a massive undertaking. They claim it is the largest tri in the world! The weather was perfect - 83 or so degrees, light breeze. A little on the warm side but I thought maybe I could handle the heat better than the uk contingent. Or at least I might tan better. This was my first uk triathlon (i live right now in washington dc). The most notable difference between the london tri and US races, i’d say, was that the average $$ per bike seemed a lot lower in london than in the states, but this could be due to the large number of first-timers there with mountain bikes and beaters. Definitely a lot less discs, especially for such a flat course. One guy I chatted to said that brits tend to have an aversion to discs b/c of fear of control issues in wind. Silly buggers. Also, the expo was apparently where they were quarantining all the hot women in the uk. Damn I love tri women.
The Bottom Line: 2:14:19 (79th out of approx 230 in male sub 2:30 wave).
Swim 24:03 (62/230)
T1 3:11 (56/230)
Bike 1:02:00 (17/230; top time was 59:38)
T2 2:27 (60/230)
“Run” 42:39 (170/230!!!!)
Prerace: got there plenty early after a breakfast of oatmeal, honey, banana, and coffee. all is going well. Then i get one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” ideas i typically get about 30mins before race start. As it was a fairly hot day and as i am a heavy sweater and as i had been drinking lots of H2O i found myself wishing I had brought some endurolyte caps to take in T2. No problem, i think to myself - endurolytes are basically salt, right, so i can just dissolve some table salt in water and just take that now to ensure optimal electrolyte balance throughout the race. Its a fine line between clever and stupid. In hindsight, i feel pretty confident that drinking a few gulps of what tasted pretty much like sea-water immediately before the race crossed that line.
Swim: I was a bit leery of diving into the thames but actually it was a semi-enclosed dock area. The water turned out to be really nice, albeit a bit murky. Me and 300 of my closest friends in my male “sub-230” wave packed in tight to get ready for an up, back, up, over and back course infront of the dock (to make it more spectator-friendly). The elites did not have wetsuits as the water temp was quite warm, but wetsuits were mandatory for everyone else. I was a bit concerned as I overheated quite a bit at Eagleman in my de soto T1, which I love, but not in hot water. So right as we are waiting to go down to the dock i decide to swim in just the bibjohn. I had never done this before, and was really worried that it would immediately fill up with water. This could easily have been another “it seemed like a good idea at the time” moment, but i was able to dash over to the endless pool in the expo and jump in to make sure it would work. (Those things are tres cool, btw. Hard to install in a 2nd story studio apartment, though.) So ditching the desoto top amazingly turned out to be a good decision, and I had a great swim. I lined up on the farside (to keep the hordes to my left - my breathing side - which i figured would make sighting easier) about three swimmers from the front. It was a very congested swim, but good prep i guess for IM Moo. I’m not a particularly fast swimmer, so why does it always seem that the people in front of me are even worse? Nothing like swimming along in murky water and all of a sudden finding yourself halfway up a neoprene-clad arse! Congestion slowed me down for first 500 meters or so, but eventually it cleared up. The whole swim I was having a blast, which is a first for me. Absolutely no fatigue, looking for drafts, up-ing the pace on the final stretch, thinking happy thoughts - the complete opposite of Eagleman, which was a nightmare in oh-so-many ways, so good to have that confidence-booster in the water before IM Moo. Quite a long transition run through the expo center to get the bikes. Clip in and then out the parking ramp and down onto the road along the thames.
Bike: The route was allegedly very scenic - the dome, the eye, big ben, etc. But for me, intensity is inversely linked to my field of vision. As I tend to hammer pretty hard on the bike, I could have been on my CT in my living room back home for all the sights I saw! The course was 2 loops on a fairly flat road. The only problem was that the lanes were really narrow and there were LOTS of riders and lots of bottleneck roundabouts that ate into my avg mph. Anyhoo, from about mile 6 till the end I got stuck in a peloton, and i mean peloton, of about 10-20 riders. In my defense, I did make an effort to break off the front, as I did at Eagleman, because I consider myself to be a strong biker and because my ego takes over. Stupid and futile in both cases. I’d get about 25m clear of the pack only to get swallowed up again shortly thereafter. sooo, I just sat up and drafted in the pack for big chunk of the ride. yes, i exchanged the obligatory grumble with some of the others, but I simply wasn’t prepared to let that big group of drafters leave me behind. Am I a bad person? Well, I guess I’ll let the refs be the judge of that. There were a fair number of motorcycles out there, but they seemed mainly just escort/safety dudes and I see no penalties in the results. The elites were draft legal. My group was right behind them so maybe they thought we too were elites, but most likely the refs just decided not to get involved. Not to harp on this drafting issue, but it does come up a lot. Where I am on the issue now I think is that the rules provide for a penalty IF you are caught. So riders I guess are free to draft or do whatever within the limits of their conscience for whatever reason, but the refs are free to penalise or DQ you for it. I do not consider myself a cheater - lord knows i am not out to win any prize money - but for whatever reason (i do have a competitive streak a mile wide) my decision/instinct at the time was not to get dropped. Maybe not condonable but easy to see why A-type triathletes are unwilling to slow down and lose ground to a pack of drafters. I do think the refs could have done something - maybe just a warning shout would have sufficed - to break up the pack. I would have much preferred to do a solo TT - that is my strongest leg. Also, I think the drafting threw me off my game - I was thinking about that the whole time instead of the race. I never once thought about the run until I was dismounting in T2, and by then it was too late.
As far as nutrition goes - note to self: one bottle of 60% flat coke / 40% water is not enough for a 27 mile hard bike on a hot day. I finished the bottle at about mile 18 or so. I needed an extra bottle of water. Usually I get this at a water station. This race didn’t have any on the bike leg. Doh.
Run: I tried to chug a bottle of water at T2 to make up the liquid deficit from the bike, but I hate to run fast (alright, fast for me) with water sloshing in my belly. And in any event, halfway to the first turn-around, the old side-stitch kicks in. And it stays there about 75% of the run, mocking my mantra-chanting deep-breathing ass the entire time. As far as diagnosis - too fast on the bike for sure - I have been training IM intensity stuff, so my body couldn’t deal with the sudden jack-up in intensity. Dehydration and the pre-race salt water probably didn't help, either. One day I want to have the mental balls to just push through the most side-splitting of stitches, instead of backing off and hoping it will go away like I usually do. I’d keep good posture, breathe deep, maybe a slight clenching of the teeth, and I’d just up the pace. Its only pain, right? Of course even better would be to not get the stitch in the first place.... As it was I got passed by a LOT of people and could manage only a hobble. The run was a bit disappointing, but still a good learning experience about pacing, nutrition, mental discipline, all that good stuff.
Conclusion: As always, there is room for improvement in swim, bike, and, most glaringly, the run. Transitions could use work too. Thats the beauty of tri. Bottom line though is that this mostly restful week of vacation has done me good in terms of recovery and getting me psyched up for the final push to Wisconsin. A week in london capped with an oly tri makes for a great vacation. I’d definitely do it again.
The Bottom Line: 2:14:19 (79th out of approx 230 in male sub 2:30 wave).
Swim 24:03 (62/230)
T1 3:11 (56/230)
Bike 1:02:00 (17/230; top time was 59:38)
T2 2:27 (60/230)
“Run” 42:39 (170/230!!!!)
Prerace: got there plenty early after a breakfast of oatmeal, honey, banana, and coffee. all is going well. Then i get one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” ideas i typically get about 30mins before race start. As it was a fairly hot day and as i am a heavy sweater and as i had been drinking lots of H2O i found myself wishing I had brought some endurolyte caps to take in T2. No problem, i think to myself - endurolytes are basically salt, right, so i can just dissolve some table salt in water and just take that now to ensure optimal electrolyte balance throughout the race. Its a fine line between clever and stupid. In hindsight, i feel pretty confident that drinking a few gulps of what tasted pretty much like sea-water immediately before the race crossed that line.
Swim: I was a bit leery of diving into the thames but actually it was a semi-enclosed dock area. The water turned out to be really nice, albeit a bit murky. Me and 300 of my closest friends in my male “sub-230” wave packed in tight to get ready for an up, back, up, over and back course infront of the dock (to make it more spectator-friendly). The elites did not have wetsuits as the water temp was quite warm, but wetsuits were mandatory for everyone else. I was a bit concerned as I overheated quite a bit at Eagleman in my de soto T1, which I love, but not in hot water. So right as we are waiting to go down to the dock i decide to swim in just the bibjohn. I had never done this before, and was really worried that it would immediately fill up with water. This could easily have been another “it seemed like a good idea at the time” moment, but i was able to dash over to the endless pool in the expo and jump in to make sure it would work. (Those things are tres cool, btw. Hard to install in a 2nd story studio apartment, though.) So ditching the desoto top amazingly turned out to be a good decision, and I had a great swim. I lined up on the farside (to keep the hordes to my left - my breathing side - which i figured would make sighting easier) about three swimmers from the front. It was a very congested swim, but good prep i guess for IM Moo. I’m not a particularly fast swimmer, so why does it always seem that the people in front of me are even worse? Nothing like swimming along in murky water and all of a sudden finding yourself halfway up a neoprene-clad arse! Congestion slowed me down for first 500 meters or so, but eventually it cleared up. The whole swim I was having a blast, which is a first for me. Absolutely no fatigue, looking for drafts, up-ing the pace on the final stretch, thinking happy thoughts - the complete opposite of Eagleman, which was a nightmare in oh-so-many ways, so good to have that confidence-booster in the water before IM Moo. Quite a long transition run through the expo center to get the bikes. Clip in and then out the parking ramp and down onto the road along the thames.
Bike: The route was allegedly very scenic - the dome, the eye, big ben, etc. But for me, intensity is inversely linked to my field of vision. As I tend to hammer pretty hard on the bike, I could have been on my CT in my living room back home for all the sights I saw! The course was 2 loops on a fairly flat road. The only problem was that the lanes were really narrow and there were LOTS of riders and lots of bottleneck roundabouts that ate into my avg mph. Anyhoo, from about mile 6 till the end I got stuck in a peloton, and i mean peloton, of about 10-20 riders. In my defense, I did make an effort to break off the front, as I did at Eagleman, because I consider myself to be a strong biker and because my ego takes over. Stupid and futile in both cases. I’d get about 25m clear of the pack only to get swallowed up again shortly thereafter. sooo, I just sat up and drafted in the pack for big chunk of the ride. yes, i exchanged the obligatory grumble with some of the others, but I simply wasn’t prepared to let that big group of drafters leave me behind. Am I a bad person? Well, I guess I’ll let the refs be the judge of that. There were a fair number of motorcycles out there, but they seemed mainly just escort/safety dudes and I see no penalties in the results. The elites were draft legal. My group was right behind them so maybe they thought we too were elites, but most likely the refs just decided not to get involved. Not to harp on this drafting issue, but it does come up a lot. Where I am on the issue now I think is that the rules provide for a penalty IF you are caught. So riders I guess are free to draft or do whatever within the limits of their conscience for whatever reason, but the refs are free to penalise or DQ you for it. I do not consider myself a cheater - lord knows i am not out to win any prize money - but for whatever reason (i do have a competitive streak a mile wide) my decision/instinct at the time was not to get dropped. Maybe not condonable but easy to see why A-type triathletes are unwilling to slow down and lose ground to a pack of drafters. I do think the refs could have done something - maybe just a warning shout would have sufficed - to break up the pack. I would have much preferred to do a solo TT - that is my strongest leg. Also, I think the drafting threw me off my game - I was thinking about that the whole time instead of the race. I never once thought about the run until I was dismounting in T2, and by then it was too late.
As far as nutrition goes - note to self: one bottle of 60% flat coke / 40% water is not enough for a 27 mile hard bike on a hot day. I finished the bottle at about mile 18 or so. I needed an extra bottle of water. Usually I get this at a water station. This race didn’t have any on the bike leg. Doh.
Run: I tried to chug a bottle of water at T2 to make up the liquid deficit from the bike, but I hate to run fast (alright, fast for me) with water sloshing in my belly. And in any event, halfway to the first turn-around, the old side-stitch kicks in. And it stays there about 75% of the run, mocking my mantra-chanting deep-breathing ass the entire time. As far as diagnosis - too fast on the bike for sure - I have been training IM intensity stuff, so my body couldn’t deal with the sudden jack-up in intensity. Dehydration and the pre-race salt water probably didn't help, either. One day I want to have the mental balls to just push through the most side-splitting of stitches, instead of backing off and hoping it will go away like I usually do. I’d keep good posture, breathe deep, maybe a slight clenching of the teeth, and I’d just up the pace. Its only pain, right? Of course even better would be to not get the stitch in the first place.... As it was I got passed by a LOT of people and could manage only a hobble. The run was a bit disappointing, but still a good learning experience about pacing, nutrition, mental discipline, all that good stuff.
Conclusion: As always, there is room for improvement in swim, bike, and, most glaringly, the run. Transitions could use work too. Thats the beauty of tri. Bottom line though is that this mostly restful week of vacation has done me good in terms of recovery and getting me psyched up for the final push to Wisconsin. A week in london capped with an oly tri makes for a great vacation. I’d definitely do it again.