Read at your peril!
310 minutes of fun 14 minutes of pain
The SATO Hydrosloth Oliver Half 2022 Race Report
Training Lead In
It’s entertaining and annoying how the mind fucks with you during taper week. Well, that’s how I felt and although my fitness was ok, the scale said 157. Damn. This is July, not January. I only have myself and Old Dutch to blame. On the up side, I was not sick and uninjured. A couple of trips to Saskatchewan in the month prior to the race did somewhat limit the bike and swim training.
The Thursday of race week I did a 25 minute 10 mile time trial with an average HR of 155 and 236 average watts.
Equipment
Asics Gel Noosa runners. 2XU wetsuit. DeSoto tri-suit. 2011 QD Cd 0.1 bike with 25 year old HED 3 tri-spoke and a Wheelbuilder disc cover on an old Mavic Open Pro. 1 latex tube. 1 butyl.
Fuel
1 bottle of *Moose Juice *containing 6 scoops of F2C Glycodurance and 200 mg of caffeine. 1 bottle of Glycodurance containing 3 scoops and about 100 mg of caffeine. I also used the on-course gels which were some kinda maple syrup blended with caffeine ~ yumm!
Night before
Pasta dinner. 1 beer. Small salad. In bed by 10.
AM of
Up at 4:45. Clif bar with some yogurt. Instead of coffee I had a cup of warm water (you know why!) and 1/3 of a caffeine pill (see the pattern?).
Got to race by 5:45, set up transition. Too much chit chat with folks I hadn’t seen in 4 years. Fun but it left me NO TIME for swim warm-up. Pick your battles.
Swim
Rolling start. Seeded myself with the 35 minute group to use them as my draft mules. That lasted 3 minutes and I was in no man’s land. Damn fine swim course 1 lap! Thanks Paul R. Swam alone until 1st turn and then was able to latch on to another Hydrosloth’s feel for the remainder. I’m not sure if s/he swam straight but I didn’t care. 38:50.
T1
Accurate and leisurely. Socks? Hell yes! Unlike the chumps who set up their transition by their bike, since I was parked almost against the fence, I setup under a tree. The official said “good on ya†no crowding, no drama. 2:37.
Bike
The plan was to keep my HR between 132 and 140 for the 1st lap and between 135 and 145 for the second lap. Conditions were amazing. No wind and about 17 degrees.
Happy to say that my execution was very fine. Racing within your limits is so much fun. Being the Hydrosloth means (and has meant for damn near a quarter of a century) there are plenty of people to pass. Plus keeping a low (ish) level of exertion meant I could eat. And I did! Between the Glyco and the the gels and caffeine and the the gnocchi, I was riding higher than a kite and chewing up the field.
An interesting note. Whilst chewing up the field in Kienle mode, I caught and passed some 20-something female on a road bike. No aero bars. No disc wheel. She took issue that some old guy schooling her on the flats. Race time! Much fun. My tri-bike and 180 FTP (sez Zwift…bastards) was no match for her 20 something lungs and legs and she pulled away, seemingly with no effort. I conceded temporary defeat. She admitted to me that it was her first triathlon. I sniffed new meat. My lungs were no match for her but but my 58 year old mind full of patience was. Wait and see.
How did the bike plan go? My power splits were a) 135 HR, 191 W b) 137 HR, 195 W, c) 138 HR, 188 W. The lack of heat really prevented the usual cardio drift. I could have really tried more but that was NOT the plan.
T2
Again, being setup under a tree was efficient. No hunting for my stuff or any associated bullshit made it an efficient joy. Ditched the QR, threw on my Noosas, found a lace was buggered, took my race belt, pill flask, 5 Hour Energy Drink, and set out to catch Jeff Symonds! 1:53.
Run
Yes I had goals. 3 of them! Avoid walking. Take advantage of situations. Make sure my 2nd lap is faster than my first. Here’s how it went.
Cardio felt strong. Legs felt Bambi. Caution advised. Some nice back and forth battles, mostly with 20-something females. Racing is fun! By KM 3 my legs came around, right about the same time I took another caffeine pill and one of those maple syrup gels. Game on. Stride was pure. Cardio was willing. Life was good. Made a point of limiting HR to less than 145 (see goal 2). Had about 4 people (mostly those females) pass me for lap 1. 54:30.
Took another caffeine pill (yeah, I know) and another gel to start lap 2. Still feeling happy. My brain was playing James Taylor as I picked up the pace and started to pass old white men, like myself. They were probably listening to Micheal McDonald. That’s how we roll bitches! Legs were still willing. Cardio was smooth 15 K were done, time to pick up the pace… just a little bit HR 150 now. Another old (like me) guy to pass, decided to test the legs – FAIL. Although I passed him, I realized I was ready to cramp and I know that walking is slower that trotting. Back off BOY.
Revenge time. That fast female first timer appeared in my front view mirror. Despite the damn near 1000 mg of caffeine I ingested thus far, I was able to keep my ego in check. I gently got closer and closer and then… the pass. Experience over age! For today.
KM 19, another pass of what appeared to be another age group competitor. But alas. An old guy, like probably knew what a 78 was, passed me. He was faster than me. I was better looking. Pick your battles. With less than 1500 metre left, I went into ass hole mode or prick mode or competitor mode. Pick your description. Legs be damned. In spite of the camel caravans blocking the narrow running path I managed to weasel past 3 more people. Lap 2: 54:08. Run total time was 1:49. Hmm.
Stats
4/18 in age group. 59/162.
Lessons Learned
In a race, you can have fun or you can get a good time or you can blow up. What do you want on your headstone?
Swim was ok. Doing about the same time now as I did in 2002. That’s progress?
Bike was fun. Ate a lot. Super consistent. It is time to take risks and I don’t mean more caffeine. Latex tubes. 2 of them next time.
Run needs to improve, start with losing 8 pounds that is free speed. Beyond that we get into risky stuff with running harder. Caron, you don’t get it. You will some day!
