This is my second “Fighting Illini” triathlon. The first happened in May of 09 and was called “Tri-The-Illini.” The course changed slightly, with the run between the pool and T1 signficantly increasing and the addition of about 2 miles on the bike. My 2009 times are denoted in parenthesis because it’s kind of fun to see the improvement a year can bring.
This was also my last triathlon of the 2010 season, which is both a little happy and a little sad. I like to race, that’s for sure…but my body and mind are both ready for the break that a reduction in volume will bring post season. It was rainy, my legs were still trashed from my long run two days before, and overall I was kind of “meh.” Of course I still have a marathon to run before I can call it “off season” officially. Anyway, here is the race report.
AG 2/14 (17/25)
Overall 47/332 (153/301)
Swim 300m
Rank 5 (18)
Time 6:07.6 (7:26.95)
Rate 2:02/100m (2:48/100m)
I forgot my goggles at home…Oops. Luckily I was able to buy some at the U of I ARC. They were not my awesome Aqua Sphere Kayennes, and immediately leaked, but they were better than nothing.
I really suck at those indoor pool snake swims where you have to swim under a lane line. I blow it and lose time at the wall every time. In other news, I saw a purple Tri-Shark jersey in the lane as I was passing and didn’t want to impede a team mates swim, so I swam right on top of this poor college girl (sorry, and welcome to triathlon…).
T1
Rank 2 (10)
Time 2:27.9
It was a LONG run into T1, but I really rocked it. My secret weapon was all the barefoot running I’ve been doing. Run an 1/8 of a mile barefoot on asphalt? Sure…I do 4 miles barefoot on asphalt all the time. Zoom!
Bike
Rank (2) 6
Time 40:06.5
Speed 21.6 mph
I was pushing hard on the bike, but there were a lot of turns and the course was wet. I’m a little skittish turning still after the accidents, so I took things slow and lost some speed. Also, there was a ton of slow traffic on the course. College kids rocking out the swim crazy fast and then jumping on their Huffy Mt. Bikes. Overall, I’m a little disappointed in my late season bike performance. My NP was only 218 W, and VI was 1.04. I can do better.
T2
Rank 8 (22)
Time 1:31.0
I’m slow in transition. Something I’d work on if my focus was short course, but for now it isn’t. Nothing really interesting here though, I just did my thing.
Run
Rank 4 (24)
Time 23:35.7 (28:33.40)
Pace 7:36/mi (9:13/mi)
I was really happy with my run. I’ve made huge improvements over the last year in running. In this race I went from second to last in my AG to 4th. Not too bad! Off the bike I was doing about 7:45, and once my legs opened up I was able to really start pushing. I negative split the 5k, finishing my last mile around 7:00/mi and the last .1 at around 6:34/mi.
T1
Rank 2 (10)
Time 2:27.9
It was a LONG run into T1, but I really rocked it. My secret weapon was all the barefoot running I’ve been doing. Run an 1/8 of a mile barefoot on asphalt? Sure…I do 4 miles barefoot on asphalt all the time. Zoom!
Bike
Rank (2) 6
Time 40:06.5
Speed 21.6 mph
I was pushing hard on the bike, but there were a lot of turns and the course was wet. I’m a little skittish turning still after the accidents, so I took things slow and lost some speed. Also, there was a ton of slow traffic on the course. College kids rocking out the swim crazy fast and then jumping on their Huffy Mt. Bikes. Overall, I’m a little disappointed in my late season bike performance. My NP was only 218 W, and VI was 1.04. I can do better.
T2
Rank 8 (22)
Time 1:31.0
I’m slow in transition. Something I’d work on if my focus was short course, but for now it isn’t. Nothing really interesting here though, I just did my thing.
Run
Rank 4 (24)
Time 23:35.7 (28:33.40)
Pace 7:36/mi (9:13/mi)
I was really happy with my run. I’ve made huge improvements over the last year in running. In this race I went from second to last in my AG to 4th. Not too bad! Off the bike I was doing about 7:45, and once my legs opened up I was able to really start pushing. I negative split the 5k, finishing my last mile around 7:00/mi and the last .1 at around 6:34/mi.
Overall
I’m pretty happy with my overall performance. I felt my bike was weak, but my run was pretty strong and my swim was much improved. It was a great way to end the season. Post race was cool. I got to catch up with some friends and fellow Tri-Sharks, I got an awesome beer mug as an award, and I got some great harvest bread(they were a sponsor of the race)…which is like the best bread in the world. I wish I could bake like they do. YUM!
It was a great way to end the 2010 Tri season.
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