Race Recap Jan 2018
What Tim Urban of Wait But Why says actually does ring true; “Joy = Reality — Expectation + Gratitude” (I added the gratitude bit).
“Joy = Reality — Expectation + Gratitude” (I added the gratitude bit).
*2nd on the bike overall (out of 223+)
*4th Place in my age group
*7th Overall in the run (out of 223+)
On my 36th revolution around the sun — I’m actually quite pleased with my race considering I didn’t prepare for this, didn’t stress about the race as it’s not my “A Race
While the swim was interesting (see below ifs), bike had some technical errors, and the run was a balmy 31 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) I did go into this with the idea of hitting as close as possible to my “input” metrics that I can control give or take whatever times for whatever conditions.
Swim = 1:50sec/100m
Bike = Hold 270–280 watts
Run = 4min/km (6:40 min/mi)
If…
1- I didn’t cramp up coming out of the water (need a bit more practice running after swimming)
2- I swam a bit faster overall and wasn’t dodging thousands (no bullshit) random huge orange jelly fish!
3- I had a faster transition in T1 and T2
4- I didn’t have computer issues with my garmin on the bike
5- I paced the run bit faster and was more “race ready” for running 5k
I could have even possibly gotten close to 2nd place in my age group.
Iinterestingly enough these aren’t fitness or ability issues. These are technical skill issues that I can easily manage and sort. My random goal 5 years ago when I started doing triathlon was to get top 10 overall and top 3 in my age group. That was the holy grail for me. 5 years ago I was not doing what I’m doing now. Yes, I’m better overall as an endurance athlete so to compare myself now with 5 years ago Daren isn’t possible, but I’m also training the least amount I’ve ever trained and that says something.
Some new things I tried for this race because it wasn’t that serious;
1. Had my cheat day the day before. Not doing that again. Glad I tried it… but yeah,
naw . I felt bloated all morning and after the race. Way too much sugar/processed carbs in my gut.)
2. Put on my 2 piece tri suit top in T1 transition. I’m not mad at it… not as hard as I thought but I should have changed into my 1 piece suit from the beginning
3. Started out and hung with the fast guys for the first 100 meters of the swim. That was interesting as I’ve never done that and I felt strong. Will look to do that again
4. Ate a gel with caffeine 30 mins before the race. I didn’t need any fuel during the race which is good to know for future sprint distance events.
5. Stopped drinking water 2 hours before the race. This is new as I’m always hydrating up until 30 mins before (which is stupid but it’s a “Comfort thing”). I ignored my thirsty mouth and had faith in the fact that I had been superhydrated the last 48 hours and I was fine. Still had to pee a lot before the race.
6. Ate 4–5 100–150 calorie meals from 4am-10am. I rarely race this late so rather than eating a shit ton at am when I woke up I decided to spread it out so I wouldn’t feel sick. Worked well.
7. Broke up the last 1km of the run into thirds. Mentally got me through a bit of a tough period and I was able to negative split this one.
Bottom line; Less is more works as the data and results are proving that. But only after 5 years of trial and error – Oh the irony. Let’s see if this can play out for the March Olympic Distance and running races I have planned in the upcoming months.
Official final results here — https://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/m3/event?c=1&r=6425&e=4&le=4
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