To start off, I did not blow my times out of the water lol. I did however "improve" some of them ... but not the swim. I did win 3rd in my age group and qualified for the Championships in New Zealand , anyone got the $ so I can fly there :)
Pre race : Woke up early, made my usual pre race smoothie ( 1 apple, 1 banana, a small sweet potato and 8oz of water all mixed up in the Vita mix )
Then I made my "sports drink" (Coconut water, 4 dates, agave nectar coconut oil, cacao powder, mint leaves, and agar flakes Vita mixed)
Got signed in, took my bike for a test ride (this time making sure the gears were changed and pedaled into position so my chain would not fall off in transition) Racked it, placed my running stuff in an orderly fashion and put my wetsuit on.
Swim warm up consisted of about 300 meters of easy swimming, and chatting with people about getting tangled in the seaweed lol.
The Swim: Good times ! I kept myself out of the washing machine, just enough to the outside to not swim too much extra. I did bump into a few people near the first turn buoy and got Malachi crunched so I just slowed a bit and let the crazies go by!
Overall felt comfortable the whole time, gave about an 85% effort which bagged me about a 15 minute swim, which if I didn't feel so comfortable I would be really upset with.
What would I do differently? Spend more time in the pool and train faster. I was in top shape "for me" last year and heading to Masters 3X a week .. not so much this year. I have made my swimming practice this year but nothing as hardcore as last year. Also I have to make some hard efforts in my OWS swims... I have been just "comfortable swimming" and need to push the pace.
T1: I am really happy I decided to wear the spandex wrestling outfit, it really saved time in the transition. I got my wetsuit off lickity split put my sunglasses and helmet on and was off.
The Bike; Ok I really have to practice if I am going to leave my shoes attached to the bike! I stumbled a few times getting those suckers on, but only lost like 10 seconds (which would have meant me only getting chicked by < 3 minutes instead of 3:01 and 3:02 lol)
So the ride was great. Felt strong out there even into the wind. Passed a bunch of people and was only passed by a few. I had no Idea of my pace because I set my watch up incorrectly, but judging by my gear and rpm I was boogying, especially on the way back with the tail wind. I was in top gear and pedaling at about 86 rpm, which is fast! Although my results don't show a "great bike ride" It was still better than last year!
What would I do differently ?: More Hard core workouts lol ... I have to remember I am in "Base training" for Ironman Florida and have suffered in the "speed" category. There will be plenty of time for speed in the next couple of months. Ohh yeah, put my watch on b4 leaving transition.
T2: Nothing to tell here, it was awesome. I dismounted my bike like a pro (at least in my eyes) and had my helmet off, shoes and hat on in no time flat. I love my Zoot shoes no socks, no laces.. basically running slippers!
The Run: Felt good coming out of transition, eased into my pace (which I really didn't know cause I set my watch up wrong lol) Definitely had a negative split! My pace picked up slowly through to the end of the run and I had a great kick at the end.
What would I do differently ?: A bit more speed work, maybe a bit less talking through the run, and focus my energy on running. Set up my garmin properly so I can see my pace??
Overall; Felt great through the whole race.. maybe kick up a couple more notches @ the Tecumseh Tri!
Results to come!
2 comments:
Nice job Jeff! It was fun watching you today.
How awesome FFJeff! I'm very impressed! We were in Leamington yesterday for the kids of steel. Félix finished with a sprint(although he was super nervous before the race)...I was really proud of him. Thanks for sharing! New Zealand....very impressive!|Malika
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