Test of Metal Race Report

Race went pretty well, Lack of any warm up as bike was in line in the 4:!5-4:30 section, Started with road riding - and up the hills - i was still sore from trail running early in the week, so i could feel it here. Tried to draft As much as possible(it's legal in MTB racing) Once we got to the single track, we got bogged down pretty quick. Stopped n the trail fr minutes at a time - then when we did move- it was easier to walk instead of ride as we didn't go very far. Once moving it felt good though. On the flats in the big ring i was feeling fast. past alice lake we had a climb and another slight uphill. Again i put it in big ring and just pushed it. passed quite a few peeple surprisingly. Once we got to the loop at the top of the course we got bogged down again. Stopped for quite a while then walked in a line for most of the loop. Then another big hill climb. Apparently you can hike up once section or ride the switch backs. and the hike is quicker, but i did not know this and rde the climb. Once on top the flowing downhill was great - not too many people around so i did not have to pass or get passed much. on down to rollercoaster and back out to the pavement. Felt strong through out - the stops and walking bits caused by the congestion helped. Crossed over to the otherside then started to feel it. Through the feed zone - then up 9 mile hill more lik 8 km but it is tough. There were a crew handing our gels just before the top of Bonk hill - had to walk up this steepest part. i am usually getting paassed on these uphills, but i pretty much held my own on most of them, then when they flattened out i hammered in the big ring an passed more people. After thetop of Bonk hill - there is a few kms of downhill double track before another big climb, not as bad as the first but still had to walk up to the watertown. another downhill section - pushing the big ring_ and over the bridge then up the final hill. it narrows down here but is still fairy long. once at the top it is all downhill from here. Pushed pretty good - big ring, but it is quite a long downhill - seems like 10 km i can be fun, but my hands and arms were really sore from breaking - finally made the turn to powerhouse plunge, hands were dead here, and it is quite a ways to the start on this trail. at least a km then once on the plunge, i pretty much walked the whole way down - road a fell short sections, but i didn't feel strong on the hands so i took it safe. Once down back through the feed zone again, i cramped up behind my left knee. Just then Andre showed up on the side and asked if i wanted a push, so i said sure, got a nice little push for 20 m or so, and this allow the cramp to subside. at the top of the feed zone, i was handed a redbull - suger free , so i drank some of that. Off into crumpit woods, tried to ride the uphill switch backs but was getting tired so i did alot of hike a bike. this is a long stretch at the end, and lots of people were walking the uphills. it seems like it is about 10km through here, but probably more like 6km. once at the top there are still a few shorter up hills, but most of it is down. Finally we come out on the road, mostly downhill, with one small hill at the bluffs, but at this point it is nearly over. cross the road at the parking lot and onto the riding trail. wide gravel, tried to push it and stay in front of the guy behind me, but he sprinted past at the last corner, and beat me.


What would you do differently?:

Train more - dont do a hill workout trail run the week before - start closer up to try to get away from the log jams. If i get passed on the road, not a big deal, but once on the trail i can keep up the speed for the first half. Practice the plunge.

05:01:00 | 67 kms | 13.36 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Official race time and distance - but my computer read only 62km and 4:43 - I have heard that others only seem to get around 62 km - so i think this is more correct. As for the time. with 1000 entrants, it took about 4 minutes to get over the start line, and there were a few spots where the single track got blocked up so we were stopp on the trail for a few minutes at a time.
Wind: None
Course: Lots of uphill - single track - flowing downhill - some pavement - 9 mile hill which is a grunt, and powerhouse plunge which some say is the most technical riding they have ever done.

Oliver Half Iron Triathlon Race Report

Pre-race routine:

stayed at Lakeside resort - Basically right in the middle of the transition area. highly recommended if doing this race. Camped there. Basically woke up at 6:00am grabbed a bagel and half a bottle of powerade. walked to transition, and dropped off my gear - got numbered then went back to camp. Had a banana and some water. used camp washroom with little line up. put wetsuit on and waded into water. After back from transition, realized i forgot gatorade on bike, but figured i wouldn't drink gatorade for first 15 mins i should be fine - not a problem. Forgot race belt and good sunglasses, but was able to borrow both items -thaks to Greg and Dusan!

Event warmup:

Wetsuit on but felt tight with race jersey on underneath. so went for short swim, go fully wet, then unzipped a bit and pulled suit up higher, did not really notice the jersey again.


Swim

Comments:

Did not do much swim training this year, so my form and endurance were lacking. had a rough start, lots of banging going on. started to the left side in mid pack. Once got into rythem was ok but never really felt strong. Thought about just getting through the swim, not really pushing too hard. so that may have been a mistake. But my time was only off by 2 minutes from last year

What would you do differently?:

with more training, i should be able to swim harder, and not just get through it.


T1

Comments:

Very long transition - at least a 500m run once wetsuit was off. carrying it well running barefoot to the transition. got to bike, put helmet on, sunglasses on, realized there was nothing else to do but noticed the portapottie right there and i really had to pee, so i ducked in quickly, came out and grabbed my bike and went. Except for the long distance, it seemed really fast, i looked at my watch and was surprised. almost like i was missing something. but because, i was wearing my jersey and shorts on underneath, and did not need to put on anything else, it was fast. Got to the start line barefoot, mounted my bike, but had problems getting my shoes on.
Tried to stay in the aero position lots but felt really tight in my right hamstring, adn my achilles heel was tightening up - shooting pain if i tried to strech it. it hurt less when i sat upright, so i di more upright riding, especially with the tail wind.

What would you do differently?:

putting the shoes on was an issue. the velcro tabs were not inserted so i had to do that well riding. so i would make sure they are inserted. perhaps add a safety pin at the end to ensure they don't slip out.
Train more in the areo position, work on stretching the legs and geting more comfortable in that position.


Bike

Comments:

Once again i was undertrained for the bike. my goal was 30kmh and was pretty close.very slow on up hills. need more hill work and lose some weight. Used new areo water botle on handle bars for water. Worked pretty good. i filled it with 1L i think, and emptyed it pretty quick. Started with only water no gatorade thinking i would pick some up at first ade station(since i forgot race morning) but forgot the ade station was after about 30minutes. and right at start of big hill. So i would have rather had a half empty bottle for the hill.
with the head wind, it was hard to take any nutrition in. i tried but realized i should have waited until the tailwind section. did this on second lap. much easier. I took 1 bottle of gatorade 250cal 1 gel at 100cal and 1 package of shot blocks at 200 cal for a total of 550 cals. not what i planned

What would you do differently?:

While i set my alarm for 30 min intervals for eating - it seemed to go off at bad time so i didn't really follow it. perhaps identifying feed zones based on the wind would work. i took the bloks 2 at a time to spread them out. and having them in my jersey pocket worked well. Should have ate more, if i had anothe bottle of powerade, that would have brought my total up to 800cal.


T2

Comments:

transition was fine, except i was not really racing. i decided to sit down to put on my shoes and socks, nd probably could have gone a bit faster. i spent some time cleaning up a bit withsome water etc.

What would you do differently?:

clean up while moving out. save some time.


Run

Comments:

going in i felt strongest about my run, but had my worst split of the day. i never really hurt like last year, i just didn't feel like i had as much energy or endurance. i think i settled for just a finish rather than a race. At one point after 5km i felt pain around my ankle and started to get worried i was causeing some damage. it went away when i walked so i walked abit then felt better but it would come back once i ran. after about 2km of this, i stopped and bent over to massage it a bit, and as i reached for the area hat hurt, my hand came across the timing chip. i removed it and immediately felt better. it was rubbing and causing the pain. i put it on the other leg, higher up and was good to go.
The first few kms i was feeling cramping come on a bit so i tried a salt tablet? from the ade station. it seemed to help as i didn't get the cramps after that.

What would you do differently?:

more endurance to allow me to run father with fewer walking breaks.


Post race

Warm down:

after race i grabbed some food and drink - then wnet and stood in the lake to cool down - felt good.cafter a while i made my way over to the pool for a shower and hot tub. everyone was comparing tan/burn lines, ad i had some bad ones. i put sunscreen on, but once again missed the backs of my shoulders blades, and for the first time i had a bad g string type burn line between my shorts and jersey on the back. no sunscreen at all here. also a bit of a burn on my chest as i unzipped my jersey for most of he run to cool down. zipped it up for most of the photos though!!!


What limited your ability to perform faster:

lack of training and the mind set that i just wanted to finish - just get through it rather than race it.


Event comments:

another great race - a few comments soch as the aid stations ran out of coke and gave me soggy pretzels. but otherwise the stations were great. Awards ceremony was late and dragged on, but this was mostly due to the Race Directors wife being taken to the hospital during the race, so he was concerned with her as well as she does most of the awards stuff. so it was all understandable. I hope she is felling better, as otherwise it is a great team they make and some great races they put on. The community involvement is great, and the fundraising efforts they do to give back to the volunteers are amazing.